—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—used to offer both when travelling and when resident. Mālik did not recognize any regular sunnah prayer apart from these two.

The second rank comprises the prayers he used to offer alongside the obligatory prayers when resident: ten rak‘ahs and thirteen rak‘ahs. Abū Hanīfah, al-Shāfi‘ī, and Ahmad recognized regular sunnah prayers with a specified number of rak‘ahs alongside the obligatory prayers, unlike Mālik.

The third rank comprises voluntary prayers that may be offered at these times without being treated as regular sunnah prayers, since the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—neither offered them consistently nor specified a number of rak‘ahs for them. Prayer before ‘Asr, Maghrib, and ‘Ishā’ falls into this category. The Duhā prayer is somewhat similar. Allah knows best.

He was asked:

“Is the sunnah prayer before ‘Asr recommended?”

He answered:

The Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—did not use to offer any prayer before ‘Asr. Rather, he used to pray before Zuhr—either two or four rak‘ahs—and after it. He would also pray two rak‘ahs after Maghrib, two after ‘Ishā’, and two before Fajr. As for before ‘Asr, Maghrib, and ‘Ishā’, he did not use to pray then. However, it is authentically reported from him in the Sahīh that he said:

“Between every two calls to prayer there is a prayer.” Then, the third time, he added, “For whoever wishes.”

This was because he disliked people adopting it as a sunnah. Thus, whoever wishes to offer voluntary prayer before ‘Asr does well, but should not adopt it as a regular sunnah. Allah knows best.