Hadith 28-27

حَدَّثَنا مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ إِبْراهيمِ بْنِ إِسْحاق الطَّالِقانِيُّ رَضِىَ اللهُ عَنْهُ قالَ: حَدَّثَنا أَحْمَدِ بْنِ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ سَعِيدُ الكُوفِي قالَ: حَدَّثَنا عَلِىِّ بْنِ الحَسَنِ بْنِ عَلِىِّ بْنِ فضال عَنْ أَبيهِ، عَن أَبي الحَسَن‏ عَلَيْهِ السَّلامُ السَّجْدَةُ بَعْدَ الْفَرِيضَةِ شُكْرٌ لِلَّهِ تَعَالَى عَلَى مَا وَفَّقَ لَهُ الْعَبْدَ مِنْ أَدَاءِ فَرْضِهِ وَأَدْنَى مَا يُجْزِئُ فِيهَا مِنَ الْقَوْلِ أَنْ يَقُولَ شُكْراً لِلَّهِ شُكْراً لِلَّهِ شُكْراً لِلَّهِ ثَلاثَ مَرَّاتٍ قُلْتُ فَمَا مَعْنَى قَوْلِهِ شُكْراً لِلَّهِ قَالَ يَقُولُ هَذِهِ السَّجْدَةُ مِنِّي شُكْرٌ لِلَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ عَلَى مَا وَفَّقَنِي بِهِ مِنْ خِدْمَتِهِ وَأَدَاءِ فَرْضِهِ وَالشُّكْرُ مُوجِبٌ لِلزِّيَادَةِ فَإِنْ كَانَ فِي الصَّلاةِ تَقْصِيرٌ لَمْ يَتِمَّ بِالنَّوَافِلِ تَمَّ بِهَذِهِ السَّجْدةِ.

Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn Ishaq al-Taleqani - may God be pleased with him - narrated that Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Sa’eed al-Kufi quoted on the authority of Ali ibn Al-Hassan ibn Ali ibn Fadhdhal, on the authority of his father, Abil Hassan Al-Ridha’ (a.s.) said, “Prostrating after performing the obligatory prayers is a way of expressing gratitude to God - Exalted is His Remembrance - for the servant’s success in performing the obligatory deed. The minimum that should be said while prostrating in gratitude is ‘thanks God’ three times.” I asked, “What is meant by ‘thanks God?’ The Imam (a.s.) said, “It means that this prostration that I perform is indeed an expression of gratitude to the Honorable the Exalted God for granting me success in serving Him and performing the obligatory deeds. Expression of gratitude will cause an increase in prayers. Indeed if there are any deficiencies in one’s prayers which have not been made up by other prayers, they will be compensated for by this act of prostration.”