and when an action of his is performed in compliance with a command or to explain something stated without detail, it carries the same ruling as that which it fulfils and explains. Thus, since he, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, performed one bow and two prostrations in every unit of prayer, both were obligatory. By doing so, he fulfilled Allah’s command to bow and prostrate and explained what the Quran had mentioned without elaboration. Likewise, his Sunnah is the reference for how to prostrate.

He used to offer obligatory and voluntary prayers, and people prayed during his lifetime. He never prayed without returning to an upright posture after bowing and prostrating and coming to rest in all the postures of prayer. Everyone who transmitted accounts of his obligatory and voluntary prayers reported this. People prayed during his lifetime, and he never prayed without returning to an upright posture after bowing and prostrating and coming to rest. His Companions likewise prayed in this manner during his lifetime. This establishes the obligation to pause and come to rest in these movements, just as it establishes their required number: two prostrations for every bow.

Furthermore, his constant observance of this in every prayer, every day, despite the great number of prayers, is among the strongest proofs that it is obligatory. Had it not been obligatory, he would have omitted it at least once to demonstrate that doing so was permissible, or he would have explained verbally that it could be omitted. Since he never indicated, either by word or deed, that it could be omitted, while consistently observing it himself, this is evidence that it is obligatory.

Furthermore, it is authentically reported from him, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, in Sahīh al-Bukhārī: