A dervish is seldom better than his daily works. These include not only one’s adab or ‘manners,’ such as silence from bootless words, characterized by Mawlay al-‘Arabi al-Darqawi as “of the most important of your daily works and most preferable and excellent of them” (al-Rasa’il, 98); and one’s outward worship, such as prayer and fasting, but also works of the tongue such as reciting Koran, suppli­cation (du‘a'), and most of all dhikr.

   Dhikr is the means by which every aim of the tariqa is realized, in Sheikh Ahmad al-‘Alawi’s words, “the cause of every good.” To be sure, dhikr is but a seed, which must be sown in the soil of true intention, covered over and nurtured with the love of those beloved by Allah, watered by daily effort, and which yields its fruit through the baraka of the greater reality one has connected with rather than by one’s own might and main. But effort there must be, and organiz­ing one’s time in wirds or ‘regular spiritual works’ is one of the greatest means for attaining perpetual presence with Allah.

   One should prioritize one’s works, so that when exigen­cies occur such as travel, illness, or guests arriving from out of town, the most important of them are not missed, and that by the baraka of one’s intention, even those super­erogatory works occasionally missed are accepted by Allah as if one had actually done them, as mentioned by the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) in the hadith “When the servant becomes ill or travels, there is inscribed for him the like of what he did when at home and well” (Bukhari, 4.70: 2996. S). The following priority order is recommended for tariqa members:

1. The Prescribed Prayer

   The prescribed prayer, Sheikh ‘Abd al-Rahman empha­sizes, is the greatest wird. The entire path, from beginning to end, is to raise our presence of heart in the prayer. No one attains this but someone in love with the Adored, unattached to the things of this world, who has taqwa or ‘godfearingness’ in his daily life, without which, as Imam Ghazali notes, the dhikr in one’s prayer may be largely ineffective in guarding one from the Devil and his distractions.

   It is obligatory for all of us, Arab and non-Arab, to check our recital of the Fatihawith a trained tajwid teacher, and perfect the parts of it that still need work. Many if not most of us suffer from overconfidence in this matter, reciting the Fatiha as we first learned it, with the early pronunciation mistakes that have become habitual through years of use, though reciting it as it was revealed is a matter of din, and of central importance to the path.

   Men perform the prescribed prayers with the group at the mosque. One of the greatest blessings of “practicing what one knows” lies in the expiation of sins and raising of spiritual degrees that accompany every step one takes to the mosque. If one misses praying at the mosque, one should pray at the first of the prayer’s time. It is superior for women to pray at home.

   It is obligatory to make up all prescribed prayers that one has missed in the past, whether by omission or legal invalidity. Hanafis making up past obligatory prayers must also make up missed witr prayers, as well as performing all current confirmed (mu’akkada) sunnas. Shafi‘is making up prayers do not have to do either, but should rather substitute their make-ups in place of the confirmed sunnas they would otherwise be performing (e.g. making up a missed noon (dhuhr) prayer before or after the current noon prayer in place of its sunnas), though they should nevertheless not omit the current witr prayer or the two sunna rak‘as before the dawn (subh) prayer, as these are the most confirmed of sunnas.

2. Sunna Prayers

   After the prescribed prayers in importance come the witr (obligatory for Hanafis), and the confirmed sunnas associated with the prescribed prayers. The key importance of salat al-tawba in the spiritual path has been mentioned on page 8 above. One should also not omit two or more rak‘as of tahajjud after sleeping at night before dawn (although if one still has make-ups, it is best to do them at this time instead). The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) tells us that in the last third of the night Allah says: “Who shall call upon Me, that I may answer him? Who shall ask Me, that I may give to him? Who shall seek My forgiveness, that I may forgive him?” (Bukhari, 2.66: 1145. S). To rise then to tell Allah one loves Him, thank Him, and pray for forgiveness is one of the greatest secrets of the spiritual path. When afraid of missing one’s tahajjud or make-ups on a journey or for some other reason, one should pray them before going to sleep. The midmorning prayer (duha) is also one of the sunnas done by those with a spiritual path, as are salat al-haja (the prayer of need) and salat al-istikhara (the prayer of guidance-seeking).