They therefore said, “They must humble themselves and submit, for that is required of everyone to whom the Qur’an is recited.”

The term sujūd (prostration) can, they argued, be used in the broader sense of simple humility and submission, as has been explained elsewhere.

But the reply is this: Humility is indeed enjoined, yet a person’s humility and reverence are not complete unless they include the well-known physical prostration, which, in principle, is obligatory upon every individual. This is what is meant by the prostration ascribed to the Children of Adam wherever it is mentioned in the Qur’an, for it is the human being’s act of abject submission before the Lord—and the Lord will not accept from people anything short of this, since it represents the servant’s ultimate expression of humility. Every creature has a form of submission suited to it; that is its prostration.

As for claiming that human sujūd signifies nothing more than inward humility without placing one’s face on the ground, such a usage is unknown.

Rather, one should say: When the Qur’an is recited to them, they are commanded to prostrate. Even if the full prostration does not occur immediately after hearing the recitation, it must still take place between two prayers; once they rise for the next prayer they will have performed the obligatory prostration. From the moment the Qur’an is recited to them they experience a measure of humility and reverence by acknowledging the obligation and resolving to comply. Their recognition of the duty of prayer and their determination to perform it constitute the beginning of the commanded prostration, and when they actually pray, that prostration is complete—

just as He says concerning the polytheists: “If they repent and establish …”