the night, without omitting them. If he feels energetic, he should prolong them; if he feels sluggish, he should shorten them. If he sleeps through them, he should make them up during the day, just as the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) would pray twelve rak‘ahs during the day if he slept through his night prayer. He said:

“Whoever sleeps through his regular portion of recitation, then recites it between the Fajr and Zuhr prayers, will have it recorded for him as though he had recited it during the night.”

The forenoon prayer falls into this category. The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) did not observe it consistently, as those knowledgeable about his Sunnah agree. Any jurist who claims that the two rak‘ahs of the forenoon prayer were obligatory for him is mistaken. The hadith they cite—“Three things are obligatory for me but voluntary for you: Witr, sacrifice, and the two rak‘ahs of the forenoon prayer”—is fabricated.

Rather, it is established in an authentic hadith, with no report contradicting it, that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) would pray at forenoon because of a particular circumstance, not because of the time itself. For example, he might sleep through his night prayer and then pray twelve rak‘ahs during the day, or return from a journey at forenoon and enter the mosque and pray there. Another example is the eight rak‘ahs he prayed when he conquered Mecca. They used to call this prayer the “prayer of conquest,” and some commanders would perform it when they conquered a city, for the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) only performed it upon conquering Mecca. Had its occasion been merely the time of day, as with the night prayer, it would not have been specific to the conquest of Mecca. For this reason, there were