at times less meritorious or even forbidden. Prayer, for example, is better than reciting the Quran; reciting the Quran is better than remembering Allah; and remembering Allah is better than supplication. Yet prayer is forbidden at the prohibited times—such as after Fajr and Asr and during the sermon—and occupying oneself then with recitation, remembrance, supplication, or listening is better than praying.

Likewise, although reciting the Quran is better than remembrance, it is remembrance, not Quranic recitation, that is prescribed when bowing and prostrating. Similarly, at the end of the prayer, it is supplication that is prescribed rather than recitation or remembrance.

A person’s religious life may be set right through a less meritorious deed rather than a superior one, making that deed better for him—just as Hajj is better than jihad for women. Some people benefit more from recitation than from prayer; others benefit more from remembrance than from recitation. Others find that striving in supplication, because of their dire need, is better for them than remembrance in which they are heedless. For the same person, one deed may be better at one time, and another at a different time.

An assessment of every individual’s circumstances and an explanation of what is best for each cannot be set out in a book. Rather, guidance is needed through which Allah directs His servant to what is best for him. No servant is ever sincere with Allah without Allah taking care of him.

It is reported in the Sahīh: “Whenever the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, rose at night