Likewise, he would combine glorification with the declaration that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah while bowing and prostrating, as reported in Sahīh Muslim from ‘Ā’ishah, who said:

“One night I missed the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and thought that he had gone to one of his other wives. I searched for him, then returned, only to find him bowing or prostrating, saying, ‘Glory be to You, and praise be to You. There is no god but You.’ I said, ‘May my father and mother be sacrificed for you! I was preoccupied with one thing, while you were occupied with quite another!’”

All these hadiths show that he would glorify Allah while bowing and prostrating. Sometimes he would combine glorification with praise and the declaration that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah, and sometimes with supplication. It has not been reported that he pronounced takbīr while bowing or prostrating.

As for reciting the Quran in these two postures, it is authentically established that he said:

“I have been forbidden to recite the Quran while bowing or prostrating.”

Muslim narrated this through reports from ‘Alī and Ibn ‘Abbās. This is because the Quran is the speech of Allah, so it is to be recited only in an elevated posture. Takbīr, likewise, belongs to a state of rising.

The majority of scholars hold that glorifying Allah while bowing and prostrating is prescribed. It is reported from Mālik that he disliked doing so invariably, lest it be thought obligatory. They then differed over whether it is obligatory. The well-known position reported from Ahmad, Ishāq, Dāwūd, and others is that it is obligatory, whereas the position reported from Abū Hanīfah and al-Shāfi‘ī is that it is recommended.

Among those who hold it obligatory are some who say that the specific wording required is “Glory be to my Lord, the Magnificent”