Are 4 Units enough?

[TeenagerMuslim]

Asslamu Alikum,

The problem this question has cropped up is that at college we most often don't get the time to offer all 12 units of Zuhr prayer. Just 15 mins break in middle of the lesson. So what I do is I offer just four Fardh units (rak'ah) for Zuhr. Is it permissible for me to do so? Or I daily need to offer rest of that day's Zuhr units when back home?

 

[muslimah_mtl]

Asslamu Alikum,

The problem this question has cropped up is that at college we most often don't get the time to offer all 12 units of Zuhr prayer. Just 15 mins break in middle of the lesson. So what I do is I offer just four Fardh units (rak'ah) for Zuhr. Is it permissible for me to do so? Or I daily need to offer rest of that day's Zuhr units when back home?

wa alaykumu salam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh

You can pray only 4 rak'as at dhuhr as fardh is only 4 rak'as. But its very recommended that you pray nafl too.
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].
But you say you don't have time so i guess you can only pray the 4 rak'as that are fardh. You can catch up with the nafl later in the afternoon; i can't find the daleel in english i have it only in french. InshaAllah someone will make this clear and correct me if im wrong.
WaLlahu a'lam

 

[muslimah_mtl]

:salam2:

I found this
I hope it helps inshaAllah

http://islamqa.com/en/ref/114233

It is mustahabb to make up the regular Sunnah prayers if one misses them, according to the correct scholarly view. This is the Shaafa’i view and the well known opinion of the Hanbalis, in contrast to the Hanafis and Maalikis, because of the hadeeth of Umm Salamah (may Allaah be pleased with him), according to which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) prayed two rak’ahs after ‘Asr. He was asked about them and he said: “O daughter of Abu Umayyah, you asked about the two rak’ahs after ‘Asr. That is because some people from ‘Abd al-Qays came to me and distracted me from the two rak'ahs that come after Zuhr; these are they (i.e., I prayed them just now).” Narrated by al-Bukhaari (1233) and Muslim (834).

 

[TeenagerMuslim]

:salam2:

I found this
I hope it helps inshaAllah

http://islamqa.com/en/ref/114233

It is mustahabb to make up the regular Sunnah prayers if one misses them, according to the correct scholarly view. This is the Shaafa’i view and the well known opinion of the Hanbalis, in contrast to the Hanafis and Maalikis, because of the hadeeth of Umm Salamah (may Allaah be pleased with him), according to which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) prayed two rak’ahs after ‘Asr. He was asked about them and he said: “O daughter of Abu Umayyah, you asked about the two rak’ahs after ‘Asr. That is because some people from ‘Abd al-Qays came to me and distracted me from the two rak'ahs that come after Zuhr; these are they (i.e., I prayed them just now).” Narrated by al-Bukhaari (1233) and Muslim (834).

Wa'alikum salaam,

Thanks sis. Yep, it does clears it up for now, Alhamdulillah.

But its very recommended that you pray nafl too.
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].

Okay. To be honest, I had this feeling like Sunnah units were compulsory too, but it seems that one can leave them if necessary - but are highly recommended.

Regarding the hadeeth ukthi, does that include like any Naf'l prayers, including the ones we offer along with Zuhr, Maghrib and Isha?

 

[muslimah_mtl]

Wa'alikum salaam,

Thanks sis. Yep, it does clears it up for now, Alhamdulillah.



Okay. To be honest, I had this feeling like Sunnah units were compulsory too, but it seems that one can leave them if necessary - but are highly recommended.

Regarding the hadeeth ukthi, does that include like any Naf'l prayers, including the ones we offer along with Zuhr, Maghrib and Isha?

Assalaamu alaykum akhi

Yes Sunnah prayers are not compulsory but highly recommended as you said.

As to your question, here's what makes it clear inshaAllah

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-Tirmidhi relates the same hadith 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 Dhuhr prayer (performed as two separate prayers of two units each) and two Sunnah rakahs after it. (Hanafi madhab recommend 4 after Dhuhr)

There are two Sunnah unit's after the Maghrib prayer.

There are two Sunnah unit's after the `Isha' prayer.

There are also Sunnah prayers of lesser importance mentioned in other hadith. There is a hadith 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 Dawud, al-Tirmidhi and Ibn Khuzaymah who authenticated it]. Please note that these four units should 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. [Bukhari 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.


I hope it helps inshaAllah.
WaLlahu a'lam

 

[TeenagerMuslim]

Assalaamu alaykum akhi

Yes Sunnah prayers are not compulsory but highly recommended as you said.

As to your question, here's what makes it clear inshaAllah

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-Tirmidhi relates the same hadith 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 Dhuhr prayer (performed as two separate prayers of two units each) and two Sunnah rakahs after it. (Hanafi madhab recommend 4 after Dhuhr)

There are two Sunnah unit's after the Maghrib prayer.

There are two Sunnah unit's after the `Isha' prayer.

There are also Sunnah prayers of lesser importance mentioned in other hadith. There is a hadith 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 Dawud, al-Tirmidhi and Ibn Khuzaymah who authenticated it]. Please note that these four units should 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. [Bukhari 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.


I hope it helps inshaAllah.
WaLlahu a'lam

Wa'alikum salaam sister,

I am bit lost here. Before any thing I say out of ignorance, can I clear this up first: Both Nawa'fil prayers and Sunnah are voluntary ones, but Sunnah have higher rank? And, so is this also correct that if someone had to choose between Sunnah and Nawa'fils, they should Sunnah ones?

 

[muslimah_mtl]

Wa'alikum salaam sister,

I am bit lost here. Before any thing I say out of ignorance, can I clear this up first: Both Nawa'fil prayers and Sunnah are voluntary ones, but Sunnah have higher rank? And, so is this also correct that if someone had to choose between Sunnah and Nawa'fils, they should Sunnah ones?

Assalaamu alaykum akhi

According to the hanafi madhab, if you don't pray Sunnah mu'akkadah prayers your prayer will still be valid but incomplete (I don't know about the other madhaahib, but for sure in the hanaafi madhab sunnah mu'akkadah is compulsory) Sunnah ghayr mu'akkadah prayers are those you don't pray at specific time : istikhaarah, tahajjud, tawba, al haaja...
So actually there's two kinds of nawafil :
Sunnah mu'akkadah (arrawaatib) a.k.a the rak'as you perform after and before dhuhr, after maghrib...
and
Sunnah ghayr mu'akkadah a.k.a istikhaarah, salaatu tawba, salaatul haaja...

So yes if you had to choose between what is commonly called sunnah (=sunnah mu'akkadah) and what is commonly called nafl (=sunnah ghair mu'akkadah) then yes you should pray sunnah (sunnah mu'akkadah) ones.

WaLLahu a'lam
I'm sorry if im confusing you brother


Question
What is the difference between Sunnah, and nafl prayers. I try my best to pray the five obligatory prayers, but I am a bit confused with the nafl prayers. Can you also please enlighten me on how to pray witr prayers after `Isha’?


Answer

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.

According to the Hanafi School, the Sunnah is higher in degree than nafl. The Sunnah is defined as "what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) constantly thought it was not considered wajib". And nafl is defined as "what has been done by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) but not all the time." So what is called nafl is istikhaarah, salaatu tawba, tahajjud.... because you don't pray them on a specific time and not all the time= sunnah ghayr mu'akkadah

Example of the Sunnah is the two Rak'ahs before Fajr, but praying six Rak'ahs after the Sunnah prayer of Maghrib is nafl.

Witr is highly recommended to be offered before sleep. You can either pray one Rak'ah or three. It is recommended to say the Sunnah du'a' or, if you can't, just make any du'a'.

 

[IHearIslam]

Assalaamu Alaikum
TabarakaAllah dear akhi fiAllah, you have asked a very goood question and it benefits me as well, so first I would like to say jazakaAllah khairan for the question
Iam in the same boat as you, I dont have anough time to pray all the 12,astaqfuriAllah, I used to pray them FAST inorder to finish them anyways, I am bit confused here, so Ukti fiAllah are you saying that we CAN pray the other 6 sunnah prayers at home when we come back from school?? am I correct on this? please do clarify inshaAllah ta'ala.
P.S. JazakaAllah Khairan ukhti fiAllah, for the information and the help you have provided
Allah hafiz both of you NOW and always

 

[muslimah_mtl]

Assalaamu Alaikum
TabarakaAllah dear akhi fiAllah, you have asked a very goood question and it benefits me as well, so first I would like to say jazakaAllah khairan for the question
Iam in the same boat as you, I dont have anough time to pray all the 12,astaqfuriAllah, I used to pray them FAST inorder to finish them anyways, I am bit confused here, so Ukti fiAllah are you saying that we CAN pray the other 6 sunnah prayers at home when we come back from school?? am I correct on this? please do clarify inshaAllah ta'ala.
P.S. JazakaAllah Khairan ukhti fiAllah, for the information and the help you have provided
Allah hafiz both of you NOW and always

Wa alaykumu salaam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh

Wa anti min ahli ljaza' ya ukhti
Yes inshaAllah you can pray the 6 sunnah prayers at home when you're back from school; It's mustahab (recommended).
http://islamqa.com/en/ref/114233

WaLlahu a'lam

 

[IHearIslam]

Wa alaykumu salaam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh

Wa anti min ahli ljaza' ya ukhti
Yes inshaAllah you can pray the 6 sunnah prayers at home when you're back from school; It's mustahab (recommended).
http://islamqa.com/en/ref/114233

WaLlahu a'lam

:salam2:
barakaAllah feek sister That is a great help! from what I understand I will pray two rakka's first, then the four raka'ats....(after Zuhur and before Zuhur)? well, inshaAllah I will and barakaAllah feek for this my ukhti fiAllah
Allah hafiz now and always

 

[muslimah_mtl]

:salam2:
barakaAllah feek sister That is a great help! from what I understand I will pray two rakka's first, then the four raka'ats....(after Zuhur and before Zuhur)? well, inshaAllah I will and barakaAllah feek for this my ukhti fiAllah
Allah hafiz now and always

wa alaykumu salaam wa rahmatullah ukhtii!!

Wa fiki baaraka'ALlah!
Yes when you come back from school you pray 2 and then 2 and then 2 (6 rak'as in total = the 4 you usually pray before dhuhr and the 2 you pray after). Well that's if you pray fardh at your school.
If you dont then you do 4 sunnah, 4 fardh, and then 2 fardh.
Wa Allahu a'lam
May Allah accept all your prayers ukhti and grant you al firdawsul a'laa!

 

[TeenagerMuslim]

Assalaamu alaykum akhi

According to the hanafi madhab, if you don't pray Sunnah mu'akkadah prayers your prayer will still be valid but incomplete (I don't know about the other madhaahib, but for sure in the hanaafi madhab sunnah mu'akkadah is compulsory) Sunnah ghayr mu'akkadah prayers are those you don't pray at specific time : istikhaarah, tahajjud, tawba, al haaja...
So actually there's two kinds of nawafil :
Sunnah mu'akkadah (arrawaatib) a.k.a the rak'as you perform after and before dhuhr, after maghrib...
and
Sunnah ghayr mu'akkadah a.k.a istikhaarah, salaatu tawba, salaatul haaja...

So yes if you had to choose between what is commonly called sunnah (=sunnah mu'akkadah) and what is commonly called nafl (=sunnah ghair mu'akkadah) then yes you should pray sunnah (sunnah mu'akkadah) ones.

WaLLahu a'lam
I'm sorry if im confusing you brother

Question
What is the difference between Sunnah, and nafl prayers. I try my best to pray the five obligatory prayers, but I am a bit confused with the nafl prayers. Can you also please enlighten me on how to pray witr prayers after `Isha’?


Answer

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.

According to the Hanafi School, the Sunnah is higher in degree than nafl. The Sunnah is defined as "what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) constantly thought it was not considered wajib". And nafl is defined as "what has been done by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) but not all the time." So what is called nafl is istikhaarah, salaatu tawba, tahajjud.... because you don't pray them on a specific time and not all the time= sunnah ghayr mu'akkadah

Example of the Sunnah is the two Rak'ahs before Fajr, but praying six Rak'ahs after the Sunnah prayer of Maghrib is nafl.

Witr is highly recommended to be offered before sleep. You can either pray one Rak'ah or three. It is recommended to say the Sunnah du'a' or, if you can't, just make any du'a'.

Wa'alikum salaam sis,

Thanks for the input sister muslimah_mtl. May Allah reward you. Ameen.
So according to the question you quoted the Salaah consiting of 4 Units Fardh only I pray, because of the limited time at college, is valid. Okay. That's clear now, Alhamdu'lillah.

You don't need to be sorry for anything sister, I'm thankful to you. Jazak Allah. Just so you know, in the morning when I posted I said I was confused, it was because what I knew so far according to that there were two types of Sunnah (mu'akkadah & ghair mu'akkadah), but there was someother Units I used to offer just being called Nawa'fil. E.g. for Zuhr I'd normally offer 4 Sunnah mu'akkadah, then 4 Fardh, then 2 more Sunnah mu'akkadah. And then, I'll offer two more Units being called just Nawa'fil. That's what confused me.
How everyone else does normally please??

This now tells me I need a proper Salaah book explaining the number of Rak'ahs in each daily Salaah; how many Sunnah mu'akkadah, Sunnah ghair mu'akkadah. (Fardhs, I know.) May be someone could recommend a online resource for an eBook etc. Thanks.

 

[TeenagerMuslim]

Assalaamu Alaikum
TabarakaAllah dear akhi fiAllah, you have asked a very goood question and it benefits me as well, so first I would like to say jazakaAllah khairan for the question
Iam in the same boat as you, I dont have anough time to pray all the 12,astaqfuriAllah, I used to pray them FAST inorder to finish them anyways, I am bit confused here, so Ukti fiAllah are you saying that we CAN pray the other 6 sunnah prayers at home when we come back from school?? am I correct on this? please do clarify inshaAllah ta'ala.
P.S. JazakaAllah Khairan ukhti fiAllah, for the information and the help you have provided
Allah hafiz both of you NOW and always

Wa'alikum Salaam sister,

Thanks sis. I am just gonna post all I am unsure of, and Insha'Allah I hope some brother & sister might be able to help. I am glad that I had been indirectly of some help for you ukhti. Barak Allah sister. (Yes, I have moved on from knowing Arabic for bro & sis only. Alhamdulillah.)

Salaam

 

[Muslimah16]

Wa'alikum Salaam sister,

Thanks sis. I am just gonna post all I am unsure of, and Insha'Allah I hope some brother & sister might be able to help. I am glad that I had been indirectly of some help for you ukhti. Barak Allah sister. (Yes, I have moved on from knowing Arabic for bro & sis only. Alhamdulillah.)

Salaam

:salam2:
haha. lol. No worries brother, no one would have even noticed. lol
Alhumdulillah they answered ur question. So nothing for me to add.

Wassalaam

 

[muslimah_mtl]

Wa'alikum salaam sis,

Thanks for the input sister muslimah_mtl. May Allah reward you. Ameen.
So according to the question you quoted the Salaah consiting of 4 Units Fardh only I pray, because of the limited time at college, is valid. Okay. That's clear now, Alhamdu'lillah.

You don't need to be sorry for anything sister, I'm thankful to you. Jazak Allah. Just so you know, in the morning when I posted I said I was confused, it was because what I knew so far according to that there were two types of Sunnah (mu'akkadah & ghair mu'akkadah), but there was someother Units I used to offer just being called Nawa'fil. E.g. for Zuhr I'd normally offer 4 Sunnah mu'akkadah, then 4 Fardh, then 2 more Sunnah mu'akkadah. And then, I'll offer two more Units being called just Nawa'fil. That's what confused me.
How everyone else does normally please??

This now tells me I need a proper Salaah book explaining the number of Rak'ahs in each daily Salaah; how many Sunnah mu'akkadah, Sunnah ghair mu'akkadah. (Fardhs, I know.) May be someone could recommend a online resource for an eBook etc. Thanks.

Assalaamu alaykum brother

You're most welcome Ameen to your du'a may Allah accept your prayers and good deeds and grant you happiness in this world and in the hereafter.

If I may akhi, im sorry :shymuslima1:i know i can be really annoying sometimes i do talk a lot LOL, but inshaAllah you shouldnt say Ameen right after the du'a. I don't know if I explain it well but here's an example, say theres two people A and B :
A : May Allah bless you
B : ameen
A : ameen
Thats how actually it should be.
A should not say : May Allah bless you, ameen.

I'm sorry i know im really nosey but i had to say this :shymuslima1:


Well the two you offer after sunnah mu'akkadah after the fardh of dhuhr are those the madhab Hanafi says mu'akkadah no?

Here's a great link for the number of sunnah, there's a summary at the end
http://www.islamonline.net/english/introducingislam/Worship/Prayers/article06.shtml

 

[Muslimah16]

If I may akhi, im sorry :shymuslima1:i know i can be really annoying sometimes i do talk a lot LOL, but inshaAllah you shouldnt say Ameen right after the du'a. I don't know if I explain it well but here's an example, say theres two people A and B :
A : May Allah bless you
B : ameen
A : ameen
Thats how actually it should be.
A should not say : May Allah bless you, ameen.


Really..? i didnt know that. jazakAllah khair for sharing

 

[muslimah_mtl]

If I may akhi, im sorry :shymuslima1:i know i can be really annoying sometimes i do talk a lot LOL, but inshaAllah you shouldnt say Ameen right after the du'a. I don't know if I explain it well but here's an example, say theres two people A and B :
A : May Allah bless you
B : ameen
A : ameen
Thats how actually it should be.
A should not say : May Allah bless you, ameen.


Really..? i didnt know that. jazakAllah khair for sharing

Assalamu alaykum ukhtii!!

Wa anti min ahli ljaza'.
I didnt know it either until a sister (May Allah reward her) from France sent me an audio conference in which a sheikh was saying it and giving proof. The conference is in french and i couldn't find anything about it in english
Kheyr insha'Allah

 

[TeenagerMuslim]

Assalaamu alaykum brother

You're most welcome Ameen to your du'a may Allah accept your prayers and good deeds and grant you happiness in this world and in the hereafter.

If I may akhi, im sorry :shymuslima1:i know i can be really annoying sometimes i do talk a lot LOL, but inshaAllah you shouldnt say Ameen right after the du'a. I don't know if I explain it well but here's an example, say theres two people A and B :
A : May Allah bless you
B : ameen
A : ameen
Thats how actually it should be.
A should not say : May Allah bless you, ameen.

I'm sorry i know im really nosey but i had to say this :shymuslima1:


Well the two you offer after sunnah mu'akkadah after the fardh of dhuhr are those the madhab Hanafi says mu'akkadah no?

Here's a great link for the number of sunnah, there's a summary at the end
http://www.islamonline.net/english/introducingislam/Worship/Prayers/article06.shtml

Wa'alikum slaam sister,

I am not so sure what they call since to be honest until now I didn't really realise the importance finding this all out. Wheneve I offer Salaah, I would just offer without being too much careful being precise and so on. May Allah forgive me, and us all.

That link explains in detail. Thanks for provding it sister. Jazak Allah.

No, you certainly haven't been talking unnecessarily. However, I don't really find it very convincing what you said about saying 'ameen'. The only reason being that when we pray to Allah swt after Salaah, don't we ask for others and ourselvels and then say 'ameen' ourselve. So, why can't the person say ameen themselves after making wish to God for them, I don't understand. Anyway, I don't think it's as such important. Thanks thogh, sis.

Salaam

 

[TeenagerMuslim]

:salam2:
haha. lol. No worries brother, no one would have even noticed. lol
Alhumdulillah they answered ur question. So nothing for me to add.

Wassalaam

Wa'alikum salaam,

I don't think someone notices it or not, it's more like to make myself feel that I am moving forward a bit - although quite slowly in learning about Islam, unlinke wordly knowledge.
Yep, this sister has helped me with this issue a lot. May Allah bless her always. (And nooo nothing for you to add on this Q. )

Salaam

 

[TeenagerMuslim]

Assalamu alaykum ukhtii!!

Wa anti min ahli ljaza'.
I didnt know it either until a sister (May Allah reward her) from France sent me an audio conference in which a sheikh was saying it and giving proof. The conference is in french and i couldn't find anything about it in english
Kheyr insha'Allah

Asslam'u Alikum sis,

It's okay sister. May be later at some stage some of us could find more info on it, and inform others too. Insha'Allah.

Salaam