this gesture. Moving the eyes, however, is not prostration in any sense. The proponents of both views thus agree that prayer must include prostration: one holds that gesturing with the eyes constitutes prostration, while the other holds that it does not, and therefore the person does not pray. If prayer were valid without prostration despite the ability to perform it, one could pronounce the opening takbīr, recite, say the tashahhud, and conclude with the salutation of peace, thereby performing the verbal components without the physical acts. Yet I know of no one who has held that prayer is valid through words alone; rather, prostration is indispensable. Standing and recitation, by contrast, are waived when one is unable to perform them, by agreement of the imams. This establishes that prostration is the greatest of prayer’s pillars, whether verbal or physical.

The third argument:

Standing becomes an act of worship only through recitation or the remembrance and supplication performed during it, as when standing in the funeral prayer. Merely standing has never been prescribed as an act of worship when remembrance is possible. Prostration, by contrast, is prescribed as an act of worship in its own right. Even outside prayer, prostration has been prescribed for Quran recitation, gratitude, and other purposes.

As for someone praying behind an imam who does not recite, he listens to his imam’s recitation, and his listening is an act of worship. If he does not hear it, there is disagreement over whether recitation is obligatory for him, though it is better for him to recite. Those who say that recitation is not required of him, or that it is not recommended for him, hold that the imam’s recitation counts as his own, since he follows the imam.