The Prostration of Recital

• There are 14 places for the prostration of recital in the Quran. These were noted in the mushaf of Uthman.
• Note: The second prostration in surat-ul-Hajj is for the prayer (not of recital - in disagreement with Shafi3iy), whereas there IS a prostration in suurah "Saad" (in disagreement with Shafi3iy).
• Note: The place for prostrating in suurah "Ha-Mim" is after aaya number 38 (not 37 as some scolars say). This is the saying of Omar, and is precautionary since it is allowed to postpone the prostration, but not the other way around.
• These prostrations are all a duty upon both the recitor and the listener, even if the latter did not intend to listen.
• If the leader of the prayer recited an aayah of prostration, then he prostrates and so does the followers.
• If the follower recites an aayah of prostration, then neither he nor the leader should prostrate during the prayer or after it. However, if someone outside the prayer heard it, then this outsider must prostrate.
• If those in a group prayer heard someone outside their prayer recite an aayah of prostration, then they do not prostrate during the prayer. However, they do prostrate it after the prayer.
• If they did prostrate in the prayer for the reciting done outside their prayer, then this is invalid and they must repeat it after the prayer, but not the prayer itself.
• If the leader of a prayer recited an aayah of prostration and someone outside the prayer heard it, but entered into the prayer after the leader had prostrated for the recital, then this man does not have to prostrate for it. This is provided that he entered while the leader was still in the same subset (rak^ah). If he enters the prayer before the leader prostrates, then he must prostrate, because he must do so even if he did not hear the reciting. However, if he did not enter the prayer, or did not catch the subset, then he must prostrate it.
• Any prostration of recital that became a duty during the reciting of a particular prayer and was not performed in it, cannot be caught up afterwards. This is because it was a part of the actions of prayer (imposed by the recital of the prayer), and therefore has extra virtues, so it cannot be performed by a prostration that is deficient of these virtues.
• The prostration of the prayer itself does not stand for the prostration of recital, unless one prostrates within three aayahs after it became a duty (with the intention to fulfill this duty in addition to the obligation of the prayer itself).
• If someone recited an aayah of prostration while outside prayer and before having prostrated entered a prayer (without interruption by engaging in something unrelated - like chatting, or going to another corner of the room) in which he recited the same aayah and prostrated, then this prostration fulfills the duty of both recitings. However, if he recited it and prostrated for it and then prayed and recited it again in the prayer, then he must prostrate for this second reciting.
• If someone repeated the same Aayah of prostration several times in the same session, then one prostration is enough for all of them.
• If someone recited an Aayah of prostration once, prostrated, left the place of sitting, and subsequently came back and recited it again, then he needs to prostrate again. If he didn't prostrate the first time, then he needs to prostrate twice.
• If the sitting of the listener changed, but not that of the recitor, then the duty of prostrating for the same aayah is renewed for the listener only.
• If the sitting of the recitor changed, but not that of the listener, then the duty is renewed for the reciter only.
• The one who wants to perform the prostration of recital says "Allahu Akbar" without lifting the hands, then he prostrates, then he says "Allahu Akbar" again and raises his head from the ground. There is no tashahhud or salaam.
• To read a suurah, in prayer or otherwise, and leave out the aayah of prostration in it is disliked. This is because it looks like one is avoiding it out of pride. To read an aayah of prostration, and leave the rest of the suurah is acceptable.