because one needs it, while omitting it may be better when one is occupied with something more virtuous than voluntary prayer. However, when travelling, the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) would not perform any of the regular Sunnah prayers except the two rak‘ahs before Fajr and Witr. When he slept through Fajr, he performed both its Sunnah prayer and its obligatory prayer after sunrise. He would pray on his mount, whichever direction it took him, and would also perform Witr on it, but he would not perform the obligatory prayers on it. All of this is established in the authentic hadith collections. As for praying before and after Zuhr and after Maghrib, no one has reported that he did so while travelling.

Scholars have differed concerning the regular Sunnah prayers accompanying the obligatory prayers. Some laid down no fixed prescriptions in this matter. Others prescribed particular practices on the basis of weak hadiths—indeed, hadiths that scholars of hadith know to be fabricated. Such prescriptions include six rak‘ahs before Zuhr and four after it, four before ‘Asr, four before ‘Ishā’ and four after it, and similar practices.

The correct approach in this matter is to follow what is established in authentic hadiths, rather than what contradicts them. Three hadiths are established in the authentic collections:

The hadith of Ibn ‘Umar, who said: “I remember that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) prayed two rak‘ahs before Zuhr, two after it, two after Maghrib, and two after ‘Ishā’