with the people, then return inside and perform two rak‘ahs. He would lead the people in the Maghrib prayer, then return inside and perform two rak‘ahs. He would also lead the people in the Isha prayer, then enter my house and perform two rak‘ahs. He would perform nine rak‘ahs at night, including the Witr prayer. On some nights he would pray for a long time standing, and on other nights for a long time seated. When he recited while standing, he would bow and prostrate from the standing position; and when he recited while seated, he would bow and prostrate from the seated position. When dawn broke, he would perform two rak‘ahs.” Narrated by Muslim. (1)

I say: This hadith establishes that it is prescribed to perform four rak‘ahs before Dhuhr and two afterward.

It appears that he—peace and blessings be upon him—performed the four rak‘ahs consecutively, with two tashahhuds and without an intervening taslīm. They are therefore performed like any four-rak‘ah prayer. This practice qualifies the general purport of the hadith: “The prayers of the night and day are performed two rak‘ahs at a time.” (2)

Abū Īsā al-Tirmidhī said: “This was the practice followed by most scholars among the Companions of the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—and those who came after them. They preferred that one perform four rak‘ahs before Dhuhr. This was the view of Sufyān al-Thawrī, Ibn al-Mubārak, Ishāq, and the scholars of Kufa. Some scholars, however, said: ‘The prayers of the night and day are performed two rak‘ahs at a time.’ They held that a separation should be made after every