“If the reciter does not prostrate, the attentive listener does not prostrate either.”

His statement, “If the reciter does not prostrate, the attentive listener does not prostrate either,” means that if the reciter does not perform the prostration, the attentive listener does not do so either, because the listener’s prostration follows that of the reciter: the reciter is the principal, and the attentive listener is subsidiary to him.

The evidence for this is the hadith of Zayd ibn Thabit: “He recited Surah al-Najm to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and did not prostrate during it.” (1) The words, “He recited Surah al-Najm and did not prostrate during it,” indicate that Zayd ibn Thabit did not prostrate. Had he prostrated, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, would have prostrated, just as the Companions used to prostrate along with the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, and he did not reproach them. He did not say, “Do not prostrate, for you did not recite.” Rather, he approved of their doing so.

Thus, the hadith of Zayd ibn Thabit is evidence that if the reciter does not prostrate, the attentive listener does not prostrate either. It cannot validly be used as evidence that the recitation prostration in the shorter Quranic surahs has been abrogated, as some scholars have held. For it is established in Sahih Muslim, on the authority of Abu Hurayrah, that the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, prostrated in Surah al-Inshiqaq—“When the sky is split apart”—and in Surah al-Alaq—“Recite.” (2) Both are among the shorter surahs.

Question: May the attentive listener remind the reciter, saying, “Prostrate”?

We say: If it is possible that he has forgotten, then he should remind him. But if forgetfulness is not a possibility—such as when he is aware—then he should not remind him, because he has deliberately left it off, perhaps in order to demonstrate, if he is a student of knowledge, that the prostration of recitation is not obligatory.

His statement, “and it,” refers to the prostration of recitation.

“It consists of fourteen prostrations, two of them in Surah al-Hajj.”

His statement, “fourteen prostrations,” means that the verses of prostration in the Quran amount to fourteen prostrations only, neither more nor less.