(1) This was stated by Said ibn Jubayr, from Qatada, from al-Hasan. See al-Qurtubi, Tafsir, 9:265; Zad al-Masir, 4:290. (2) This was held by al-Thawri, al-Dahhak, and others, as reported by al-Qurtubi, Tafsir, 9:265. Al-Tabari likewise reports it from al-Dahhak and Sufyan al-Thawri. They said that prostration was a form of greeting among them. Ibn Zayd said: It was a prostration in honor of him, just as the angels prostrated to Adam in honor of him; it was not a prostration of worship. Al-Tabari said: What is meant is that this was their customary practice, not an act of worship. Evidence that such conduct was an ancient human custom, before Islam, and was not worship, is found in the words of Asha of Banu Thalaba: “When Buayd came to us shortly after sleep, we prostrated to him and raised Ammar.” See al-Tabari, Tafsir, 16:270. (3) Al-Tabari reports from Ibn Abbas: “He raised his parents onto the throne, and they prostrated to him, as did his brothers.” This contradicts what al-Baghawi mentioned. Al-Naqqash said: “This is an error, for the pronoun refers to Yusuf, as indicated by Allah's saying at the beginning of the surah, ‘I saw them prostrating to me.’ Their greeting was for the lowly to prostrate to the noble, and for the young to the old.” See al-Tabari, Tafsir, 16:269; al-Qurtubi, Tafsir, 9:264. (4) The exegetes unanimously agree that this prostration, whatever its precise form, was a greeting and not worship. Qatada said: “This was the greeting of kings among them, whereas Allah gave this community the greeting of the people of Paradise: peace.” Al-Qurtubi observed that this abrogated practice had become customary among some people in his own time, and censured them, saying: “This bowing and deferential bending, which has been abrogated for us, has become customary in the Egyptian lands and among the non-Arabs, as has people standing for one another. Indeed, if one of them is not stood for, he feels slighted, as though he were of no consequence and had no standing. Likewise, when they meet, they bow to one another—an entrenched custom and an established inherited practice—especially when princes and leaders meet. They have departed from the Sunnahs and turned away from the Sunnahs.” Anas ibn Malik reported: “We said, ‘Messenger of Allah, should we bow to one another when we meet?’ He said, ‘No.’ We said, ‘Should we embrace one another?’ He said, ‘No.’ We said, ‘Should we shake hands with one another?’ He said, ‘Yes.’” Abu Umar ibn Abd al-Barr included it in al-Tamhid. See al-Qurtubi, Tafsir, 9:265-266; see also al-Muharrar al-Wajiz, 8:80; Ibn Kathir, Tafsir, 2:491-492. (5) Omitted from “A.”