a fifth of it” (1)—according to how much of it you consciously grasp. Thus, hearts pass from one state to another.
Then the Almighty said:
“What is the matter with them that they do not believe, and when the Quran is recited to them, they do not prostrate?”
“What is the matter with them”—what prevents them from believing? What harm would come to them if they believed in Allah and the Last Day and spent from what Allah had provided them? What prevents them from believing, and what harm would they suffer if they believed? The believing man from Pharaoh’s household said:
“Would you kill a man merely for saying, ‘My Lord is Allah,’ when he has brought you clear proofs from your Lord? If he is lying, his lie will be upon him; but if he is truthful, some of what he threatens you with will befall you.” [Ghāfir: 28]
What harm, then, would come to a person if he believed? Thus, rebuking them, He said:
“What is the matter with them that they do not believe, and when the Quran is recited to them, they do not prostrate?”
That is, they do not submit to Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He. Prostration here means submission to Allah. Even if you do not physically prostrate upon the ground, the heart must prostrate, soften, and humble itself. If this is your state, then you are among the believers:
“When His verses are recited to them, they increase them in faith.” [al-Anfāl: 2]
If this is not the state of your heart, however, then you bear some resemblance to the polytheists who do not prostrate when the Quran is recited to them. One sign of submission to Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, when reciting the Quran is that, upon reading a verse of prostration, a person prostrates to Allah in humility and submission.
Some scholars have cited this verse as evidence that the prostration of recitation is obligatory. They maintain that anyone who passes by a verse of prostration without prostrating is sinful. The correct view, however, is that it is not obligatory. Although the view that it is obligatory is the position of Abū Hanīfa and the opinion preferred by Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyya—may Allah have mercy upon him—it is nevertheless the weaker view.
This is because it is authentically established that the Commander of the Faithful, Umar ibn al-Khattāb—may Allah be pleased with him—once addressed the people and recited Sūrat al-Nahl. When he reached the verse of prostration, he descended from the pulpit and prostrated. On the following Friday, he recited it again but passed over that verse without prostrating. He then said—may Allah be pleased with him—“Allah has not