And this is because the fundamental principle is that the prostration is not obligatory. The second type is bringing a dhikr (invocation) or supplication into the prayer that has not been legislated for it, such as his saying, "Amin, Lord of the worlds," or his saying during the takbir, "Allah is the greatest, much greater [in magnitude]," and the like. Prostration is not prescribed for this, because it was reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) that he heard a man say during the prayer: "Praise be to Allah, a great, pure, and blessed praise, as our Lord loves and is pleased with" (57). He did not order him to prostrate.
Section: If he sits [in a place not designated for the tashahhud] (58) for the duration of the sitting of rest, the Qadi said: Prostration is incumbent upon him, whether we say that the sitting of rest is a sunnah or not, because he did not intend it with his sitting; he intended something else, so it was an act of forgetfulness. It is also possible that it is not incumbent upon him, because it is an action which, if he had done it intentionally (59), his prayer would not have been invalidated (60), so he does not prostrate for it due to forgetfulness, just like minor actions that are not of the nature of the prayer.
Section: His statement: "Or he recited aloud in a place of whispering, or whispered in a place of reciting aloud." The summary of this is that reciting aloud and whispering in their respective places are among the sunan of the prayer, and the prayer is not invalidated by intentionally leaving them. If he leaves them out of forgetfulness, is the prostration of forgetfulness prescribed for him because of it? There are two narrations from Ahmad regarding this: One is that it is not prescribed. Al-Hasan, Ata', Salim, Mujahid, Al-Qasim, Al-Sha'bi, and Al-Hakim said: There is no forgetfulness prostration for him. Anas recited aloud in Dhuhr and Asr and did not prostrate, and the same was done by Alqamah and Al-Aswad. This is the school of Al-Awza'i and Al-Shafi'i; because it is a sunnah, prostration is not prescribed for leaving it, just like raising the hands. The second is that it is prescribed. This is the school of
(57) Recorded by Al-Tirmidhi, in: The Chapter on what was said regarding a man who sneezes during prayer, from the Book of Prayer. 'Aridat al-Ahwadhi 2/193, 194. And by Al-Nasa'i, in: The Chapter on the statement of the follower if he sneezes behind the Imam, from the Book of Opening the Prayer. Al-Mujtaba 2/112. (58) In (M): "for the tashahhud in a place other than its own." (59) In the original: "his intention." (60) In (M), there is an addition: "by it."
