For ritual purity is a prerequisite for prayer, but not for that act. Each place has its prescribed form of worship. Likewise, refraining from prayer at the prohibited times is prescribed in every age. As for circumambulation, is Quran recitation during it disliked? Scholars hold two well-known views, both reported from Ahmad. Al-Shāfi‘ī’s position permits it; indeed, he recommends reciting during circumambulation, though not aloud. A treatise is devoted to the other view.

If this applies to categories of worship whose relative superiority is established by textual evidence and scholarly consensus, how much more does it apply to forms of remembrance, especially those concerning which there is disagreement? The standard is undoubtedly the guidance of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. It is established that he used the opening supplication reported in the hadith of Abū Hurayrah. It is therefore best to use this opening supplication sometimes and others at other times. Moreover, each opening supplication meets a need that another does not, so the believer should take his share of every form of remembrance. A person may also need the less preferable act, without the superior act being sufficient for him.

An example is:

“Say, ‘He is Allah, One.’”

This surah is equivalent to one-third of the Quran: that is, whoever recites it receives a reward equivalent to that of one-third of the Quran in amount, but not in kind. For the commands, prohibitions, narratives, promises and warnings contained in the Quran cannot be replaced by