and others—regards this prostration in exactly the same light. For that reason the Shaykh said in al-Ikhtiyārāt: “The prostration of gratitude does not require ritual purity, just like the prostration of recitation.”

3 – The Shāfiʿīs and Ḥanbalīs hold that the prostration of gratitude is recommended. Ibn al-Qayyim said, “Even if no texts had come commanding prostration upon the renewal of blessings, pure analogy and the very nature of servitude in times of hopeful yearning would have dictated it.” By contrast, the Ḥanafīs and Mālikīs do not recommend the prostration of gratitude.

4 – The prostration of gratitude differs from the prostration of recitation in that the latter is permissible within the prayer when the worshipper recites a verse of prostration, whereas the prostration of gratitude—according to the Ḥanbalīs—invalidates the prayer. In Sharḥ al-Zād it is stated: “Outside of prayer, the prostration of gratitude is recommended whenever a new blessing is bestowed or a calamity is averted, and it invalidates the prayer of anyone who is neither ignorant nor forgetful. Allah knows best.”