and supplication at ʿArafah on the Day of ʿArafah; or the remembrance and supplication prescribed in connection with the five daily prayers, Eids, Fridays, the morning and evening, eating, sleeping, dressing, entering and leaving the mosque, the call to prayer, the talbiyah (pilgrims’ invocation), and being upon al-Safā and al-Marwah, and similar occasions—then that particular form becomes prescribed and recommended in its own right, over and above the general, unrestricted recommendation. In such cases, the particular is conjoined to the general, since it is prescribed by both general and specific evidence, as fasting on Mondays and Thursdays is in relation to fasting generally.

If, however, the evidence of Islamic law indicates that it is disliked, then it is disliked. An example is making something not established by the Sunnah into a regular religious practice. Persistently observing practices in congregation other than those prescribed by the Sunnah is an innovation. Examples include giving the call to prayer for the two Eid prayers; offering the qunūt supplication in the five daily prayers; gathering for supplication after the five daily prayers, or after the dawn and afternoon prayers; regularly holding gatherings for remembrance and supplication on the Day of ʿArafah in towns; and regularly gathering every night for voluntary prayer, recitation, or remembrance, and similar practices. Treating what is not established by the Sunnah as though it were established by it is a disliked innovation, as indicated by the Quran, the Sunnah, the reports from the early generations, and analogy.

If there is neither a command nor a prohibition concerning the particular form, it remains subject to the unrestricted ruling. This includes performing such acts occasionally rather than as a regular practice—for example, occasionally holding gatherings on the Day of ʿArafah, as the Companions did, or occasionally gathering to listen to someone recite to them, or for remembrance or supplication;