these hadiths that one narration would negate the other; for the person who reported that he saw the Prophet pray four rakʿahs may have observed him at a moment when he was doing just that, while someone else saw him on another occasion praying two, a third saw him on yet another occasion praying eight, another listener heard him urge six, another two, another ten, and still another twelve. Each narrator therefore conveyed only what he personally saw or heard.
(e) A fifth group argued that the Duha prayer is performed only for a particular reason. They said: his praying it on the Day of the Conquest was because of the conquest itself, and his praying it in the house of ʿItban ibn Malik was due to ʿItban’s excuse for not being able to attend the mosque; he asked the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to come to his home and pray in a spot that would thereafter serve him as a place of worship, so the Prophet did so for that specific reason.
Whoever reflects on the Prophetic reports traced back to him and on the Companions’ statements will find that they support nothing but this view. As for the hadiths that encourage the Duha prayer, the authentic ones do not establish it as a regular sunnah for everyone. Rather, he commended it specifically to Abu Hurayrah, for it has been related that Abu Hurayrah preferred to study hadith at night instead of praying, so the Prophet instructed him to pray Duha as compensation for missing the night vigil. Most of the other hadiths in this chapter, moreover, have problematic chains of transmission.” This is a summarized quotation from Zad al-Maʿad.
Shaykh al-Islam chose the view of regularly performing the two rakʿahs mentioned in the hadith of Abu Hurayrah—“and two rakʿahs of Duha”—for the one who does not rise for prayer at night.
5 – Al-Nawawi said: “The status of the Duha prayer as a sunnah is the position held by the vast majority of the early scholars and by the later jurists.”
6 – The marginal notes state: “The reports concerning the Duha prayer and the encouragement to observe it have reached the level of tawatur. It is recommended to maintain it consistently for anyone who does not pray at night, because of the hadith of Abu Hurayrah and others like it. Shaykh al-Islam had a principle that whatever is not among the regular prescribed prayers should not be performed continuously, lest it be deemed one of them; yet he still preferred consistency in the Duha prayer for the one who does not pray at night, due to its strong emphasis in his case.”
7 – Shaykh Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Badair said: