03.19.07
Sunnah Prayers
Dispelling the Confusion Surrounding the Sunnah Prayers| Prepared by the research committee of IslamToday.net |
Prayer is the second pillar of Islam. As Muslims, we are required to pray five times a day. This, however, is the bare minimum that we have to pray. We are encouraged to pray much more than the five obligatory prayers. Among the most important of these are the Sunnah prayers that we pray on a daily basis along with each of our obligatory prayers.
Many people are confused about these Sunnah prayers. They wonder how many units of prayer they are supposed to pray. Some people are unsure if their obligatory prayers are valid if they fail to make certain Sunnah prayers. This confusion is often the result of the way people think about these prayers, especially since some people fail to make a distinction between the obligatory prayers and the Sunnah prayers that are associated with them.
Therefore, the first thing that we must understand is that the Fajr prayer is only the two unit obligatory (fard) prayer. The Zuhr prayer is only the four unit fard prayer. The `Asr prayer is only the four unit fard prayer. The Maghrib prayer is only the three unit fard prayer. The `Ishâ’ prayer is only the four unit fard prayer. This is agreed upon by all Muslims of all schools of thought and is a matter of juristic consensus (ijmâ`).
Associated with each of these prayers are other prayers that the Prophet (peace be upon him) used to pray with great regularity. Scholars differ as to the recommended number of these Sunnah prayers.
In our opinion, the strongest enumeration can be derived from the following hadîth:
Our Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Whoever prays twelve units of prayer voluntarily in a day and night Allah will build him a house in Paradise” [Related by Muslim]. Al-Tirmidhî relates the same hadîth with a good chain of narrators, wherein these twelve units are enumerated as follows:
****There are two Sunnah units before the Fajr prayer (sunnah mu`akkadah).
There are four Sunnah units before the Zuhr prayer (preferably performed as two separate prayers of two units each) and two Sunnah rakahs after it.
There are two Sunnah unit’s after the Maghrib prayer.
There are two Sunnah unit’s after the `Ishâ’ prayer. *****
[refer to: Sunan al-Tirmidhî (380)]
There are also Sunnah prayers of lesser importance mentioned in other hadîth. There is a hadîth about praying four units of prayer before `Asr. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “May Allah bless whoever prays four units of prayer before `Asr” [Related by Ahmad, Abu Dâwûd, al-Tirmidhî and Ibn Khuzaymah who authenticated it]. Please note that these four units are preferably to be performed as two separate prayers of two units each.
There is also a two unit Sunnah prayer that may be prayed before the Maghrib prayer. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Pray two units before the Maghrib prayer.” He said this three times. After the third time, he said: “…for whoever wishes to do so. [Bukhârî and Muslim]
****It is also Sunnah Mu`akkadah to pray Witr prayer either at night before going to sleep or after waking up for Tahajjud before the time of Fajr.**** However, the Witr prayer is a prayer in its own right and is not associated with any of the five obligatory prayers.
There are many other recommended voluntary (nafl) prayers that the Prophet (peace be upon him) used to pray, like two units before going to bed at night, but these are also completely independent of the five obligatory prayers. The most recommended of all voluntary prayers is the Tahajjud prayer at night which should be performed before the time of the Fajr prayer but after waking up from sleep.
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This is for any confusion that was going around. So basically it’s: 2 before Fajr, 4 before Dhur (prayed 2 x 2), 2 after Dhur, 4 (2×2) before ‘Asr, 2 before AND after Maghrib, 2 after ‘Isha, AND THEN an odd number of rakaahs for witr.
The 2 rakaahs before Fajr and the witr after ‘Isha are called Sunnah Mu’akkadah meaning that it is a confirmed sunnah that Muhammad sal Allaahu alaihi wa sallam did consistently.
Read about the status of Witr here: http://islam-qa.com/index.php?ref=208&ln=eng
Many people do not perform Witr properly, here is a link: http://islam-qa.com/index.php?ref=46544&ln=eng
