275 – Ibn ʿAbbās (may Allah be pleased with them both) said, “Ṣād is not one of the obligatory prostration passages, yet I have seen the Messenger of Allah ﷺ prostrate during it.” Reported by al-Bukhārī (1).
Glossary of the ḥadīth
• Ṣād: The commentators note that the scholars differ over the disjointed letters found at the opening of certain sūrahs. Some say they are Allah’s secret in the Quran, whose meaning He alone knows; others say they are names of the chapters; still others contend that Allah used them to challenge the Arabs, as though saying: “The Quran is composed of these letters you already know: ‘Then produce a sūrah like it and call upon your helpers besides Allah, if you are truthful’ (2:23).” There are numerous views on how to read the letter Ṣād, its grammatical status, and its pronunciation, the most common being to recite it in a state of sukūn (without a vowel).
• “Is not among the prostration obligations (ʿazāʾim al-sujūd)”: ʿAzāʾim is the plural of ʿazīmah, meaning something that has been emphatically commanded. The prostration in Surah Ṣād therefore carries no binding injunction; it is only mentioned in the form of a report that David—peace be upon him—performed it as gratitude to Allah, and our Prophet ﷺ followed him in that.
Points derived from the ḥadīth
- The ḥadīth shows that the prostration in Surah Ṣād is not one of the binding prostrations; no explicit command or encouragement to prostrate there has been transmitted, unlike the other prostrations of the Quran.