and the martyrs and the righteous. How excellent they are as companions!
Section
As for the Sunnah prayer after the Friday prayer, it is established in the two Sahīh collections that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, “used to pray two rak‘ahs after the Friday prayer.” It is likewise established in these two collections that he “used to pray two rak‘ahs before Fajr, two after Zuhr, two after Maghrib, and two after ‘Ishā’.”
As for Zuhr, Ibn ‘Umar’s hadith states that “he used to pray two rak‘ahs before it,” whereas ‘Ā’ishah’s report in the two Sahīh collections states that “he used to pray four before it.” In the Sahīh, Umm Habība reports that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:
“Whoever prays twelve voluntary rak‘ahs over the course of a day and a night, apart from the obligatory prayers, Allah will build for him a house in Paradise.”
These are specified in the Sunan collections as:
“Four before Zuhr and two after it, two after Maghrib, two after ‘Ishā’, and two before Fajr.”
These, then, are the regular Sunnah prayers established in authentic reports through the words and practice of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. They rest upon these three hadiths: those of Ibn ‘Umar, ‘Ā’ishah, and Umm Habība.
The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to pray either eleven or thirteen rak‘ahs at night. Thus, the total of his prayers by night and day, obligatory and voluntary, was approximately forty rak‘ahs.