Is it obligatory to maintain continuity between the pillars, duties, and supererogatory acts of prayer?

The prayer is not invalidated by delaying the "Amin" (supplication), or by prolonging silence after the Fatihah or between the pillars, nor by prolonging bowing (ruku') and prostration (sujud), and so on, as long as one does not intend to cut off the prayer. The Shafi'is hold that the prayer is invalidated by excessively prolonging the standing after bowing (i'tidal) and the sitting between the two prostrations. However, the majority of scholars believe that it does not invalidate the prayer, based on the Prophetic Sunnah which affirmed the permissibility of prolonging them with a prescribed remembrance, and that this does not contradict continuous performance (muwalat).