What has Allah obligated upon me regarding prayer? He said: "Five prayers." He asked: Is there any other than them? He replied: "No, unless you offer it voluntarily." As for the verse, He rebuked them for abandoning the prostration while neither believing in its merit nor its legitimacy. Furthermore, their analogy is invalidated by the prostration of forgetfulness (sujud al-sahw), for according to them, it is not obligatory.
Section: Prostration is recommended (sunnah) for the reciter and the listener; we know of no disagreement regarding this. The hadiths we have narrated support it. Al-Bukhari, Muslim, and Abu Dawud (11) have narrated from Ibn Umar, who said: The Messenger of Allah - peace and blessings of Allah be upon him - would recite the Surah for us while not in prayer, then he would prostrate, and we would prostrate with him, to the extent that one of us could not find a place for his forehead. As for the listener who does not intend to listen, it is not recommended for him; this has been narrated from Uthman, Ibn Abbas, and Imran [ibn al-Husayn, may Allah be pleased with them] (12), and Malik held this view as well. The people of opinion ( اصحاب الرأي) said: Prostration is binding upon him. Something similar to this has been narrated from Ibn Umar, al-Nakha'i, Sa'id ibn Jubayr, and Nafi'.
= And the hadith was recorded by al-Bukhari, in: The Chapter on Zakat from Islam, from the Book of Faith; and in: The Chapter on the Obligation of Fasting Ramadan, from the Book of Fasting; and in: The Chapter on how a successor is appointed, from the Book of Testimonies; and in: The Chapter on Zakat and not separating between those who are gathered... etc., from the Book of Ruses (Hiyal). Sahih al-Bukhari 1/18, 3/31, 235, 9/29. And Muslim, in: The Chapter on Clarification of the Prayers which are one of the pillars of Islam, from the Book of Faith. Sahih Muslim 1/40, 41. And Abu Dawud, in: The beginning of the Book of Prayer. Sunan Abi Dawud 1/93. And al-Nasa'i, in: The Chapter on how many are obligated in the day and night, from the Book of Prayer; and in: The Chapter on the Obligation of Fasting, from the Book of Fasting; and in: The Chapter on Zakat, from the Book of Faith. al-Mujtaba 1/184, 4/97, 8/104. And Imam Malik, in: The Comprehensive Chapter on Encouragement to Pray, from the Book of Shortening Prayer while Traveling. al-Muwatta 1/175. (11) Omitted from: The original. Al-Bukhari recorded the hadith in: The Chapter on whoever prostrates for the prostration of the reader, and the Chapter on the crowding of people when the Imam recites the prostration (verse), and the Chapter on whoever cannot find a place to prostrate due to the crowding, from the Book of Prostration. Sahih al-Bukhari 2/51-53. And Muslim, in: The Chapter on the Prostration of Recitation, from the Book of Mosques. Sahih Muslim 1/405. And Abu Dawud, in: The Chapter on the man who hears the prostration (verse) while he is riding or not in prayer, from the Book of Prayer. Sunan Abi Dawud 1/326. And Imam Ahmad, in: al-Musnad 2/17. (12) Omitted from: (M).
