Remembrance of Allah — Page 85
Twenty-two Methods of Concentration in Prayers 85 because—as I have already stated—stray thoughts generally arise and disturb one when the task at hand is about to be completed and he is intending to start another. When a per- son thinks that he is not yet done—that the Sunnahs are yet to be offered—his thoughts will remain suppressed. And this is one great point of wisdom from among the many, that under- lie the enjoining of the Sunnahs. So, the Holy Prophet s as has designated the Sunnah in accordance with the different timings. Since the time of Z uhr Prayer [early afternoon] is a time of great involvement in other tasks, he has therefore appointed four or two Sunnah before, and two or four Sunnah after. It is as if he has appointed two sentries to safeguard the Far d , so that they stop the thoughts that may infiltrate them. There are no Sunnah before ‘A s r [late afternoon Prayer] but there are Naw a fil —one may observe them or skip them—the reason is that at the time of ‘A s r, one is, in a way, done with other activities. Secondly, because this is the time to finish doing all things, the Prayer for this time is therefore very brief, but there is dhikr after ‘A s r till Maghrib. As I have stated before, there are no Sunnah before Maghrib Prayer because the time is very short, but there are two Sunnah after Maghrib. Generally, people eat after Maghrib and engage in other such activities, so these two Sunnah protect the Far a’ i d [pl. Far d , obligatory part of the S al a t ] from such thoughts. There are no Sunnah before ‘Ish a’ Prayer [night Prayer before going to bed] because the chores a person usually does before this Prayer are not the kind that their effect will stay after. However, there are Naw a fil ; if one wishes and feels the