What is meant by reclining? There is a difference of opinion on it. Some say that it means leaning on one side, whether right or left, or against the wall. Imam Al-Khattabi takes it in this sense that somebody should lay out a mattress and sit on it comfortably as one sits cross-legged. Messenger of Allah (PBUH) used to take hardly an adequate meal. Ibn Hajar says that one should sit with the right knee drawn up and the left one bent down.