The Conditions of Prostration of Recitation
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Question:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. He says: Is it a condition for the prostration of recitation that one faces the qiblah and that his prostration be on the ground, or is that not required?
Answer:
The prostration of recitation: if one holds that it is a prayer, then wudu is required, and ritual purity is required, and facing the qiblah is required, as these are the conditions of prayer. But if one holds that it is an independent act of worship—and this is the correct view—then purity is not required for it if he is reciting from memory and comes upon a prostration verse, he prostrates, and facing the qiblah is not required for it. Yes. As for prostrating on the ground, this applies to the prostration of recitation and others: one prostrates on the ground if he is able to do so. If he is not able, he does it as he is able. Yes. Ah.
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. He says: Is it a condition for the prostration of recitation that one faces the qiblah and that his prostration be on the ground, or is that not required?
Answer:
The prostration of recitation: if one holds that it is a prayer, then wudu is required, and ritual purity is required, and facing the qiblah is required, as these are the conditions of prayer. But if one holds that it is an independent act of worship—and this is the correct view—then purity is not required for it if he is reciting from memory and comes upon a prostration verse, he prostrates, and facing the qiblah is not required for it. Yes. As for prostrating on the ground, this applies to the prostration of recitation and others: one prostrates on the ground if he is able to do so. If he is not able, he does it as he is able. Yes. Ah.
Source
شرح كتاب المنتقى من أخبار المصطفى صلى الله عليه وسلم، بداية من باب ما جاء في قيام الليل — islamhouse.com (52:50)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.