Concerning the prostration of Qurʼānic recitation

He states: “Ibn ʿUmar narrated: ‘The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) would recite the Qurʼān to us; whenever he reached a verse that requires prostration, he would pronounce the takbīr, then prostrate, and we would prostrate with him.’ The report is related by Abū Dāwūd, al-Bayhaqī, and al-Ḥākim, who judged it ‘sound according to the criteria of the two Shaykhs.’

I say: There are two remarks to be made.

First: The ḥadīth is weak, because the chain preserved by Abū Dāwūd—and from him by al-Bayhaqī—contains ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar al-ʿUmari, and he is weak, as al-Ḥāfiẓ stated in al-Talkhīṣ. Accordingly, he wrote in Bulūgh al-Marām, ‘Its chain contains some weakness,’ and al-Nawawī said in al-Majmūʿ, ‘Its isnād is weak.’

Furthermore, a number of Companions have transmitted accounts of the Prophet’s (Allah bless him and grant him peace) prostration of recitation across many verses and occasions, yet none of them mention that he uttered the takbīr before prostrating. We therefore incline toward the view that this takbīr is not prescribed, a position also reported from Imām Abū Ḥanīfah (may Allah have mercy on him).