Can One Bow During Any Martial Arts Training?
Hanafi Fiqh
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
Please let me know if a 45-degree bow at the waist to show respect to others during karate training is allowed in Islam. The purpose of undertaking such learning and training is for fitness and not for combat by any means. I also know that complete bowing to the ground, as in prostration, is prohibited or haram.
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.
I pray you are in good faith and health.
Some jurists prohibit any level of bowing, and some say it is disliked (makruh). Therefore it is better to avoid and abstain from it given the resemblance and similarity to bowing, be it 45 degrees, more or less. [Fatawa al-Hindiyya; Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar; al-Mawsu‘a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya]
Alternative Way of Respect
If one can find a Muslim Martial Arts instructor or Academy, one should join one. Otherwise, if one cannot find one that can accommodate, one should speak to the instructor or academy explaining the religious stance with respect. Alternatively, instead of bowing, one may slightly lean or simply nod, which would be permissible. In the future, one can continuously respect them with gifts, good comments, etc.
In this way, the instructors and academy will find richer ways and views that may differ from theirs and come to appreciate the diversity moving forward.
Related:
45-degree bow in Japanese
Is Bowing to Someone Out of Respect Disbelief?
Is it permissible to engage in martial arts that have remnants of Buddhist culture/religion?
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I pray this helps with your question.
Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally-trained scholar who has studied in the UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey. He started his early education in the UK. He went on to complete the hifz of the Quran in India, then enrolled in an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied the secular and ‘Aalimiyya sciences. He then traveled to Karachi, Pakistan. He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for several years. He has taught hifz of the Quran, Tajwid, Fiqh, and many other Islamic sciences to children and adults onsite and online extensively in the UK and Ireland. He taught at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK, where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences. He currently resides in the UK with his wife. His interest is a love of books and gardening.
