Remembrance of Allah — Page 59
Prayer—The Most Important Form of Dhikr S al a t as Dhikr Now I will inform you about S al a t. This is the most essential and important form of dhikr, because in it man sometimes engages in dhikr while standing [ qiy a m ], and sometimes while in a state of ruk u ‘ [bowing down] and sometimes while prostrating in sajdah [prostration], and sometimes while sitting [ qa‘dah ]. Then, one also recites the Holy Quran in S al a t and then, apart from this, one also engages in repeating other sentences in the. Thus, S al a t is a compendium of all forms of dhikr. I had refrained from mentioning these in the beginning because it requires a great deal of detail but I mention them now. The Philosophy of Sunnah There are three parts of S al a t : (1) Far d [obligatory Prayers], (2) Sunnah [the Holy Prophet’s practice], and (3) Nafl [supereroga- tory Prayers]. All people offer Far d and Sunnah. What remain are