and whatever else may be said, foremost among them the supplication recited in the final tashahhud.

The second category comprises Sunnahs of action: raising the hands at the opening takbīr (takbīrat al-iḥrām), when moving down to bow, and when rising from bowing; placing the right hand over the left and resting them on the chest or below the navel while standing; directing one’s gaze to the place of prostration; placing the hands on the knees during bowing; distancing the abdomen from the thighs and the thighs from the shins in prostration; keeping the back straight and level in bowing; aligning the head with the back so that it is neither lowered nor raised; pressing the forehead, nose, and the rest of the limbs firmly on the ground in prostration; and all other verbal and physical Sunnahs detailed in the jurisprudence manuals.

None of these Sunnahs is obligatory; whoever performs them, or some of them, earns additional reward, and whoever leaves them, or part of them, incurs no blame—such is the case with all Sunnahs.

For this reason we find no justification for the severity some young people display nowadays regarding the Sunnahs of prayer. Their excessive zeal sometimes produces odd postures: one of them may bend his head while standing almost to the level of bowing, or clasp his hands at the pit of his throat instead of placing them on his chest or below his navel as the Sunnah prescribes. They may also be overly stringent about having a sutrah, to the point that one of them abandons his place in the row during a voluntary prayer and goes elsewhere in search of a barrier.