Ahmad’s statements on this differed. His son ‘Abdullāh (1) reported that Ahmad had been told that a man, whom he named, had said: “If a man were to pray the two rak‘ahs after sunset in the mosque, that would not suffice for him.” Ahmad remarked: “How well this man has spoken, and how sound his inference!” Abū Hafs said: “The basis for this is the Prophet’s command”—meaning his command to perform this prayer at home.

Al-Marrūdhī (2) asked him: “Is someone who prays two rak‘ahs after sunset in the mosque sinful?” He replied: “I know of no such ruling.” Al-Marrūdhī said: “I told him, ‘Abū Thawr is reported to have said that he is sinful.’ He replied, ‘Perhaps he was relying on the Prophet’s words (peace and blessings be upon him): “Perform them in your homes” (3).’”

Abū Hafs said: “The reasoning here is that if someone performed the obligatory prayer at home rather than in the mosque, it would suffice for him; the same therefore applies to the Sunnah prayer.” End of quotation. This, however, is not Ahmad’s reasoning. Rather, his reasoning is that Sunnah prayers require neither a particular place nor a congregation, so they may be performed either at home or in the mosque. And Allah knows best.

There are two Sunnah practices concerning the Sunnah prayer after sunset. The first is not to separate it from the sunset prayer by speaking. Ahmad said, as reported by al-Maymūnī and al-Marrūdhī: “It is recommended not to speak after the sunset prayer until one has performed the two rak‘ahs.” Al-Hasan ibn Muhammad said: “I saw that when Ahmad concluded the sunset prayer, he would stand up without speaking and would not perform any further prayer in the mosque before entering his home.” Abū Hafs said that the basis for this is Makhūl’s report: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: