the Qur’an recited to him; that recitation is itself the cause for the command to prostrate. Hence, when he hears the Qur’an he prostrates: the imam, while leading the congregation, hears his own recitation and prostrates, and the person praying alone hears his own voice as he recites the Qur’an to himself.
Some might object that the phrase simply means, “they do not pray.” Yet His words, “they fall down in prostration” (32:15), are an explicit reference to the familiar physical prostration, because they are paired with the verb “fall down.” As for the other verse, there is a difference of opinion. Abū al-Faraj said about the verse, “And when the Qur’an is recited to them, they do not prostrate” (84:21): there are two interpretations.
- “They do not pray,” a view reported from ʿAṭāʾ and Ibn al-Sāʾib.
- “They do not humble themselves to it or submit to it,” an interpretation given by Ibn Jarīr and preferred by the jurist Qāḍī Abū Yaʿlā.
He added: Some have cited this verse as proof that the prostration of recitation is obligatory, but it provides no such evidence. What it condemns is their lack of reverence; do you not see that He attributes prostration to the whole Qur’an, while the prostration of recitation is confined to particular passages?
I say: The first interpretation is the one that many