Question:
If a verse of Sajdah is recited during prayer, should the prostration (Sajdah) be performed within the prayer?
Answer:
To understand this properly we must first clarify something, because many people misunderstand the verses of sajdah. If you take a printed copy of the Qur’an, you will notice that in the margins there are markings indicating places of sajdah.
In most printed Qur’ans about fifteen verses are marked with the word sajdah written beside them. These markings are usually printed in the margin, not inside the actual Qur’anic text. When readers reach those verses, they are told that they should perform a prostration.
But it is important to understand that these markings are not part of the original Qur’an. If you look at the ancient manuscripts compiled during the time of Uthman ibn Affan(RA), which are preserved in museums today, you will not find such markings indicating fifteen verses of sajdah.
The Qur’an itself is preserved perfectly, but the marginal notes were later additions by scholars or scribes who wanted to indicate where prostration might be performed. Over time those markings became standardized in printed Qur’ans.
Now the question arises: who decided that these fifteen verses are the places of sajdah? Did Prophetﷺ explicitly say that there are fifteen such verses? When we look for authentic narrations, we do not find a clear, strong hadith stating that exactly fifteen verses must be treated as verses of sajdah. Instead, what we find are scattered narrations mentioning certain specific verses where the Prophetﷺ performed sajdah.
Another interesting point is that even those who accept the markings in printed Qur’ans do not always treat all fifteen the same way. For example, the Hanafi and Shafiʿi schools both generally recognize fourteen prostrations, not fifteen.
In Surah al-Hajj there are two verses marked for sajdah in many Qur’ans—verse 18 and verse 77. But the Hanafi scholars do not perform sajdah for the second one. So although fifteen are printed, they practice fourteen. Meanwhile the Shafiʿi scholars omit a different one—Surah Sad, verse 24. So again they end up with fourteen. This shows that even among scholars there was disagreement regarding the exact number.
When we look at the authentic hadith literature, what we actually find is evidence for sajdah in only a few specific verses.
For example, there is evidence that the Prophetﷺ performed sajdah when reciting the last verse of Surah al-ʿAlaq, which is 96:19. This is reported in Sahih Muslim.
There is also evidence that he performed sajdah when reciting Surah al-Inshiqaq, verse 84:21, and Surah an-Najm, verse 53:62.
These are recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari and other hadith books. Another narration indicates that he performed sajdah at Surah Sad, verse 38:24.
These reports together give us clear evidence for these particular verses.But the long list of fifteen marked in the margins of printed Qur’ans does not come from single strong hadith stating that all fifteen must be treated as verses of sajdah. Some narrations mention eleven such places, but even those narrations are considered weak because of weaknesses in the chain of transmission.
So based on authentic evidence, the verses most clearly established are four: the verses in Surah Sad, Surah an-Najm, Surah al-Inshiqaq, and Surah al-ʿAlaq. These are the ones for which strong reports exist that the Prophetﷺ performed sajdah when reciting them.
Now coming back to the actual question: if one of these verses is recited during prayer, what should be done? If a person is praying and reaches one of these verses, he should go directly into sajdah. He should not first go into rukūʿ. Instead, he should go straight into the prostration of recitation, then stand up again and continue the recitation, and then proceed with the normal rukūʿ and the rest of the prayer.
There is evidence for this in a narration where Abu Hurairah led the night prayer and recited Surah al-Inshiqaq. When he reached the verse of sajdah, he performed prostration. Someone asked him afterward why he did that during the prayer. He replied that he saw the Prophetﷺ do the same thing, and that he would continue doing it until he meets Allahﷻ . This narration is recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari.
So, if a person recites one of these verses during prayer, he may perform sajdah and then continue the prayer. However, it is not obligatory. There are also reports showing that the Prophetﷺ sometimes recited such verses and did not perform the sajdah. This shows that the sajdah of recitation is recommended but not compulsory.
Therefore, if you are praying alone and you recite one of those verses, you may perform the sajdah and continue the prayer. If you are praying in congregation, then you follow the imam. If the imam performs the sajdah, you perform it with him. If the imam does not perform it, you do not break the prayer to perform it on your own. Since it is not obligatory, you simply continue the prayer normally.