He may recite until the imam arrives, whether he prays two, four, or six rakʿahs, according to his energy. After Jumuʿah, however, there is a regular Sunnah, and that regular Sunnah is two rakʿahs offered at home, for Ibn ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: “When the Prophet ﷺ had prayed Jumuʿah he would not pray anything afterward until he returned to his house, where he would then perform two rakʿahs.” Yet the hadith of Abu Hurayrah that the author has cited states that the Prophet ﷺ said, “When one of you has performed Jumuʿah, let him pray four rakʿahs afterward.”

Because of these two reports the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) differed: Is the Sunnah of Jumuʿah four rakʿahs with two taslīms, or only two rakʿahs? Some said it is four, for that is what the Prophet ﷺ commanded, whereas the two-rakʿah report describes his practice, and a command takes precedence over an action. Others held that it is only two, because that is what Ibn ʿUmar related, and the four are not a regular Sunnah. A third opinion draws a distinction: whoever performs the Sunnah in the mosque prays four rakʿahs, but whoever performs it at home prays two; this was the view chosen by Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him. A fourth view is to combine both: one prays four rakʿahs in obedience to the Prophet’s command and an additional two in imitation of his practice, making the Sunnah after Jumuʿah six rakʿahs in all. Allah is the One who grants success.