Section
His Guidance in the Regular Sunnah Prayers

The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) consistently observed ten rak‘ahs (units of prayer) when not travelling (1). These are the prayers concerning which Ibn ‘Umar said: “I learned from the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) the following ten rak‘ahs: two before the noon prayer, two after it, two after the sunset prayer in his home, two after the night prayer in his home, and two before the dawn prayer (2).” He never omitted these when not travelling.

When he missed the two rak‘ahs (3) after the noon prayer, he made them up after the afternoon prayer and continued to observe them regularly (4), for whenever he adopted a practice, he maintained it. Making up the regular Sunnah prayers during times when prayer is prohibited therefore applies both to him and to his community. However, regularly observing those two rak‘ahs (5) during a prohibited time was exclusive to him, as will be explained when discussing matters exclusive to him, Allah willing.

He would sometimes pray four rak‘ahs before the noon prayer, as reported in Sahīh al-Bukhārī (6) from ‘Ā’ishah: the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) never omitted four rak‘ahs before the noon prayer and two before the dawn prayer. One possible explanation is that when he (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) prayed at home, he prayed four, and when he prayed in the mosque, he prayed