Why pray extra prayers

Allah asks us to pray five fard (required) prayers each day. On top of these, Nabi ﷺ prayed many extra ones. These are called sunnah or nafl (voluntary) prayers. You are not sinful if you miss them. But they bring great good.

• They fill the gaps. Our fard prayers are never perfect. Our minds wander. We rush. Nabi ﷺ said the first thing we will be asked about is salah. If something is missing from the fard, Allah will say: look, does My servant have any extra prayers? And the gaps will be filled with them¹.
• A house in Paradise. Nabi ﷺ said: whoever prays twelve rakat (units of prayer) of sunnah in a day and a night, Allah builds a house for them in Paradise². His wife Umm Habibah, who heard this, said she never left them after that.
• The best prayer after the fard is the prayer in the night³.

So think of sunnah prayers as a gift, not a burden. Even a few, kept up every day, make a big difference.

The regular sunnahs with each prayer

Some sunnah prayers go with the five daily prayers. Some come before the fard, some after. Scholars call the ones Nabi ﷺ almost never missed sunnah mu'akkadah (the stressed sunnah).

Umm Habibah reported the twelve rakat in detail⁴:

The two before Fajr

These two are special. Aisha said Nabi ﷺ was never more careful about any extra prayer than these two⁵. He said they are better than this world and everything in it⁶. He kept them even when he traveled⁷. Keep them short and light.

Four or two before Dhuhr?

• Aisha said Nabi ﷺ never left four before Dhuhr⁸.
• Ibn Umar said he remembered two before Dhuhr⁹.

Both are correct. Each Companion told what he or she saw. Nabi ﷺ also said: whoever keeps up four before Dhuhr and four after, Allah keeps them away from the Fire¹⁰.

Where the schools differ

• Hanafi: the stressed sunnahs are the twelve rakat in the table, with four before Dhuhr, prayed together with one salam.
• Shafi'i and Hanbali: the stressed sunnahs are ten rakat, with two before Dhuhr, as Ibn Umar reported¹¹. Praying four is still good.
• Maliki: the two before Fajr are the most important. Praying before and after the other prayers is recommended, without a fixed stressed number.

Other sunnahs you can add

• Before Asr: some pray four. This is a good extra, not a stressed sunnah.
• Before Maghrib: Nabi ﷺ said: pray before Maghrib. Then he added: for whoever wants to¹². So two short rakat between the adhan and the prayer are fine, but not required.

Witr: the last prayer of the night

Witr means "odd number". It is a short prayer with an odd number of rakat, prayed after Isha. Nabi ﷺ said: make Witr your last prayer of the night¹³.

Is it required?

• Hanafi: Witr is wajib. This is a level just below fard. Leaving it is a sin, and a missed Witr must be made up.
• Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali: Witr is a sunnah mu'akkadah, the most stressed of all sunnahs. You are not sinful for missing it, but you should not leave it.

Nabi ﷺ said: Witr is a duty on every Muslim. Whoever wants to pray it as five, three or one rakat may do so¹⁴. Hanafis take this as proof that it is wajib. The others read "duty" as "strongly stressed".

When to pray it

• The time starts after you pray Isha and lasts until Fajr begins.
• If you will wake up for night prayer, pray Witr at the end of the night. That is better. If you are not sure you will wake up, pray it before you sleep¹⁵.
• Abu Hurairah said Nabi ﷺ advised him to pray Witr before sleeping¹⁶. So praying it after Isha is a safe choice for most people.
• Pray Witr only once a night. Nabi ﷺ said: there are no two Witrs in one night¹⁷. If you prayed Witr after Isha and then wake up for tahajjud, pray in twos and do not repeat Witr.

How to pray Witr

Witr can be one rakah, three, five, seven, nine or eleven. Nabi ﷺ said: Witr is one rakah at the end of the night prayer¹⁸. Most people pray three.

Three rakat, the Hanafi way

• Pray it like Maghrib: three rakat, with a sitting after the second rakah and one salam at the end.
• Recite Surah al-Fatihah and another surah in all three rakat.
• In the third rakah, after the recitation, say Allahu akbar and raise your hands, then fold them again and read the qunut dua. Then go to ruku (bowing).

Three rakat, the way of the other schools

• Two, then one: pray two rakat and end with salam. Then stand and pray one rakah on its own. This is what Malikis do, and it is what Shafi'is and Hanbalis prefer.
• Three with one sitting: Shafi'is and Hanbalis also allow three rakat in a row, sitting only once at the very end. Try not to make it look exactly like Maghrib.

What to recite

When Nabi ﷺ prayed three, he recited Surah al-A'la (87) in the first, Surah al-Kafirun (109) in the second, and Surah al-Ikhlas (112) in the third. After the salam he said Subhanal-Malikil-Quddus (Glory be to the King, the Most Pure) three times¹⁹. This is a sunnah, not a must. Any surah is fine.

Qunut in Witr

Qunut is a short dua said while standing in the last rakah of Witr. The schools differ on it:

Both ways have a source. Ubayy ibn Ka'b reported qunut before ruku²⁰. Anas said qunut was before ruku, and that Nabi ﷺ said it after ruku for one month²¹.

The qunut dua

Nabi ﷺ taught his grandson al-Hasan these words to say in Witr²²:

Allahummahdini fiman hadayt, wa 'afini fiman 'afayt, wa tawallani fiman tawallayt, wa barik li fima a'tayt, wa qini sharra ma qadayt, fa innaka taqdi wa la yuqda 'alayk, wa innahu la yadhillu man walayt, tabarakta Rabbana wa ta'alayt.

It means: O Allah, guide me with those You have guided. Keep me safe with those You have kept safe. Take care of me with those You take care of. Bless what You have given me. Protect me from the harm of what You have decided. You decide, and no one decides over You. Whoever You befriend is never put down. Blessed and High are You, our Lord.

Many Hanafis read a different qunut that begins Allahumma inna nasta'inuka (O Allah, we ask You for help), which the Companions used. Either dua is fine.

Nabi ﷺ also said at the end of his Witr: O Allah, I seek safety in Your pleasure from Your anger, and in Your forgiveness from Your punishment. I seek safety in You from You. I cannot count Your praises. You are as You have praised Yourself²³.

If you missed Witr

Nabi ﷺ said: whoever sleeps through Witr or forgets it, let them pray it when they remember or wake up²⁴²⁵.

• Hanafi: since Witr is wajib, you must make it up, as three rakat with qunut. Do it at a time when prayer is allowed, for example after sunrise.
• Other schools: making it up is recommended, following the hadith above.

Tahajjud: the night prayer

Tahajjud or qiyam al-layl means praying at night, usually after some sleep. It is the best prayer after the fard²⁶.

Nabi ﷺ said: every night, in the last third of the night, our Lord comes down to the lowest heaven and says: who is calling Me, so I can answer? Who is asking Me, so I can give? Who is asking My forgiveness, so I can forgive?²⁷. This is the best time for dua.

How Nabi ﷺ prayed it

• Aisha said he never prayed more than eleven rakat at night, in Ramadan or any other month. He prayed four, very long and beautiful, then four more, then three²⁸.
• He also said the night prayer is prayed two by two. When you fear Fajr is near, pray one rakah to make it odd²⁹.
• He then lay down until the call for Fajr, and prayed the two light rakat before Fajr³⁰.

How you can start

• Wake up 15 or 20 minutes before Fajr. Make wudu.
• Pray two rakat. Then two more if you can. Then Witr, if you did not pray it before sleeping.
• Spend a few minutes in dua. This is the time when Allah is asking who needs anything.
• Wake your husband or wife to pray with you. Nabi ﷺ made dua for the man who wakes his wife to pray, and the woman who wakes her husband³¹.

See also the Tahajjud reminder in the app. Even two rakat a night, kept up, is more loved than a long night once a year.

Duha: the morning prayer

Duha is a prayer in the morning, after the sun has risen and before Dhuhr.

Nabi ﷺ said: every morning, each joint in your body owes a charity. Every SubhanAllah is a charity. Every Alhamdulillah is a charity. Telling people to do good is a charity. And two rakat of Duha cover all of it³².

• Time: from about 15 to 20 minutes after sunrise, until about 15 minutes before Dhuhr. The best time is mid-morning, when the day gets hot³³.
• How many: at least two. Aisha said Nabi ﷺ prayed four, and sometimes more³⁴. On the day Makkah was opened, he prayed eight³⁵.
• Ruling: it is a sunnah. Nabi ﷺ advised Abu Hurairah to keep it up³⁶.

If you work, you can pray two rakat of Duha during your morning break.

Tarawih in Ramadan

Tarawih is the night prayer in Ramadan, prayed after Isha, usually with the imam in the masjid. Nabi ﷺ said: whoever prays at night in Ramadan with faith, hoping for reward, all their past sins are forgiven³⁷.

Nabi ﷺ led it in the masjid for a few nights. Then he stopped, so that it would not become a duty³⁸.

8 or 20 rakat?

• Eight rakat (plus Witr): Aisha said Nabi ﷺ never prayed more than eleven at night, in Ramadan or any other month⁴².
• Twenty rakat (plus Witr): this became the practice in the time of Umar and the Companions. It is the standard position of the Hanafi, Shafi'i and Hanbali schools. The old Maliki practice in Madinah was even longer.

Both are valid. Night prayer has no upper limit⁴³. Pray with your local masjid. If you need to leave after eight, that is fine. Please do not argue with others over this.

Other short sunnah prayers

Greeting the masjid (tahiyyat al-masjid)

Nabi ﷺ said: when you enter a masjid, pray two rakat before you sit down⁴⁴. If you walk in and go straight into a fard or sunnah prayer, that counts too.

Even during the Friday khutbah, Nabi ﷺ told a man who sat down to stand and pray two short rakat⁴⁵. Shafi'is and Hanbalis follow this. Hanafis and Malikis say sit and listen to the khutbah. Follow your local masjid.

Two rakat after wudu

Nabi ﷺ said to Bilal: tell me the best deed you have done, because I heard your footsteps ahead of me in Paradise. Bilal said: every time I make wudu, day or night, I pray whatever I can after it⁴⁶.

Pray your sunnahs at home

Nabi ﷺ said: pray in your homes. The best prayer of a person is the one prayed at home, except the fard prayers⁴⁷. He himself prayed the sunnahs after Maghrib and Isha in his house⁴⁸.

• It keeps your home full of prayer and blessing.
• It teaches your children by example.
• It keeps your worship private, away from showing off.

If you might not pray them once you get home, praying them in the masjid is still very good.

Common questions

I arrived late. The imam has started Fajr and I have not prayed the two sunnah.

Join the imam. Most scholars say pray the two sunnah after the fard, or after sunrise. A man once prayed them right after Fajr and Nabi ﷺ let it pass⁴⁹. He also said: whoever did not pray them, pray them after sunrise⁵⁰. Hanafis say wait until after sunrise.

Do I pray the sunnahs when I travel?

You do not have to. Ibn Umar said Nabi ﷺ did not pray the extra prayers on his journeys⁵¹. But he kept the two before Fajr and Witr, so try hard to keep those two.

I prayed Witr after Isha. Can I still pray tahajjud later?

Yes. Pray in twos, as many as you like. Just do not pray Witr again, because there are no two Witrs in one night⁵².

I work long shifts. I cannot pray all the sunnahs.

Pray the fard on time first. Then keep the two before Fajr and Witr. Add more on your days off. Allah sees your effort.

Can I pray sunnah prayers sitting down?

Yes. Voluntary prayers may be prayed sitting, even without an excuse, though standing brings more reward. Nabi ﷺ himself sometimes prayed two rakat sitting at night⁵³.

Can a woman lead other women in Tarawih at home?

Shafi'is and Hanbalis say yes. Hanafis allow it but dislike it, and Malikis do not allow it. She stands in the middle of the first row, not in front.

I am a new Muslim. Is all of this a must?

No. The five fard prayers come first. Learn them well. Then add Witr, then the two before Fajr, slowly. There is no rush.