Assalaamu alaykum. In a hadith, the Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, prohibited to fix a place in the mosque, like a camel, which fixes its place. What does that mean?

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

‘Abdurrahmaan ibn Shibl Al-Ansaari, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "The Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, forbade pecking like a crow, resting like a beast of prey, and that a man fixes a place (for himself) in the mosque the way a camel does." [Ibn Maajah, Ahmad and Abu Daawood. This is the wording of Abu Daawood]

There are two interpretations for the statement "and that a man fixes a place (for himself) in the mosque the way a camel does." ‘Awn Al-Ma‘bood Sharh Abi Daawood reads:

"The first (interpretation) is that the man gets used to performing his prayers in the same spot in the mosque all the time and does not change it, the same way the camel gets used to resting in the same place all the time and does not kneel down except in this very spot. The second (interpretation) is that the praying person places his knees on the floor first before his hands when prostrating, like the camel when it kneels down ... and that he does not drop down to the ground, but, rather, he bends his knees and places them on the ground slowly (before placing his hands on the ground), as underlined by Al-Khattaabi."

As for the meaning of "pecking like a crow", he said that it means exaggeration in performing the prostration very quickly without placing the forehead on the ground except for a remarkably short time, like the peck of a crow as it picks up its food."

He interpreted the phrase, "Resting on the ground like a beast of prey," to mean placing the forearms on the ground while prostrating.

The authenticity of this hadeeth is questioned by Hadeeth scholars; some classified its chain of narration as weak, such as Shu‘ayb Al-Arnaa’oot, because it included Tameem ibn Mahmood. Al-Bukhaari said about him, "Fihi nathar (meaning, he is a weak reporter and his narration should be investigated)." Ibn Hajar said in At-Taqreeb, "His narration is not firm." Ibn Hibbaan mentioned him in his book Ath-Thiqaat (trusted narrators).

Some scholars classified this hadeeth as Hasan (good), such as Al-Albaani, because it was reinforced by another report cited in Imaam Ahmad's Musnad, which is also weak, but he (Al-Albaani) classified "it as Hasan (good) by virtue of its multiple routes of transmission and the other Ahaadeeth with the same meaning."

Allah knows best.