This—Allah knows best—serves to make up for the shortcomings and passing distractions that may befall one during worship, and it reminds the believer that he is expected to persevere in remembrance and devotion, so that he does not imagine that, once an act of worship is over, he has discharged all that is due.

The remembrance prescribed after an obligatory prayer must therefore follow the manner transmitted from the Prophet, not the novel, innovated forms practised by the deviant Sufis.

• In Sahih Muslim, Thawban (may Allah be pleased with him) relates: “When the Messenger of Allah finished his prayer, he would seek Allah’s forgiveness three times and say: Allahumma anta al-salam wa minka al-salam; tabarakta ya dha al-jalali wa’l-ikram (O Allah, You are Peace and from You is peace; blessed are You, O Possessor of majesty and honor).”

• In the two Sahihs, al-Mughira ibn Shuʿba (may Allah be pleased with him) reports that, when the Messenger of Allah completed the prayer, he would say: “La ilaha illa Allah wahdahu la sharika lah, lahu al-mulk wa lahu al-hamd, wa huwa ʿala kulli shayʾin qadir. Allahumma la maniʿa lima aʿtayt, wa la muʿtiya lima manaʿt, wa la yanfaʿu dha al-jaddi minka al-jadd (There is no god but Allah alone, without partner. His is the dominion and to Him belongs all praise, and He is over all things Powerful. O Allah, none can withhold what You give, nor give what You withhold, and no fortune can benefit its possessor against You).”

• And in Sahih Muslim, ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah would pronounce the tahlil after every prayer, once he had given the salutation, with these words: “La ilaha illa Allah wahdahu la sharika lah, lahu al-mulk wa lahu al-hamd, wa huwa ʿala kulli shayʾin qadir. Wa la hawla wa la quwwata illa bi-Allah. La ilaha illa Allah, wa la naʿbudu illa iyyah,”