Is the sajdah tilawah (prostration of recitation) obligatory or recommended?

Sources

• ✓ Sahih al-Bukhari 60:94

  Sunni SAHIH

  Sahih al-Bukhari · Book 60, Hadith 94 · Narrated by Ibn Abbas

  Prostrations at the major decisional verses (azimahs) are not obligatory, and I have seen the Prophet, peace be upon him, prostrate in such verses.

• ✓ Al-Kafi 4:222

  Shia

  Al-Kafi · Book 4, Hadith 222

  He said, "If one hears being recited any of the four chapters requiring prostration, then they should prostrate even if they are not abluted or are in a state of major ritual impurity, and even if the woman is not praying and the rest of the Qur'an is for your choice: if you want, prostrate; if you do not, do not prostrate." — OR — Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) ruled regarding a man who struck another with a stick, which caused him to lose his hearing, sight, speech, intellect, and his private parts, and severed his sexual intercourse, while he was still alive, the compensation was six blood monies. — OR — A man said to Abu Ja’far (peace be upon him): O son of the Messenger of Allah, do not be angry with me. He said: Why? He said, I want to ask you something. He said: Speak, and I will not be angry. He said: Did you see your statement regarding the Night of Decree and the descent of the angels and the spirit therein to the trustees, bringing them matters the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) did not know? And do you know that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) died without any knowledge except what Ali (peace be upon him) was aware of? Abu Ja’far (peace be upon him) said: What have I to do with you, man? And who brought you to me? He said: The judiciary compelled me for a debt. He said: Understand what I say to you: When the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) was taken for the night journey, he did not descend till Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, had informed him of all that had been and what will be. Much of his knowledge was general statements whose explanation would come on the Night of Decree. Likewise, Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him) knew those generalities, and their explanation comes on the nights of decree as it was with the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family). The questioner said: Was there explanation in the generalities? He said: Yes, but the matter from Allah is only brought on the nights of decree to the Prophet and the trustees: Do such and such for an affair already known to them; they are commanded how to act in it. I said: Explain this to me. He said: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) did not die except as a keeper of the sum of knowledge and its explanation. I said: Then what is the knowledge that comes to him on the nights of decree? He said: The matter and ease regarding what he had known. The questioner said: Do they have knowledge on the nights of decree besides what they know? He said: What they are commanded to conceal, whose interpretation is unknown except to Allah, the Mighty and Majestic. The questioner said: Do the trustees know what the Prophets do not know? He said no, how could a trustee know except the knowledge he was entrusted with? The questioner said: Can we say that one trustee knows what another does not? He said no. No prophet dies except that his knowledge resides in the successor. The angels and the spirit descend on the Night of Decree with the judgment used to govern among the servants. The questioner said: Did they know that judgment? He said yes, but they cannot enforce anything from it until commanded on the nights of decree how to act during the coming year. The questioner said: O Abu Ja’far, I cannot deny this. He said: Whoever denies it is not of us. The questioner said: O Abu Ja’far, did the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) receive anything on the nights of decree unknown to him? He said: You must not ask about this. As for the knowledge of the past and the future, no prophet or trustee dies except the successor knows it. As for the knowledge you ask about, Allah refuses to reveal it to the trustees except to themselves. The questioner said: O son of the Messenger of Allah, how do I know the Night of Decree is each year? He said: When the month of Ramadan comes, recite Surah ad-Dukhan (Smoke) one hundred times every night. If the twenty-third night arrives, you will see the verification of what you asked about.

• ✓ Sunan Ibn Majah 6:255

  Sunni Daif (per Al-Albani)

  Sunan Ibn Majah · Book 6, Hadith 255 · Narrated by Amr ibn al-As

  The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, caused fifteen prostrations to be recited in the Qur'an. Three of these were in the Muqatta'at, and in Al-Hajj there are two prostrations.