The Meaning of the Superior and the Inferior, and an Example of That from Deeds
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What is the meaning of the superior and the inferior, and which of the two is better?
The inferior means: The one whose excellence is that of another,And the superior: The one in which there is excellence,If it is said: Superior and inferior; here, the superior means the better,And if it is said: Superior without mentioning the inferior; the superior may have another who is better than him,Then the ranks are three: Better, superior, and inferior,If it is said: Better, meaning that there must be something inferior,An example of that is: A man wants to devote himself to seeking knowledge or to perform voluntary prayers. There is no doubt that voluntary prayers have excellence, but seeking knowledge is far better than them. Another man wants to give charity to a poor person who has some sufficiency, and another wants to give charity to a poor person who has no sufficiency at all. The better one is the second, and both have excellence.
However, something may occur to the inferior that makes it better than the superior,Its example is: Reciting the Qur'an is among the best remembrance of Allah, and the Qur'an is the best remembrance. So if a man is reciting and hears the mu'adhdhin calling to prayer, is it better for him to continue his recitation or to respond to the mu'adhdhin?Here we say: It is better to respond to the mu'adhdhin, even though the Qur'an is better than remembrance; but remembrance in its place is better than reciting the Qur'an. This is because reciting the Qur'an is not restricted to a specific time; you can recite whenever you wish. But responding to the mu'adhdhin is tied to hearing the mu'adhdhin. Likewise, the dhikr of the five obligatory prayers after the fard: if someone said, "I want to recite the Qur'an from the moment I finish the taslim," is it better to recite the Qur'an or to say the prescribed dhikr?So the answer is: The better is the prescribed dhikr,Rather, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: (I have been forbidden to recite the Qur'an while bowing or prostrating), even though reciting the Qur'an is among the best deeds,But we say: If you are bowing, you are forbidden from reciting the Qur'an. Likewise, if you are prostrating, you are forbidden from reciting the Qur'an. Rather, you say "Subhana Rabbi al-'Azeem" in ruku' and "Subhana Rabbi al-A'la" in sujud,And some of the scholars said: If a person recites the Qur'an while bowing or prostrating, his prayer is invalid; because he did something he was forbidden from doing. You see that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: (I have been forbidden—meaning my Lord forbade me—to recite the Qur'an while bowing or prostrating) even though the Qur'an is among the best remembrance.
And the summary of the answer is that we say: Deeds have ranks, some better than others, but something may occur to the inferior that makes it better than the superior.
The inferior means: The one whose excellence is that of another,And the superior: The one in which there is excellence,If it is said: Superior and inferior; here, the superior means the better,And if it is said: Superior without mentioning the inferior; the superior may have another who is better than him,Then the ranks are three: Better, superior, and inferior,If it is said: Better, meaning that there must be something inferior,An example of that is: A man wants to devote himself to seeking knowledge or to perform voluntary prayers. There is no doubt that voluntary prayers have excellence, but seeking knowledge is far better than them. Another man wants to give charity to a poor person who has some sufficiency, and another wants to give charity to a poor person who has no sufficiency at all. The better one is the second, and both have excellence.
However, something may occur to the inferior that makes it better than the superior,Its example is: Reciting the Qur'an is among the best remembrance of Allah, and the Qur'an is the best remembrance. So if a man is reciting and hears the mu'adhdhin calling to prayer, is it better for him to continue his recitation or to respond to the mu'adhdhin?Here we say: It is better to respond to the mu'adhdhin, even though the Qur'an is better than remembrance; but remembrance in its place is better than reciting the Qur'an. This is because reciting the Qur'an is not restricted to a specific time; you can recite whenever you wish. But responding to the mu'adhdhin is tied to hearing the mu'adhdhin. Likewise, the dhikr of the five obligatory prayers after the fard: if someone said, "I want to recite the Qur'an from the moment I finish the taslim," is it better to recite the Qur'an or to say the prescribed dhikr?So the answer is: The better is the prescribed dhikr,Rather, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: (I have been forbidden to recite the Qur'an while bowing or prostrating), even though reciting the Qur'an is among the best deeds,But we say: If you are bowing, you are forbidden from reciting the Qur'an. Likewise, if you are prostrating, you are forbidden from reciting the Qur'an. Rather, you say "Subhana Rabbi al-'Azeem" in ruku' and "Subhana Rabbi al-A'la" in sujud,And some of the scholars said: If a person recites the Qur'an while bowing or prostrating, his prayer is invalid; because he did something he was forbidden from doing. You see that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: (I have been forbidden—meaning my Lord forbade me—to recite the Qur'an while bowing or prostrating) even though the Qur'an is among the best remembrance.
And the summary of the answer is that we say: Deeds have ranks, some better than others, but something may occur to the inferior that makes it better than the superior.