Tafsir of Al-`Alaq 96:19

Kalla (Nay): A refutation of that accursed one, following a previous refutation, and a rebuke that has the effect of a rebuke.

La tuti’hu (Do not obey him): That is, persist in what you are upon despite his disobedience.

Wasjud (And prostrate): Persevere in your prostration without concern for him. It is taken according to its apparent meaning, or it is a metaphor for prayer.

Waqtarib (And draw near): Draw near through that to your Lord. In the Sahih of Muslim and others, through a hadith of Abu Hurairah, elevated [to the Prophet]: "The closest a servant is to his Lord is when he is prostrating, so increase your supplication."

Also, in the Sahih and elsewhere, through a hadith of Thawban, elevated [to the Prophet]: "You must prostrate much, for you do not prostrate once to Allah, the Exalted, except that Allah raises you by it a degree and removes a sin from you by it."

Due to these traditions and others like them, more than one scholar has held the view that prostration is the most excellent of the pillars of prayer. It is strange that Izz al-Din ibn Abd al-Salam, one of the eminent Shafi'i imams, asserted the obligation of supplication within it.

In al-Bahr, it is established in the two Sahihs that he, upon him be prayer and peace, prostrated in [the Surah] Itha al-Sama'u Inshaqqat (The Splitting Asunder) and in this Surah. They are among the ‘Aza’im (incumbent prostrations) according to Ali, may Allah the Exalted honor his face, and Malik used to prostrate during it in his private devotions. And Allah, the Exalted, is the Granter of success.