did not record it from him, and al-Nasāʾī judged that the transmitter who inserted it was mistaken. ʿAbd Allāh ibn Wahb did relate—through a strong chain—from Ibn ʿUmar that he said, “The prayers of night and day are two by two,” yet this report is mawqūf (halted at Ibn ʿUmar). It is therefore likely that al-Azdī confused the mawqūf wording with a marfūʿ one, so the extra phrase cannot stand as authentic according to those who require a ḥadith to be free of irregularity.

Ibn Abī Shaybah also narrates from Ibn ʿUmar that he used to pray during the day in sets of four rakʿahs at a time; this is found in the Muṣannaf, 2 / 274, with a sound chain.

I say: If this addition is not established, the clear implication of the authentic ḥadith, “The night prayer is two by two…,” is that the daytime prayer is otherwise, and should be performed as an unbroken set of four rakʿahs, as the Ḥanafīs maintain. Al-Ḥāfiẓ (2 / 283) remarks, “It has been objected that this is merely an implication derived from a term, which on the stronger view does not constitute proof.”

I respond: Supporting evidence lies in the Prophet’s ﷺ ḍuḥā prayer on the day Mecca was conquered: he prayed eight rakʿahs, giving the taslīm after every two. This is an authentic report transmitted by Abū Dāwūd (1 / 203) with a chain that meets the conditions of both Ṣaḥīḥs, although al-Bukhārī and Muslim record it without mentioning the taslīm. Al-Ḥāfiẓ states in Fatḥ al-Bārī (3 / 41), “Ibn Khuzaymah also related it, and it refutes those who use the report to argue that the ḍuḥā prayer is to be offered as one continuous unit, whether of eight rakʿahs or fewer.”

Thus the ḥadith lends support to the view that in daytime supererogatory prayers it is preferable to conclude with the taslīm after every two rakʿahs. Allah knows best.

Later I located additional chains and corroborating reports—one of them sound—which I have presented in al-Rawḍ al-Naḍīr, 522. Hence the ḥadith is authentic, praise be to Allah, and for that reason I included it in Ṣaḥīḥ Abī Dāwūd, 1172.