And ‘Imran bin Husayn (may Allah be pleased with him) was asked about a person who hears a verse of prostration but was not sitting with the intention of listening to it, so is prostration obligatory upon him? He replied:“Even if he was sitting with that intention, then what?”(As if he did not consider the prostration of recitation to be obligatory.) Salman al-Farisi said:“We did not come for the prostration of recitation.”‘Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) said:“Prostration is necessary for those who listened to the verse of prostration intentionally.”Az-Zuhri said:“Purity is necessary for prostration. If someone is not in a state of travel but is at home, then the prostration should be performed facing the qiblah, and on a mount, facing the qiblah is not necessary; one may prostrate in whichever direction he is facing.”Sa’ib bin Yazid would not prostrate when the preachers and storytellers prostrated.

Narrated Rabi`a: `Umar bin Al-Khattab recited Surat-an-Nahl on a Friday on the pulpit and when he reached the verse of Sajda he got down from the pulpit and prostrated and the people also prostrated. The next Friday `Umar bin Al-Khattab recited the same Sura and when he reached the verse of Sajda he said, "O people! When we recite the verses of Sajda (during the sermon) whoever prostrates does the right thing, yet it is no sin for the one who does not prostrate." And `Umar did not prostrate (that day). Added Ibn `Umar "Allah has not made the prostration of recitation compulsory but if we wish we can do it."