In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds And peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad ﷺ And upon his family and companions.
Sujood At-Tilawah
The prostration of recitation is something that the Prophet ﷺ did and it is to offer one single prostration at a particular position when a reciter recites an ayah in the Qur’an.
It is either you are doing so while in prayer or you’re doing it outside of the prayer when you’re reading or revising the Qur’an. The format of this is quite easy If you pass by it in the Qur’an, there are 14 ayahs according to the most authentic opinion of the scholars.
We offer this sujood if you pass by it while reading the Quran or you offer the prostration, if you are in salat, you say Allahu Akbar and you fall and prostrate and then you say the normal adhkar. And you rise up by saying Allahu Akbar If you’re outside the prayer.
If you’re not praying, you only offer one takbir and you say Allahu Akbar and you prostrate. When you rise up, you don’t say anything and you don’t offer salam.
If you are listening to someone Who is reciting the Qur’an and he passes by an ayah with prostration, If he prostrates, it is a sunnah for you to do so as well. If he doesn’t, then in this case You do not have to prostrate and it’s not a sunnah for you to prostrate because he did not do so.
Al-Bukhari and Muslim Reported that Ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with him and his father narrates He said that the Prophet ﷺ was reciting a surah to us that contained a sajdah And he performed the sajdah (the prostration) And we prostrated alongside him and there was no spot for some of us to find on the ground to offer their prostration because they all went to prostrate Like the Prophet ﷺ did.
And also, in Al-Bukhari and Muslim Abu Rafi’ May Allah be pleased with him says I prayed with Abu Hurairah May Allah be pleased with him and he prayed an ayah in the surah of ( إِذَا ٱلسَّمَآءُ ٱنشَقَّتْ ), So he prostrated and I said What is this? So, he said I prayed behind the Prophet ﷺ and he offered it So I still offer this prostration Whenever I recite this surah until I meet Allah, the Almighty.
What is the virtue of such a sajdah?
In the authentic hadith the Prophet ﷺ said, When the son of Adam recites a verse in which there is a sajdah and he prostrates Shaytan withdraws weeping and He says Woe to him (Shaytan),the son of Adam was commanded to prostrate and he prostrated So paradise will be his destiny, and I was commanded to prostrate but I refused So the fire will be my (Shaytan) fate .
And the adhkar to be said in such a prostration are:
سُبْـحانَ رَبِّـيَ الأَعْلـى
Subḥaana Rabbiya ‘l-a`laa. Glory is to my Lord, the Most High.
Also, you can say
سُبْـحانَكَ اللّهُـمَّ رَبَّـنا وَبِحَـمْدِكَ اللّهُـمَّ اغْفِرْ لي
Subḥaanaka Allaahumma Rabbanaa wa biḥamdika Allaahumma ‘ghfir lee.
Glory is to You, O Allah, our Lord, and praise is Yours. O Allah, forgive me.
All is mentioned and prescribed in the authentic sunnah
Also, there is a longer dua where the Prophet used to say
اللّهُـمَّ لَكَ سَـجَدْتُ وَبِـكَ آمَنْـت وَلَكَ أَسْلَـمْت سَجَـدَ وَجْهـي للَّـذي خَلَقَـهُ وَصَـوَّرَهُ وَشَقَّ سَمْـعَـهُ وَبَصَـرَه تَبـارَكَ اللهُ أَحْسـنُ الخـالِقيـن
Allaahumma laka sajadtuwa bika aamantu. wa laka aslamtu. sajada waj’hiya lilladhee khalaqahu, wa ṣawwarahu. wa shaqqa sam`ahu wa baṣarahu. tabaarakallaahu ‘aḥsanul-khaaliqeen.
O Allah, to You I prostrate myself and in You I believe. To You I have submitted. My face is prostrated to the One Who created it, fashioned it, and gave it hearing and sight. Blessed is Allah, the Best of creators
And this again is the sunnah you can choose whichever you wish if you just limit yourself to Subḥaana Rabbiya ‘l-a`laa that would suffice beautifully.
This prostration is not a prayer it is not obligatory to face the Qiblah. it’s part of the sunnah as well that when the Prophet used to travel to pray voluntary prayers wherever he’s directed to other than the direction of the Qibla. If this prostration of recitation is not in Salat, there is no problem in offering it without facing the Qiblah. it is also permissible for you to offer it without being in the state of wudu. And this is the opinion of a number of scholars that follow the Quran and the Sunnah with the understanding of the favourite three generations.
If your awrah is covered and you’re in the state of wudu and you face the Qibla you’ve done a beautiful job when offering such a prostration but it is not mandatory if you are not in salat. Women can offer this sujood without being in the state of hijab and likewise we can offer this prostration of recitation at any given time even at times of restrictions because the time of restrictions is only for praying.
The place of the recitation of tilawah
There are 14 according to the most authentic opinion of scholars with 2 in Surah Al-Hajj However the one in Surah Saad this is an issue of dispute, Ibn Abbas may Allah be pleased with him said that it is not one of the places where a prostration is required, meaning mandatory, however I saw the Prophet salallahu alaihi wa sallam prostrating at that point.
Nevertheless, the scholars say that it is part of the 14 places or positions one should offer it in and Allah azza wa jal knows best.