The prostration of the person while reciting the Quran whenever he passes by an ayah of prostration is a form of etiquette that one follows towards Allah, Exalted be He; it manifests one’s humility and submission to Him and good faith in Him. It is a way to raise one’s rank and attain blessings in this worldly life and the Hereafter. Determining the places of prostration in the Quran is a matter that can only be known through divine textual evidence; thus, we only act according to the actions and statements of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ [i.e., the sunnah]. In this hadeeth, ʿAtaa’ ibn Yasaar - who was one of the Taabiʿeen- asked the Companion, Zayd ibn Thaabit(may Allah be pleased with him) about the prostration of recitation at the end of Surah al-Najm. The venerable Companion explained that when he recited it to the Messenger of Allahﷺ and had finished his recitation to him ﷺ; and he ﷺ did not prostrate during it - i.e., where Allah, Most High, says: {Prostrate to Allah and worship Him} [Quran 28:62]. The reason he ﷺ did not prostrate was to highlight the permissibility of leaving out the performance of the prostration of recitation. Had the prostration of recitation been obligatory, he ﷺ would have ordered him to prostrate. It has been said that: it is possible that he did not do that because Zayd was the reciter; and rather, it is the one who hears [the recitation] that prostrates following [the lead] of the reciter - and he does not perform the prostration alone. The prostration of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ at the end of the recitation of Surah al-Najm has been mentioned in other narrations; and one of them is a report [narrated] by al-Bukhaaree - on the authority of ʿAbdullah ibn Abbaas(may Allah be pleased with them), where he relates that: The Prophet ﷺ prostrated at [the end of] Surah al-Najm, and the Muslims, polytheists, jinn, and all the people prostrated with him ﷺ. In the Quran, there are 15 places where the prostrationof recitationis performed; ten of which are agreed upon. It is prescribed to say in the prostration of recitation what is prescribed to say in the prostrations for prayer, with respect to the tasbeehand supplication. .