After that comes the third category, as in his words: (O Allah, distance me from my sins as You have distanced the East from the West …), and so on …” Here end his words—may Allah have mercy on him.1

He—may Allah have mercy on him—had established in several of his works a beneficial principle concerning acts of worship prescribed by the Sacred Law in various forms: they should be performed in all the forms that have been transmitted. He—may Allah have mercy on him—said:

“It has previously been explained in several places that when the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—performed an act of worship in various forms, it is prescribed to perform it in all those forms, and none of them is disliked. Examples include the various forms of the tashahhud (testification recited while seated in prayer) and the opening supplication; performing the Witr prayer at the beginning or end of the night; reciting aloud or quietly during the night prayer; the various readings in which the Quran was revealed; the various forms of takbīr (proclaiming Allah’s greatness) at Eid; repeating the two testimony phrases in the call to prayer or not repeating them; and reciting the phrases of the iqāma (the call immediately before prayer) once or twice …”

He—may Allah have mercy on him—then stated that this issue must be considered from two perspectives. The first concerns the permissibility of all these forms without any of them being disliked. The second is that when the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—performed an act in several different forms, even if one of them is said to be superior, following the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—by sometimes performing it in one form and sometimes in another is better than adhering exclusively to one and abandoning the other. This is because the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and he certainly did not consistently adhere to a single opening supplication.”2

He—may Allah have mercy on him—also said: “When we say that varying these remembrances is better, this means that variation as a general practice is superior. A less preferable form may nevertheless be more beneficial for some people because it suits them and enables them to derive fuller benefit from it. This is the case with most people: they may benefit from the less preferable form because it suits