Sajdah Tilawah: Every Verse of Prostration & What to Do When You Hear One

Fourteen moments in the Quran ask you to physically prostrate on the spot. Here's the full list, how to do it, and the modern question almost no guide answers: what if you heard it on an app?

What Is Sajdah Tilawah?

Sajdah Tilawah — the "prostration of recitation" — is a single prostration performed when reciting or hearing certain specific verses of the Quran that command or describe prostration before Allah. It's distinct from the sujood performed within salah and from Sujood as-Sahw (the correction for mistakes in prayer) — this one is tied directly to the meaning of the verse itself, a physical response to hearing Allah's words about submission.

It requires no tashahhud, no salam, and no extra rakah — just one prostration, and then you continue whatever you were doing before.

The Full List of Sajdah Verses

Most scholars count 14 verses across the Quran. Some, particularly within the Shafi'i school, count 15 by including a second prostration verse in Surah Al-Hajj — this is a difference in scholarly classification, not disagreement that the verses exist.

How to Perform It — Inside Prayer

If you (or your imam, if praying in congregation) recite a sajdah verse during salah, say "Allahu Akbar" and go directly into prostration — the same physical position as regular sujood. Recite the dhikr of sujood, then rise saying "Allahu Akbar" again and continue the prayer from where you left off, with no extra rakah added.

How to Perform It — Outside Prayer

Reading Quran outside of salah and reach a sajdah verse? The steps are simple:

1. Face the Qiblah if reasonably possible.

2. Say "Allahu Akbar" (without raising the hands, as this isn't the start of a formal prayer).

3. Go into prostration, just as in regular sujood.

4. Recite "Subhana Rabbiyal A'la" (Glory be to my Lord, the Most High), typically three times.

5. Rise, saying "Allahu Akbar" again.

That's the complete act — no tashahhud, no salam, no additional rakah. If the same sajdah verse is recited or heard multiple times in one sitting, one prostration at the end is generally sufficient rather than repeating it each time.

What If You Hear It on an App, Recording, or YouTube?

This is the question almost no guide actually answers clearly — and it matters more now than it used to, given how much Quran listening happens through apps, podcasts, and video rather than live recitation.

In practice, this means: if you're listening to a Quran app during your commute and a sajdah verse plays, you are not obligated to pull over and prostrate. That said, many people still choose to prostrate anyway out of extra devotion when they hear these verses — this is not discouraged, it's simply not treated as obligatory in that specific case, unlike hearing the same verse recited live by someone in the room with you.

Practical Notes

• Wudu: the majority view holds you should be in a state of wudu to perform Sajdah Tilawah, since it's an act of worship similar to prayer — the safer position if you're able to.
• If you're an imam and recite a sajdah verse: the congregation follows you into the prostration; if a listener who is not leading prayer recites one, it does not create an obligation on anyone praying nearby.
• If you miss one: in the Hanafi school, a missed Sajdah Tilawah should be made up later when remembered. In schools that treat it as a recommended (not obligatory) act, there's no specific make-up requirement, though performing it when remembered is still good practice.

Frequently Asked Questions

Fourteen moments, scattered across the Quran, each one asking the same thing: pause, and physically respond to what you just heard. A small, immediate act — but a direct one, unlike almost anything else in daily worship.

Written by Yunus Khan

Founder of SabrTime — Building free Islamic digital tools that help Muslims strengthen their worship through technology.

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