is not like prostration in general, because it requires the imam to interrupt the sermon and make many movements. The Sunnah is to deliver the sermon without interruption. When these two considerations conflict, prostration is no longer obligatory, because the reciter is engaged in a superior act of worship: delivering the sermon to the people. If he does prostrate, however, that is permissible.

For this reason, Mālik and others say that this prostration is not recommended. He said: “It is not our practice for the imam to prostrate when he recites from the pulpit.” Likewise, he did not consider prostration recommended in prayer, whether the recitation is silent or audible.

Ahmad, according to one of the two reports from him, Abū Hanīfah, and others say that it is not recommended in prayers with silent recitation. Yet Abū Hanīfah considers prostration obligatory, and Ahmad, according to one of the two reports from him, considers it obligatory within prayer. Nevertheless, they did not recommend it in this situation; rather, they regarded maintaining the continuity of the prayer as preferable. Similarly, Umar may have meant that it was not prescribed in a situation such as this, just as some also say that it is not recommended in this situation.

This is comparable to supplication at Arafat: since the Sunnah is to continue it without interruption, it was not interrupted for the afternoon prayer; rather, that prayer was performed beforehand. Likewise, the preacher’s purpose on Friday is to address the people, enjoin them to do good and forbid them from wrongdoing, and then lead the prayer immediately afterwards. They are therefore not required to turn away from this purpose, especially since prostration will follow it. This indicates that prostration of recitation may be set aside for something superior to it. Do you not