And His words, “they do not prostrate” [al-Inshiqāq 84:21]—rather than “they do not pray”—show that prostration is intended for its own sake. The phrase therefore covers prostration performed inside the prayer and outside it, and by extension every form of humble submission and devotion, as has been explained. The Qur’an thus makes obligatory the very concept of sujūd in all its varieties: there is no type of prostration but that the Qur’an makes it binding. Whoever refuses to prostrate at all when the Qur’an is recited to him is a disbeliever. Still, not every prostration is required at every moment; its obligation follows the limits laid down by the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Yet the verse does indicate that the prostration should be repeated whenever the recitation is repeated, and this is obligatory whether the Qur’an is read to a person during prayer or outside it, as mentioned earlier. Allah knows best.

With regard to the unqualified command to prostrate, it unquestionably includes the five daily prayers—for they are obligatory by consensus—and it also encompasses the prostrations of Qur’anic recitation, because the Prophet ﷺ instituted sujūd at those specific points. Whatever is recited must therefore serve as the cause for that act; otherwise it would be unrelated. What is mentioned here is nothing but the command itself, which proves that this prostration belongs to the category of commanded sujūd. If not, how could a prostration that is coupled with a divine command fall outside that command? It is like the angels’ prostration to Adam when they were ordered to do so.

Likewise, the authentic ḥadīth states: “When the son of Adam recites a verse of prostration, Satan withdraws weeping and says, ‘Woe unto me! The son of Adam was commanded…’”