The Ocean of the Quran

A verse by verse explanation of The Ultimate Scripture

Al-ʿAlaq‎ – Verse 19

كَلّا لا تُطِعهُ وَاسجُد وَاقتَرِب

No! Do not obey him, but prostrate and draw near.

EXPOSITION

The last verse of this surah begins yet again with the emphatic particle of negation and rejection: kallā,‎[1] meaning: No indeed, the matter is not as Abū Jahl thinks for he is unable to stop you from worship, rather place your trust in God, do not obey him or pay heed to him when he prevents you from praying (which resembles the imperative in 68:8), persevere in the worship of God, and prostrate thereby drawing close to God. The imperative usjud (prostrate) indicates obligation.‎[2] Alternatively, the particle of aversion kallā could be in the sense of negation or the impossibility or incapacity of the person creating obstacles to God’s worship such as Abū Jahl being able to call his associates which is what verse 17 refers to, in which case verse 17 is similar to 2:23, meaning it is an imperative to an opponent in favour of an impossible task, knowing full well that the opponent would be unable to meet the challenge.‎[3]

It is suggested that the imperative prostrate in this verse is one in favour of the ritual prayer,‎[4] which includes prostration. It is argued that the imperative do not obey him means: do not obey him when he demands that you stop from the ritual prayer, which is understood as circumstantial evidence in favour of interpreting the subsequent imperative prostrate to refer to the ritual prayer. Hence, this verse asks the Prophet to ignore his adversary and to continue his ritual prayer.‎[5] If the reports that describe the Prophet being taught the ritual prayer at the inception of his prophetic mission are to be relied on then these describe the ritual prayer as consisting of two cycles including the standing, kneeling, and bowing postures. Interpreting the imperative to prostrate as one in favour of continuing to say the ritual prayer would be in accordance with the general tenor of this surah, especially verses 9-10, as well as in accordance with the historical reports that describe the contextual background to these verses.

More generally, these verses can be taken as an instruction that people should not pay heed to those who deny religion or the efficacy of prayer and should continue to prostrate and draw close to God through prayer, for that is the means by which one draws closer to Him.

Prostration is an important factor in drawing close to God and is a posture during which a servant of God is nearest to Him.‎[6] It is interesting to note that in verse 15 the forelock/forehead of the disobedient person is threatened to be dragged violently to hellfire, while in this verse the forehead of the obedient person is instructed to be placed in prostration. In Muslim ritual and devotional law (fiqh al-ʿibādāt) there are four reasons or causes due to which a Muslim needs to prostrate. These are: 1. When saying the Muslim ritual prayer which consists of prostration (sajdat al-ṣalāh), 2. When forgetting something in the ritual prayer which results in addition or deficiency in the prayer (sajdat al-sahw). 3. The prostration of gratitude, made due to blessings obtained or afflictions removed (sajdat al-shukr). 4. The prostration due to the recitation of a verse of obligatory prostration (sajdat al-tilāwah).‎[7]

There are fifteen chapters in the Quran that contain verses where the pious are instructed to prostrate, however four of these chapters have been expressly identified by the Imams from the Prophet’s family as those which contain verses which obligate the reciter to prostrate immediately upon reciting them.‎[8] This obligation also applies to the attentive listener who hears them recited, while there is a debate regarding its obligation for the one who hears them being recited coincidentally. These four surahs are called the ʿazāʾim, and those verses are 32:15, 41:37, 53:62, and 96:19, while the remaining eleven are 7:204, 13:15, 16:49-50, 17:109, 19:58, 22:18, 22:77, 25:60, 27:24-25, 38:26, and 84:21. Specific recommended recitations have been transmitted from the Prophet and the Imams which may be recited during these prostrations, although their recital is not obligatory,‎[9] and in fact it is not obligatory to recite anything during these prostrations;‎[10] however, the transmitted recitations are truly rich in meaning. A specific manner has also been transmitted for actualising these prostrations. The special, transmitted recitations to be recited in such a prostration may be seen under Insights from Hadith, although essentially it is not obligatory to recite anything. Carrying out these prostrations does not require ritual purity such as the ritual ablution (wuḍūʾ) or the ritual bath (ghusl), and this is the more famous of Shia opinion,‎[11] although those who need to take the bath of ritual purity, such as those men who have experienced semen emission, or menstruating women and women experiencing postnatal bleeding, are forbidden to recite these verses.‎[12] Because these surahs contain verses, reciting which requires prostration, the Imams from the Prophet’s family have emphasised that these surahs should not be recited in obligatory ritual prayers but may be recited in voluntary ritual prayers, and this is the more well-known juridical opinion of the Shia scholars.‎[13] On reciting these verses in a voluntary ritual prayer, the worshipper must immediately prostrate and then continue with the rest of the prayer. The reason reciting these verses of obligatory prostration is not permitted in the obligatory ritual prayers is explained by the Imams from the Prophet’s family, which is that these verses necessitate immediate prostration on reciting them, however prostrating in the middle of the ritual prayer would lead to a non-legislated addition in the prayer, that is, an addition of a prostration in addition to the two legislated ones per cycle, which would corrupt and invalidate the prayer, while abandoning the prostration due to the recitation of a verse of obligatory prostration would be to abandon an obligation; and hence the instruction to avoid reciting these verses in the ritual prayer. Imam al-Bāqir (a) or al-Ṣādiq (a) explained to Zurārah as follows: ‘Do not recite any of the surahs containing verses of obligatory prostration in an obligatory ritual prayer for the prostration causes an addition in the obligatory prayer.’‎[14] Facing the direction of the Kaaba is not necessary when performing a prostration due to reciting a verse of obligatory prostration but it is better to face it if possible,‎[15] and if one forgets to prostrate or abandons it purposely then one can perform it the moment one remembers or repents in order to fulfil his/her obligation.‎[16] All these instructions are based on reports transmitted from the Imams from the Prophet’s family.

INSIGHTS FROM HADITH

  1. ʿAbd-Allāh ibn Masʿūd relates Prophet Muhammad (s) to have said: ‘The closest a slave [of Allah] is to Allah, glorified and exalted is He, is when he is prostrating, and that is the meaning of His speech, gloried and exalted is He: ‘… but prostrate and draw near [to God]!’‎[17] The same report has been transmitted from Imam al-Ṣādiq (a)‎[18] and Imam al-Riḍā (a).‎[19] This is while Abū Hurayrah, while relating the same from the Messenger of God, has the latter add: ‘… so increase your invocation in it [that is, in your prostration].’‎[20] This instruction may be understood by means of the following report which has the Prophet say: ‘As for the bowing [in the ritual prayer], exalt and glorify your Lord in it, and as for the prostration, exert yourself in invocations in it since it is deserving and worthy of a response for you.’‎[21]
  2. Imam Ali (a) said: ‘The surahs containing obligatory prostrations are four in number. These are: alif lām mīm tanzīl, ḥā mīm tanzīl, al-najm, and iqraʾ bi-smi rabbika.’‎[22] Imam al-Ṣādiq (a) has said the same in a report where he enumerates the same four surahs, and further adds: ‘Apart from these, all other surahs [containing verses of prostration] require the performance of a voluntary prostration by the reciter.’‎[23]
  3. It is related that when this verse was revealed, the Prophet prostrated and recited the following in prostration: ‘I seek refuge with Your satisfaction and pleasure from Your displeasure, and I seek refuge with Your forgiveness and leniency from Your punishment, and I seek refuge with You from You. I cannot enumerate Your praise to You. You are as You have praised Yourself.’‎[24]
  4. It is transmitted that Imam al-Ṣādiq (a) used to say the following in the obligatory prostration: ‘There is no god but Allah [and I testify to that] in [a state of] veritable truth. There is no god but Allah [and I testify to that] in [a state of] faith and sincere assent. There is no god but Allah [and I testify to that] in [a state of] sincere devotion and servitude. I have prostrated to You my Lord in devotion, worship, and servitude, not having turned away from Your worship in a state of pride and haughtiness or in disdain and scorn or in regarding myself great and presumptuous, rather I am a slave that is lowly, frightened, and seeking refuge.’ Then he would raise his head and magnify God (that is, say the takbīr).‎[25]
  5. ʿAbd-Allāh ibn Sinān relates from Imam al-Ṣādiq (a) who said: ‘If you recite any of the verses of ʿazāʾim which require [an obligatory] prostration to be made, then do not say the takbīr before the prostration but rather say the takbīr when you raise your head [from the prostration]. And the ʿazāʾim surahs are four in number: ḥā mīm sajdah, alif lām mīm tanzīl, al-najm, and iqraʾ bi-smi rabbik.’‎[26]
  6. Abū Baṣīr relates from Imam al-Ṣādiq (a) who said: ‘When any of the four verses of ʿazāʾim are recited and you hear them, prostrate‎[27] even if you are not in the state of ritual ablution (wuḍūʾ) and even if you are in the state of ritual impurity due to semen emission (junub), and even if a woman is in the state where she is obliged not to pray. As for the rest of the verses of prostration in the Quran you are at liberty; you may prostrate if you wish and you may not if you wish.’‎[28]
  7. Imam al-Bāqir (a) said: ‘If you recited a verse of prostration whilst seated [somewhere stationary] then prostrate facing the qibla; however if you recited it whilst riding astride [a mount], then prostrate in whichever direction you are facing, for the Messenger of Allah (s) prayed whilst seated on his mount and facing the direction of Medina, after his departure from Mecca, meaning the voluntary [prayer]. And the speech of Allah: So wherever you [might] turn, there is the face of Allah [2:115] is with regards to that.’‎[29]
  8. Samāʿah reports from the Imam who said: ‘Do not recite it [that is, a surah containing an obligatory prostration] in an obligatory ritual prayer, rather recite it in a voluntary ritual prayer.’‎[30]
  9. Ali ibn Jaʿfar relates from his brother Imam al-Kāẓim (a) who said: ‘[A person] should not … recite a surah containing a prostration in an obligatory ritual prayer.’‎[31]
[1] Mizan, 20/327.
[2] Aḥkām al-Qurʾān, 4/1960; Qalāʾid al-Durar, 1/257. It is generally accepted by the jurists that an imperative (such as an imperative verb) linguistically signifies obligation provided the imperative ensues from a superior agent to an inferior one and provided there are no circumstantial evidences that suggest otherwise, such as a mere recommendation or general permission (see Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence according to Shiʿa Law, pp. 80-81, and Mabādī Uṣūl al-Fiqh, pp. 40-44).
[3] Munyat al-Ṭālibīn fī Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-Mubīn, 30/516.
[4] Mizan, 20/327; Munyat al-Ṭālibīn fī Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-Mubīn, 30/518.
[5] Mizan, 20/327.
[6] Al-Aṣfā fī al-Tafsīr, 2/1461.
[7] Munyat al-Ṭālibīn fī Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-Mubīn, 30/518.
[8] Karakī, Jāmiʿ al-Maqāṣid, 2/313; Qalāʾid al-Durar, 1/259.
[9] Yazdī, al-ʿUrwah al-Wuthqā, 1/687.
[10] Qalāʾid al-Durar, 1/259.
[11] Qalāʾid al-Durar, 1/258.
[12] Baḥr al-ʿUlūm, al-Durrah al-Najafiyyah, p. 135.
[13] Qalāʾid al-Durar, 1/260.
[14] Wasail, 4/779, h. 1.
[15] Wasail, 4/259.
[16] Karakī, Jāmiʿ al-Maqāṣid, 2/313; Qalāʾid al-Durar, 1/259-260.
[17] Daqaiq, 14/351.
[18] Faqih, 1/134, h. 628.
[19] Uyun, 2/6-7, h. 15; Burhan, 5/697.
[20] Ibn Kathir, 8/424.
[21] Aḥkām al-Qurʾān, 4/1960.
[22] Aḥkām al-Qurʾān, 4/1960; Qalāʾid al-Durar, 1/257.
[23] Khisal, p. 252, h. 124; Nur, 5/609; Daqaiq, 14/345.
[24] Daqaiq, 14/351; ʿAwālī al-Laʾālī, 5/113-114, h. 176.
[25] Faqih, 1/201, h. 922, cited in Daqaiq, 14/351.
[26] Cited in Qalāʾid al-Durar, 1/257.
[27] The report of Imam al-Bāqir (a) transmitted by Muhammad ibn Muslim reiterates the instruction that the person who hears one of the four verses of ʿazāʾim being recited consequently needs to prostrate, as does the one who recited the verse in question (cited in Qalāʾid al-Durar, 1/256).
[28] Kafi, 3/318, h. 2.
[29] Kafi, 3/318, h. 2.
[30] Qalāʾid al-Durar, 1/260.
[31] Qurb al-Isnād, p. 93.