the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace. The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said, ‘This man has been hasty.’ He then called him over and said to him—or to someone else—‘When any of you prays, let him begin by praising and extolling his Lord, then invoke blessings upon the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and then supplicate for whatever he wishes.’”

Remembrance of Allah is prescribed, by agreement of the Muslims, during bowing, prostration, and when returning to an upright posture. As for supplication during obligatory prayer, there is disagreement over whether it is disliked, although the correct view is that it is not disliked. Remembrance, however, is better, for it is commanded during both bowing and prostration in the words of the Most High:

“So glorify the name of your Lord, the Most Great,”

and:

“Glorify the name of your Lord, the Most High.”

The Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said concerning the first:

“Make this part of your bowing,”

and concerning the second:

“Make this part of your prostration.”

As for his saying—may Allah bless him and grant him peace:

“When bowing, magnify the Lord; when prostrating, supplicate earnestly, for then your supplication is likely to be answered,”

this contains a command to magnify the Lord during bowing. His command to supplicate during prostration explains that supplication during prostration is more deserving of an answer than during bowing. Hence he said, “For then your supplication is likely to be answered,” just as he said:

“The closest a servant comes to his Lord is while he is prostrating.”

Thus, it is a command that supplication be made during prostration: a command concerning the manner of the act, not the act itself—or a command concerning both the manner and the act, even if glorifying Allah is better. For an act to be commanded, it is not necessary that nothing else be better