Section Three: On Supererogatory Prayers
The jurists differed over how the nawāfil should be performed: in twos, fours, or threes.
Mālik and al-Shāfiʿī held that voluntary prayer, whether by night or by day, is offered two by two, the worshipper giving the salām after every pair of rakʿahs.
Abū Ḥanīfah said: if he wishes he may pray two, three, four, six, or eight rakʿahs without separating them with the salām.
A third group distinguished between night and daytime prayers, saying: the night prayer is two by two, whereas daytime supererogatory prayers are four.
The reason for their divergence lies in the variety of reports transmitted on the subject. Among them is the ḥadīth of Ibn ʿUmar: "A man asked the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—about the night prayer, and he replied:
‘The night prayer is two by two; when one of you fears the break of dawn, let him pray a single rakʿah, which will render what he has prayed odd.’"
It is also authentically related from him—peace and blessings be upon him—that "he used to pray two rakʿahs before Ẓuhr, two afterward; two after Maghrib; two after Jumuʿah; and two before ʿAṣr."
Whoever combines these two reports concludes: "The supererogatory prayers, night and day alike, are two by two."
A sound narration from ʿĀʾishah likewise records that, describing the prayer of the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—she said: "He would pray four rakʿahs—do not ask about their beauty or length—then four more of the same, and finally three. I asked, ‘Messenger of Allah, do you sleep before you perform witr?’ He replied, ‘ʿĀʾishah, my eyes sleep, but my heart does not.’"
Another authentic report, transmitted by Abū Hurayrah, quotes him—peace and blessings be upon him—as saying: "Whoever prays after Jumuʿah should pray four."
Al-Aswad also narrated from ʿĀʾishah that "the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—used to pray nine rakʿahs in the night; when he grew older he prayed seven."
Those who adhere to the outward sense of these latter reports permit supererogatory prayers to be offered in fours and threes without inserting the salām between them. The majority, however, maintain that a voluntary prayer may not consist of a single rakʿah, though I believe there is an isolated contrary opinion on the matter.