Sajdah-e-Tilawat: The difference between sajdah-tilaawah and the sajdah of prayer
Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,
As Salaam Aleikum wa
Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be
upon all of you)
One of our
brothers/sisters has asked this question:
Assalaam o
thanks for your help,
please advise us how we can pay Sajdah-e-Tilawat,
mean same time or what
we have to recite some aayat one time or what act we
have to do
Regards
(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)
Answer:
Sajdah-e-Tilawat
In the name of Allah, We praise
Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none
can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright.
We bear witness that there is no one (no idol,
no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam,
no dai,
nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that
Muhammad(saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.
The act of prostration or ‘sajdah’ at the prescribed places in the Holy Quran were performed by the Messenger of Allah (saws), and are thus part
of the Sunnah.
The way or Sunnah
of the Messenger of Allah (saws) was that whenever he used to recite or listen
to the Holy Quran, and came to one of the sajdah aayahs, he would stop the recitation and go down into
sajdah. But,
when he was on the pulpit, or on a
vehicle (camel, horse, donkey, etc.),
and when during the recitation of the Holy Quran, he (saws) came across one of the sajdah aayahs, he would continue or complete his sermon or
his ride, and would perform the sajdah later.
Allah says in the Holy
Quran Chapter 33 Surah Ahzab verse 21:There is indeed the
best example for you to follow in the Messenger of Allah, for every such person
looks forward to Allah and the Last Day, and remembers Allah much.
Thus if one recites the Quran and comes across a sajdah aayah, and he/she is
in a position and place where they can perform the sajdah
immediately; they should stop reciting
the Quran and bow down in prostration to the Lord of
the Worlds.
If Allah has blessed you or any
believer to recite the Glorious Quran while traveling,
and you come across a sajdah aayah
of the Holy Quran, then you should take the precedent set
by Allah’s Messenger (saws), and perform
the act of sajdah once you have reached your
destination or whenever you get the opportunity to do it.
The way to do an Islamic sajdah is to prostrate oneself on the ground in the
direction of the Qiblah, whereby one’s knees, toes, palms, and forehead touch the ground. In sajdah, one may
glorify Allah Subhanah just as one glorifies Him in
the sajdah while praying, and say, “Subhanah Rabbi Al-A’ala”.
The difference between sajdah-tilaawah and the sajdah of
prayer is that in the sajdah-tilaawah there is no rukooh before the sajdah, nor tasleem after the sajdah.
Whatever written of Truth and
benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error
is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He
is the Only Source of Strength.
Your Brother in Islam,
Burhan