If the imam recites a surah containing a prostration and reaches this verse, is it better for him to bow or to prostrate?
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The questioner : In the name of Allah, and may prayers and peace be upon our beloved Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). As for what follows, peace be upon you, and Allah’s mercy and blessings. And we love you for the sake of Allah, O our distinguished Shaykh, and we hope from Allah, the Mighty and Wise, that He will gather us with the prophets, the truthful ones, the martyrs, and the righteous. And we hope from you, O youThe Shaykh : distinguished one, to answer our questions, and may you have abundant thanks. The brothers among the youth of the mosque of Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy. If the imam recites what is easy for him of the Qur’an in the loud prayer and reaches a verse of prostration and wants to bow, must he prostrate for the recitation and then bow, or does he bow directly?
The Shaykh : If he wants to perform the recommended practice, he must prostrate the prostration of recitation, then stand up, then bow. I only said “if he wants to prostrate” because we do not believe that the prostration of recitation is obligatory in the prayer or outside the prayer. We do not believe it is obligatory; rather, it is a recommended practice established, indeed mass-transmitted, from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), but it is not obligatory as the Hanafis say. The evidence for this is what came in Sahih al-Bukhari that ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) gave a Friday sermon one day and recited a verse of prostration in his sermon, so he descended and prostrated for it, and the people prostrated with him. Then in another sermon, a verse containing a prostration passed by him, so the people prepared to prostrate, and he said to them: “Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, has not made it obligatory upon us except that we may do it if we wish.” Therefore, I said in the answer: if he wants, and now, preserving the wording of the narration, if he wishes to prostrate, he prostrates, then stands up, then bows. And if he wishes not to prostrate, there is no harm on him, especially if the recitation of the verse of prostration is in a quiet prayer. I say, especially if the recitation is in a quiet prayer where he recited a verse of prostration, it may be better in some cases not to prostrate it, because it causes confusion in the minds of people who do not know. But if he is praying in a mosque where his people know him personally and they are upon the Sunnah and have some knowledge of jurisprudence, then if he prostrates the prostration of recitation, even in a quiet prayer, it does not cause commotion or confusion, then the recommended practice is to prostrate it. Other than that.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy. If the imam recites what is easy for him of the Qur’an in the loud prayer and reaches a verse of prostration and wants to bow, must he prostrate for the recitation and then bow, or does he bow directly?
The Shaykh : If he wants to perform the recommended practice, he must prostrate the prostration of recitation, then stand up, then bow. I only said “if he wants to prostrate” because we do not believe that the prostration of recitation is obligatory in the prayer or outside the prayer. We do not believe it is obligatory; rather, it is a recommended practice established, indeed mass-transmitted, from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), but it is not obligatory as the Hanafis say. The evidence for this is what came in Sahih al-Bukhari that ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) gave a Friday sermon one day and recited a verse of prostration in his sermon, so he descended and prostrated for it, and the people prostrated with him. Then in another sermon, a verse containing a prostration passed by him, so the people prepared to prostrate, and he said to them: “Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, has not made it obligatory upon us except that we may do it if we wish.” Therefore, I said in the answer: if he wants, and now, preserving the wording of the narration, if he wishes to prostrate, he prostrates, then stands up, then bows. And if he wishes not to prostrate, there is no harm on him, especially if the recitation of the verse of prostration is in a quiet prayer. I say, especially if the recitation is in a quiet prayer where he recited a verse of prostration, it may be better in some cases not to prostrate it, because it causes confusion in the minds of people who do not know. But if he is praying in a mosque where his people know him personally and they are upon the Sunnah and have some knowledge of jurisprudence, then if he prostrates the prostration of recitation, even in a quiet prayer, it does not cause commotion or confusion, then the recommended practice is to prostrate it. Other than that.
Source
www.al-albany.com
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