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The Obligatory Prayers
Everyone who professes to be Muslim knows about the establishment of the five
daily obligatory (fard) prayers. The times for these prayers have been
detailed in the Qur’ân and Sunnah. In addition, the Prophet (
) stressed or recommended
the performance of extra prayers around the five daily prayers. Thus, the
commonly known and recommended routine for the daily prayers is as follows:
Fajr – 2 rak’ât (units) of sunnah mu’akkadah; 2 fard.
Zuhr – 4 sunnah mu’akkadah; 4 fard; 2 sunnah mu’akkadah; 2 nafl.
‘Asr – 4 sunnah ghayr mu’akkadah; 4 fard.
Maghrib – 3 fard; 2 sunnah mu’akkadah; 2 nafl.
‘Ishâ – 4 sunnah ghayr mu’akkadah; 4 fard; 2 sunnah mu’akkadah;
2 nafl; 3 Witr (wâjib); and 2 nafl.
The performance of the fard in the masjid, with congregation, is
extremely emphasized for men. For women, the home is a better place to pray.
However, men should also pray some at home, as the Prophet (
) said among other things,
“O people! Offer (optional) prayers in your homes for truly, with the
exception of the obligatory prayers, the best prayer is that of a man’s in his
own home.” [RS-1128, from Bukhâri and Muslim]
The twelve rak’ât (units of prayer) which are sunnah mu’akkadah have
been established from several narrations of the Prophet (
). For example:
“He who observes twelve (sunnah) rak’ât in the course of a
day and night will have a house built for him in Jannah: four before Zuhr
and two after it; two after Maghrib; two after ‘Isha; and
two before Fajr.” [M-1159, from Tirmidhi and Muslim]
Among these twelve, the two before Fajr and four before Zuhr have
been especially emphasized:
The Prophet (
) never omitted the four rak’ât
before Zuhr and the two before the Fajr. [R-1100, from Bukhari]
The four sunnah rak’ât before ‘Asr have been mentioned in
another hadîth:
“May Allâh have mercy upon the person who observes four rak’ât before
the ‘Asr.” [M-1170, from Ahmad, Tirmidhi, and Abu
Dawud]
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