Prayer (Kitab Al-Salat): Voluntary Prayers

‘Ā’ishah, Mother of the Believers, (may Allah be pleased with her) reported: The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) did not ever leave four before Zhuhr and two Rak‘ahs before morning.

‘Ā’ishah, the Mother of the Believers (may Allah be pleased with her), reported: The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) did not observe a voluntary prayer more regularly than the two Rak‘ahs of Fajr.

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) recited: {Say, “O disbelievers”} and {Say: “He is Allah, the One”} in the two Rak‘ahs of Fajr.

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When anyone of you prays two Rak‘ahs before the dawn prayer, he should lie on his right side." Marwān ibn al-Hakam said to him: "Is it not enough that one of us walks to the mosque until he lies on his right side?" According to the version of ‘Ubaydullāh, he (Abu Hurayrah) replied: 'No.' This statement (of Abu Hurayrah) reached Ibn ‘Umar. He said: "Abu Hurayrah exceeded the limits on himself." He was asked: "Do you approve of what he says?" He replied: "No, but he dared and we showed cowardice." This (criticism of Ibn ‘Umar) reached Abu Hurayrah. He said: "What is my sin if I committed it to memory but they forgot?"

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: "When the Iqāmah (second call ) for prayer is pronounced, no prayer is to be offered but the obligatory one."

’Umm Habībah, the Prophet's wife, (may Allah be pleased with her) reported: I heard the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) say: "Whoever regularly observes four Rak‘ahs before Zhuhr and four after it, Allah will make him forbidden to Hellfire."

Abu Sa‘īd al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) - who fought along with the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) in twelve battles - reported: I heard four things from the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) that appealed to me. He said: "No woman should travel on a two-day-distant journey except with her husband or a Mahram. There should be no fasting on two days: Al-Fitr and Al-Ad'ha. There should be no prayer after the Fajr prayer until the sun rises nor after the ‘Asr prayer until the sun sets. No special journey should be made except to three mosques: the Sacred Mosque, the Aqsa Mosque, and this mosque of mine."

Yasār, the freed slave of Ibn ‘Umar, reported: Ibn ‘Umar saw me praying after the break of dawn. He said: "O Yasār, the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) came to us while we were offering this prayer. He said: ‘Those who are present should inform those who are absent: Do not offer any prayer after (the break of) dawn except two Rak‘ahs.'"

‘Abdullāh ibn Mughaffal (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Offer two Rak‘ahs before Maghrib." Then he said: "Offer two Rak‘ahs before Maghrib, if you will," fearing people might take it as Sunnah.

‘Abdullāh ibn Mughaffal (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "There is a prayer between every two Adhāns; there is a prayer between every two Adhāns." The third time, he said: "for whoever wills."

‘Abdullāh ibn Shaqīq (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: I asked ‘Ā'ishah: "Did the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) pray the Duha prayer?" She said: "No, unless he came back from being away."

‘Ā’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) would give up a deed, even though he liked to perform it, for fear that people would follow him and perform it, and it would thus become obligatory for them. The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) never prayed the Duha prayer, but I offer it.

Jābir ibn Samurah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet (ﷺ), when he performed the Fajr prayer, would remain seated in his prayer place until the sun rose brightly. He said: He would not leave the spot where he prayed Fajr or the Morning prayer until the sun had risen. When the sun rose, he would stand up. During that time, the people would talk about matters from the pre-Islamic days of ignorance; they would laugh and he would smile.

Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "(Voluntary) prayer in both the day and night is performed two by two."

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When any of you sleeps, the devil ties three knots at the back of his head, striking each knot: Ahead of you is a long night, so keep sleeping. When he wakes up and remembers Allah, one knot is undone; when he performs ablution, one knot is undone; and when he prays, one knot is undone, and he gets up in the morning active and in good spirits; otherwise, he gets up in the morning low-spirited and sluggish."

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: ''May Allah have mercy upon a man who wakes up at night and prays, and awakens his wife. If she refuses, he sprinkles water on her face. May Allah have mercy upon a woman who wakes up at night and prays, and awakens her husband. If he refuses, she sprinkles water on his face.''

‘Ā’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When one of you feels drowsy during prayer, let him lie down till drowsiness goes away from him, because when one of you performs prayers while feeling sleepy, unknowingly instead of seeking forgiveness he might abuses himself."

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When one of you stands up for offering voluntary prayer at night and finds it difficult to recite the Qur'an accurately, and he is unaware of what he is reciting, he should lie down."

Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) came one day into the mosque and saw a rope stretched between two poles. He inquired: "What is this rope for?" He was told: "This is Zaynab's rope. When she feels tired (in voluntary prayer), she holds on to it for support." The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Untie it. You should pray as long as you have the energy to do so. If you feel tired, then lie down."

‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever sleeps and fails to recite his nightly portion, or part of it, and then recites it between the Fajr prayer and the Zhuhr prayer, it will be recorded for him as if he recited it during the night."

‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) reported: A man asked the Prophet (ﷺ) while he was on the pulpit: What do you say about the night prayer? He (ﷺ) said: "Two by two (i.e., in sets of two Rak‘ahs). When he fears that dawn is approaching, he should pray one (Rak‘ah), which will make what he has prayed Witr (odd)." And he (ﷺ) used to say: "Make the last of your prayers at night Witr,” for the Prophet (ﷺ) commanded it.

Abu Sa‘īd (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) once observed I‘tikāf (seclusion for worship) in the mosque, and he heard them reciting (the Qur’an) aloud. He lifted the curtain and said: "Indeed, each of you is conversing privately with his Lord, so let not one of you harm another, and let none of you raise his voice above another in recitation," or he said: "in prayer."

‘Uqbah ibn ‘Āmir al-Juhani (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: "He who recites the Qur’an openly is like he who gives charity openly, and he who recites the Qur’an secretly is like he who gives charity secretly."

‘Ā'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported: The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) used to offer thirteen Rak‘ahs in the night prayer including Witr, plus two (voluntary) Rak‘ahs of the Fajr prayer.

Abu Salamah ibn ‘Abdur-Rahmān (may Allah have mercy upon him) reported that he asked ‘Ā'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) how the Prophet's prayer was in Ramadan. She said: "Neither in Ramadan, nor in any other month, did the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) exceed the eleven Rak‘ahs of prayer. He would pray four – and do not ask about their beauty and length; then he would pray another four, and do not ask about their beauty and length either, then he would pray three." ‘Ā'ishah then added: "I asked him: 'O Messenger of Allah, do you sleep before performing the Witr prayer?' he said: 'O ‘Ā'ishah, indeed, my eyes sleep but my heart does not sleep.'"

As he visited ‘Ā’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her), Sa‘d ibn Hishām ibn ‘Āmir said: "O mother of the believers, tell me about the character of the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him)." She said: "Do you not recite the Qur’an?" He said: 'Yes.' She said: "Indeed, the Prophet's character was the Qur’an."