Best Sunnah Prayers

Prayer is the second pillar of Islam, and the connection between the servant and his Lord. Allah Almighty commanded the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to perform prayer at its prescribed times, as this brings great virtue to Muslims.

Through it, Allah Almighty elevates the servant to the highest ranks and degrees. Through it, the Muslim’s heart is upright and goodness comes to him in this world and the hereafter.

Muslims must adhere to the times of prayer and perform them on time without delay. Because prayer is one of the most important pillars of Islam, we will highlight the best sunnah prayers.

Best Sunnah Prayers

The best sunnah prayers are the recommended prayers that follow the five obligatory prayers, consisting of two or four rak’ahs performed at specific times, either before or after the obligatory prayers.

Some of these are confirmed Sunnahs, while others are recommended based on Shari’ah evidence, but they are of a lower rank than the confirmed ones.

The confirmed Sunnah prayers are twelve rak’ahs: four before Dhuhr with two taslims, two after it with one taslim, two after Maghrib with one taslim, two after Isha with one taslim, and two before Fajr with one taslim.

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) adhered to these prayers even when he was living and advised his companions to pray them.

As for the rest, their legitimacy has been established by other evidence. These are Sunnah prayers with a degree of lesser confirmation.

These include adding two rak’ahs after Dhuhr, four rak’ahs before Asr, two rak’ahs before Maghrib, and two rak’ahs before Isha.

The Virtue of Maintaining the best sunnah prayers

Allah has bestowed upon His servants the bounty of many acts of worship, both obligatory and recommended. There are many virtues that a Muslim reaps when maintaining the best sunnah prayers, as follows:

Communing with Allah through frequent prostration

In the hadith of Rabi’ah ibn Ka’b al-Aslami, he said: I said, O Messenger of Allah! When the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to him, “Ask” – he was serving the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.

He said, “I ask you to accompany you in Paradise.” He said, “Help me with yourself by prostrating frequently.” Therefore, frequent prayers are considered one of the things.

That in turn increases the frequency of prostrations, and the virtue of frequent prostrations is achieved, the most important of which is entering Paradise and accompanying the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.

Making up for missed obligatory prayers

Voluntary prayer is one of the acts that can make up for deficiencies in obligatory prayers, because obligatory prayer is the first thing for which a person will be held accountable on the Day of Judgment.

If a deficiency is found in it, it will be punished. It is taken from the voluntary prayer to complete what is missing from the obligatory prayer. This is what the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.

Indicated: “The first thing for which people will be held accountable on the Day of Resurrection regarding their deeds will be the prayer. Our Lord, the Almighty and Majestic, will say to His angels and He knows best.

‘Look into My servant’s prayer, whether he completed it or omitted it. If it was complete, it will be recorded as complete for him. But if he omitted something from it, He will say, ‘Look to see if My servant has any voluntary prayers.’

If he has any voluntary prayers, He will say, ‘Complete My servant’s obligatory prayers.’ Then the deeds will be taken accordingly.” So if a servant’s prayer is flawed in any of its aspects, it will be made up for by performing voluntary prayers.

Raising ranks in Paradise

Prayer is one of the reasons for raising ranks in Paradise, so voluntary prayers fall within the same category that ultimately leads to raising a Muslim’s ranks.

In this regard, there is a hadith narrated by Thawban, the freed slave of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).

Who said to him: “You must perform frequent prostrations, for you do not prostrate to Allah once without Allah raising you a degree and removing a sin from you because of it.”

A house will be built for him in Paradise

Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Whoever perseveres in performing twelve rak’ahs of the Sunnah.

Allah will build for him a house in Paradise: four rak’ahs before Dhuhr and two rak’ahs after it, two rak’ahs after Maghrib, two rak’ahs after ‘Isha’, and two rak’ahs before Fajr.” From this, it is clear that whoever adheres to the Sunnah prayers will attain a house in Paradise.

Prohibition of the Body from the Fire

It is narrated in Sunan Abi Dawud on the authority of Umm Habib that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Whoever adheres to four rak’ahs before Dhuhr and four after it will be prohibited from the Fire.” Sheikh Al-Albani authenticated it.

From this hadith, it is clear that these prayers are Sunnah prayers, and adherence to them will protect the body from the Fire.” Fire, which is a great thing, the greatest thing a Muslim can hope for is for Allah to save him from the fire.

A Path to Loving Allah

It has been shown that one of the virtues of maintaining the Sunnah prayers is loving Allah. This is stated in the hadith of Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him).

In which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Allah, the Most High, said: ‘Whoever shows enmity to a friend of Mine, I declare war against him.

My servant does not draw near to Me with anything more beloved to Me than what I have enjoined upon him. My servant continues to draw near to Me with voluntary prayers until I love him.

When I love him, I am his hearing with which he hears, his sight with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes, and his foot with which he walks. If he asks Me, I will surely give him, and if he seeks refuge in Me, I will surely grant him refuge.

I do not hesitate about anything I am about to do as I hesitate about the soul of a believer. He hates death, and I hate to offend him.’” (Narrated by al-Bukhari).

Better than this world and everything in it

The virtue of the two rak’ahs of Fajr prayer was narrated by the Companions, including the hadith of Sayyida Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “The two rak’ahs of Fajr are better than this world and everything in it.” Narrated by Muslim.

From this hadith, the virtue of the Sunnah of Fajr prayer becomes clear, and its reward is beyond counting and enumerating. Its reward is broader and more comprehensive than a Muslim can calculate. It is better than the entire world and all its pleasures and provisions.

Hadiths on the Virtue of the best sunnah prayers

The noble Prophetic hadiths address many, if not all, acts of worship, obligatory prayers, and Sunnahs, highlighting their merit and encouraging their implementation. These include:

• On the authority of Abdullah ibn Shaqiq, who said: “I asked Aisha about the voluntary prayers of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and she said: He used to pray four rak’ahs before noon in my house, then he would go out and lead the people in prayer, then he would return to my house and pray two rak’ahs. He used to lead the people in the Maghrib prayer, then he would return to my house and pray two rak’ahs. He used to lead them in the Isha prayer, then he would enter my house and pray two rak’ahs. He used to pray nine rak’ahs at night, including the Witr prayer. He used to pray for a long time at night standing, and for a long time sitting. When he recited while standing, he would bow and prostrate while standing, and when he recited while sitting, he would bow and prostrate while sitting. When dawn broke, he would pray two rak’ahs, then he would go out and lead the people in the Fajr prayer (peace and blessings be upon him).”
• Al-Qa’nabi narrated to us from Malik, from Nafi’, from Abdullah ibn Umar (that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)
• used to pray two rak’ahs before the noon prayer and two rak’ahs after it, and two rak’ahs after the sunset prayer in his home.
• And two rak’ahs after the ‘Isha’ prayer. He would not pray after the Friday prayer until he had finished, then prayed two rak’ahs.)
• Musaddad narrated to us: Yahya narrated to us from Shu’bah, from Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn al-Muntashir, from his father.
• From Aisha (that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) never omitted four rak’ahs before the noon prayer and two rak’ahs before the morning prayer).

How many Sunnah prayers are there?

Jurists have differed regarding the number of Sunnah prayers and prayers, based on the hadiths that have been reported in this regard. For example, Ibn ‘Umar said: I prayed with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).

Two rak’ahs before the noon prayer and two rak’ahs after it, two rak’ahs after the sunset prayer, two rak’ahs after the ‘Isha’ prayer, and two rak’ahs after the Friday prayer.

Scholars have stated that the Sunnah prayer may consist of ten rak’ahs: two before Dhuhr and two after Dhuhr, two after Maghrib, two after Isha, and two before Fajr. This is the view of the Hanbali school.

As for al-Shafi’i, he was among those who held that the Sunnah before Dhuhr is four rak’ahs, bringing the total to twelve rak’ahs.

Conclusion

The best sunnah prayers, or the Sunnah prayers, are a type of voluntary prayer that is timed and specific to the five obligatory prayers. They are performed either before the obligatory prayer, and their time begins with the beginning of the obligatory prayer’s time, or after it.

And their time begins with the completion of the obligatory prayer. The time for each prayer ends with the end of the obligatory prayer’s time. The Sunnah prayers were prescribed to compensate for any deficiency in the perfection of the obligatory prayer.

Such as a lack of humility or contemplation during recitation. The Sunnah prayers, according to their degree of merit, are either confirmed Sunnah (rak’ahs) which are two rak’ahs before Fajr, four rak’ahs before Dhuhr, two rak’ahs after Dhuhr, two rak’ahs after Maghrib, and two rak’ahs after Isha.