The 365 · Sunnah · Day 256 · Quran
The Prostration of Recitation (Sajdat al-Tilāwah)
The hadith
عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ النَّبِيُّ ﷺ: «إِذَا قَرَأَ ابْنُ آدَمَ السَّجْدَةَ فَسَجَدَ اعْتَزَلَ الشَّيْطَانُ يَبْكِي يَقُولُ: يَا وَيْلَهُ أُمِرَ ابْنُ آدَمَ بِالسَّجْدَةِ فَسَجَدَ فَلَهُ الْجَنَّةُ وَأُمِرْتُ بِالسَّجْدَةِ فَأَبَيْتُ فَلِيَ النَّارُ»
The Prophet ﷺ said: When the son of Ādam recites a verse of prostration and prostrates, Shayṭān withdraws weeping, saying: alas, the son of Ādam was commanded to prostrate and he prostrated, so for him is Paradise; and I was commanded to prostrate and I refused, so for me is the Fire. (Muslim)
Svenska: Profeten ﷺ sa: När Ådams son reciterar en nedsänkningsvers och nedsänker sig, drar Shayṭān sig tillbaka gråtande och säger: ack, Ådams son befalldes att nedsänka sig och han gjorde det, så för honom är Paradiset; och jag befalldes att nedsänka mig och jag vägrade, så för mig är Elden. (Muslim)
Sahih Muslim 81, on the authority of Abū Hurayrah. There are 14 verses of sajdah in the Qur'an (per Shāfiʿī, 15 per others), each occasioning a recommended prostration when recited.
The story
The first sajdah verse to be recited in Makkah was in Sūrat al-Najm (53:62: fa-sjudū li-llāhi wa-ʿbudū, so prostrate to Allah and worship). When the Prophet ﷺ recited it publicly, even the disbelieving Quraysh in attendance prostrated involuntarily, struck by the verse's power. Only one man refused: Abū Lahab. The prostration verses have a force that even unbelief cannot always resist.
Why it's here
The Qur'an has specific verses that command or describe prostration. When the believer recites or hears one, the Sunnah is to immediately prostrate (after takbīr). The act is the body's response to the verse: the verse describes the prostration of creation; the body joins creation in the prostration. Shayṭān weeps at this act, named in the hadith.
Try it today
1) Memorize the references of the sajdah verses: 7:206, 13:15, 16:50, 17:109, 19:58, 22:18, 22:77, 25:60, 27:26, 32:15, 38:24, 41:38, 53:62, 84:21, 96:19. 2) When you reach one in your daily Qur'an reading, pause, make takbīr, prostrate. 3) Say in sujūd: sajada wajhī li-lladhī khalaqahu wa shaqqa samʿahu wa baṣarahu bi-ḥawlihi wa quwwatih (the Prophet's ﷺ duʿāʾ in sajdat al-tilāwah, Tirmidhī).
In your day
When you read or hear a sajdah verse, do not skip past it. Make takbīr and prostrate. The prostration is brief (one sajdah, no rakʿah needed) and may be done in your clothes wherever you are, as long as facing the qiblah is possible. Memorize the locations of the sajdah verses so you can prepare.
A reflection to carry
There is a deep theology in this Sunnah. Iblīs's entire downfall was his refusal to prostrate. The believer who prostrates at a sajdah verse is, in miniature, performing the act Iblīs refused, choosing the path Iblīs declined. The hadith says Shayṭān WEEPS at this act, because the believer just did what Shayṭān could not. The reward in the hadith is Paradise. The price is one sajdah. The math is staggering.
Read the longer reflection
The sajdah verses each describe a category of creation in prostration. 22:18 names everything in the heavens and earth as prostrating: the sun, moon, stars, mountains, trees, animals, and many of mankind. The believer who recites this verse and joins the prostration is, by his body, declaring: I am with the mountains, with the angels, with everything that knows its Lord. The believer who recites it and does NOT prostrate is declaring, by inaction: I am with the 'many of mankind' on whom the punishment has been justified. The choice is in the body. The Sunnah was not for nothing; the prostration of recitation is the small daily reaffirmation of where you stand in creation. Tonight, in your Qur'an reading, if you encounter a sajdah verse, do not pass. Stop. Make takbīr. Place your forehead on the ground. Speak the duʿāʾ of sujūd. Lift. Watch the difference in how the rest of your recitation feels. Yā Allāh, let our bodies join Your obedient creation when the verse calls. Let Shayṭān weep at our prostrations as he wept at the prostrations of those before us. Āmīn.
Sources: Sahih Muslim, Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi, Nasai, Ibn Majah. The Qur'an and its translation are verified; the scholarship is retold faithfully in our own words and credited to its sources, never reproduced verbatim.
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