Answered by Shaykh Hamza Karamali, SunniPath Academy Teacher
Is it sunna for me to prostrate for Quran-recital when I hear the recorded recitation of a verse of prostration?
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful and Compassionate
The prostration of Quran-recital (sujud al-tilawa) is only legislated for an actual recitation. The fuqaha explain that the mere generation of sound is not recitation. For it to be considered recitation, the sound must be accompanied by an intention to actually say and recite the words. This is why a parrot that “recites” a verse of prostration hasn’t actually recited it, nor has someone who is talking in his sleep. All they have done is produce a sound and the prostration of Quran-recital is not legislated in such cases. [1]
An audio recording of a verse of prostration would take the same ruling. When you hit “Play” on your mp3 player, the player is merely producing sounds; it is not reciting. It would therefore not be recommended to perform a prostration of Quran-recital on hearing a recorded Quran recitation. [2]
And Allah Most High knows best.
Hamza.
[1] `Abdullah Ba Fadl, Bushra al-Karim fi Masa’il al-Ta`lim, Fasl: Yusannu sujud al-tilawa. Note that the Mustafa Babi al-Halabi edition of the book has a misprint: maqsura here should actually be maqsuda.
[2] This legal discussion is closely related to the scholarly debate on the definition of speech (kalam) in books of Arabic grammar (nahw), legal methodology (usul al-fiqh), and theology (`ilm al-kalam), and an understanding of scholarly discussions there will shed light on the legal discussion here.