acts of worship that have been transmitted in a variety of forms should be performed one time in one manner and another time in the other manner. Here, raising the hands has been narrated as being level with the shoulders, and it has also been narrated as being to the upper parts of the ears; both are Sunnah. What is preferable is to do this one time and that another time, so that the Sunnah is observed in both forms and remains alive. For if you adopt one form and abandon the other, the other form dies out. The Sunnah can remain alive only if we practise this form at one time and that form at another.

Furthermore, when a person does this one time and that another, his heart is present when performing the Sunnah. This is unlike one who always becomes accustomed to a particular practice, for he then performs it habitually, like a machine. This is something plainly observed. Thus, one who consistently begins the prayer with the opening supplication, “Glory be to You, O Allah, and praise be to You,” will find that, as soon as he says the opening takbir, he begins reciting, “Glory be to You, O Allah, and praise be to You,” without conscious awareness, because he has become accustomed to it. But if he says this on one occasion and the other supplication on another, he will remain attentive.

Thus, performing acts of worship that have been transmitted in a variety of forms has several benefits:

1. Following the Sunnah.

2. Keeping the Sunnah alive.

3. Presence of heart.

There may also be a fourth benefit: if one of the forms is shorter than the other, as with the remembrance after the prayer, a person may sometimes wish to leave quickly. He may then limit himself to saying, “Glory be to Allah” ten times, “Praise be to Allah” ten times, and “Allah is Most Great” ten times. In this way, he observes the Sunnah while fulfilling his need. There is no blame upon a person for doing this when there is a need for it, as Allah, Most High, says concerning the pilgrims: “There is no