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Prayer Questions
Kathy
03/18/05 at 10:14:22
[slm]
Yoi, 17+ years as a Muslim and I have a prayer question!

1. Are there sunnah prayers before Asr and Isha? I have always done 4 rakats, but an Imam told me yesterday, there were no sunnah before these 2 prayers. Then he showed me a booklet sighting Muslim and Bukhari as the daleel. However, the hadith were not written out. He also said there is no sunnah before Jummah prayer, other than the 2 rakat of coming to the masjid.

2. Now this question is something you would have thought I would know, but I never had to deal with until now. I have always prayed Fajr as soon as it comes in. However, now my son has to get up, so I delay it as long as possible.  How long can you delay the Fajr time?  The prayer calender says sunrise is at 6:15. But yikes...at 5:45 it is pretty darn light out.

Enlighten me please! Jazak Allahu Khirun.
03/18/05 at 10:16:04
Kathy
Re: Prayer Questions
eleanor
03/18/05 at 10:52:11
[slm]

1. The way I was told it was that there are 4 sunnah before Isha and Asr but *you don't always need pray them* like the other sunnah prayers. This is because the Prophet sometimes used to pray them and sometimes he wouldn't. But he would always pray the other sunnah prayers.
I don't have any proof to back this up though and this was explained from a Hanafi point of view.

2. I don't know the answer to this. Personally I have some issues with prayer calendars since they never seem to correspond correctly with what the sun is doing. For Fajr and Maghrib it is probably more accurate to look up the sunrise and sunset times on a weather website than to follow the prayer calendars. The reason being that most prayer calendars are written a year in advance, or there are even some that are permanent. You just use them year after year after year. And no matter what two prayer calendars you bring together there is always a time difference of some minutes on them...
I don't know, it is pretty confusing alright, especially in winter.

wasalaam
eleanor
Re: Prayer Questions
timbuktu
03/18/05 at 12:25:21
[slm] I too have read about the 4 sunnah rakaat before asr and isha, and I think these are authentic Sunnahs with special merit particularly asr, although I have no reference to back this up at this moment.

About the Jummah prayer, the fuqaha have a difference of opinion. Some (of the ahle Hadith) agree with your Imam (and I, although not a faqih, agree too, although  at times I did offer the 4 sunnahs before Jummah). Others hold that the only reduction is in the 4 rakaat of Zuhr, while the other rakaats remain the same.

I have also read that if one offers the sunnah [i]after[/i] the Jummah prayer in the Masjid, he/she should pray 4 rakaat, while if it is done at home, it is 2 rakaat.

In the Indo_Pak subcontinent, when the british took over as rulers, some ulema regarded India as darul Harb, and considered the Jummah as abolished under these conditions. [i](The Shia of Iran had also done the same, as in the absence of the Imam, all governments are illegitimate.  It is only after Khomeini that they have started observing the Jummah prayer in Iran)[/i]. Most ulema in India kept the Jummah, but in many parts they introduced something called "ehtiyaatee". This was an extra 4 rakaats as fard just in case Jummah wasn't valid. Now of course it is widely held that Jummah is not abolished under non-Muslim rule.
03/18/05 at 12:26:55
timbuktu
Re: Prayer Questions
MIT
03/18/05 at 14:32:54
assalaamu alaikum

Its generally better to offer salaah at its earliest time, and it would be grat if you instilled this teaching in your son at an earlier age.

Not to mention the fact that as the days get longer you'll probably come to a day when praying Fajr at 5.30a would be right before sunrise anyway, so you might as well pray at that time now.

Wa Salaam
Re: Prayer Questions
Abu_Hamza
03/20/05 at 12:16:54
[quote author=Kathy link=board=madrasa;num=1111158862;start=0#0 date=03/18/05 at 10:14:22] 1. Are there sunnah prayers before Asr and Isha? I have always done 4 rakats, but an Imam told me yesterday, there were no sunnah before these 2 prayers. Then he showed me a booklet sighting Muslim and Bukhari as the daleel. However, the hadith were not written out. [/quote]

According to the Hanafi madh-hab, there are optimally 4 (and minimally 2) rak'aat of sunnah prayers both before Asr and Isha.  However, the Hanafis consider them sunnah ghayr mu'akkadah (i.e. non-stressed sunnah).

Shaykh Sayyid Sabiq says in his book, Fiqh-us-Sunnah, about the Sunnah prayers before Asr:

[quote]Many ahadith have been related about this sunnah prayer and they all support each other.

Such hadith include the following:

Ibn 'Umar reports that the Prophet said: "May Allah have mercy on a person who prays four rak'at before 'asr prayer." This was related by Ahmad, Abu Dawud, at-Tirmizhi (who calls it hasan), Ibn Hibban, and Ibn Khuzaimah. The latter two hold it as sahih. 'Ali reports that the Prophet sallallahu alehi wasallam prayed four rak'at before 'asr while separating every two sets of rak'at with salutations to the angels close to Allah, to the prophets, and to those who followed them - the believers and Muslims. This is related by Ahmad, an-Nasa'i, Ibn Majah, and atTirmizhi who grades it hasan.

As for praying only two rak'af at this time, this would fall under the generality of the Prophet's statement: "Between every azhan and iqamah there is a prayer." [/quote]

As for the evidence for 4 rak'aat before isha, I don't know of it.  However, I do know that non-Hanafi scholars usually say the sunnah before Isha is 2, not 4.  Wallahu a'lam.

[quote]He also said there is no sunnah before Jummah prayer, other than the 2 rakat of coming to the masjid. [/quote]

This is strange.  Perhaps what he meant was there is no sunnah mu'akkidah (i.e. stressed sunnah) before Jumu'ah prayer.  As for sunnah prayers before Jumu'ah, there are many ahadith that mention the virtues of praying before the khutbah.  Sayyid Sabiq says the following regarding this:

[quote]It is a sunnah to offer supererogatory prayers before al-Jumu'ah until the imam arrives. After the imam's arrival, one should no longer offer any salah, save for the prayer of greeting the mosque (tahayyatul masjid) which may be performed quickly during the khutbah unless one comes at the end of the khutbah and would not have the time [i.e., before the actual salah begins] to perform tahayyatul masjid.

Ibn 'Umar used to perform a long prayer before al-Jumu'ah and then two rak'at after it, and he said that the Prophet used to do so. This is related by Abu Dawud.

Abu Hurairah reports that the Prophet sallallahu alehi wasallam said: "Whoever makes ghusl on the day of Jumu'ah and then goes to the mosque and prays what has been prescribed for him, and remains quiet while the imam delivers the khutbah, and then prays with the imam, he will have forgiven for him what is between that Jumu'ah and the next and an additional three days." This is related by Muslim.

Jabir reports that a man came to the mosque on Jumu'ah while the Prophet was delivering the khutbah. The Prophet inquired of him: "Did you offer the salah?" The man replied: "No!" He told him: "Pray two rak'at." This is related by the group. In one narration it states: "If one of you comes to the mosque on the day of Jumu'ah and the imam is delivering the khutbah, he should pray two rak'at and make them quick." This is related by Ahmad, Muslim, and Abu Dawud. In another narration, it is stated: "If one of you comes to the mosque on the day of Jumu'ah and the imam has already arrived, he should offer two rak'at." This is related by al-Bukhari and Muslim. [/quote]

As for praying specifically 4 rak'aat of Sunnah before Jumu'ah, that is the practice in the Hanafi school of thought.

[quote]2. Now this question is something you would have thought I would know, but I never had to deal with until now. I have always prayed Fajr as soon as it comes in. However, now my son has to get up, so I delay it as long as possible.  How long can you delay the Fajr time?  The prayer calender says sunrise is at 6:15. But yikes...at 5:45 it is pretty darn light out.[/quote]

What I know is that as long as you pray Fajr before the time for sunrise, your prayer is considered on time.  However, in general, it is not good to delay the prayers towards the end of their time windows unnecessarily, as MIT said.

Wallahu a'lam.
Re: Prayer Questions
anon
03/21/05 at 06:51:26
[slm]

Please notify the imams that Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim contain a fraction of the total Sahih hadiths there are.

4 Rakaats Before Salaat al-Isha
Hazrat Sa’eed Ibn Jubair (radhiallahu anhu) narrates that the Sahaabah (radhiallahu anhum) used to regard the performing of four rakats before the fardh of isha as mustahab. [Qiyaamul-Layl of Mu-ham-mad ibn Nasr al-Marwazi (d. 294), pg.58]

[i]Note: Al-Dhahabi in Siyar A'lam al-Nubala' (Dar al-Fikr ed. 7:410) gives a list of scholars of the early generations that can be trusted and followed. In that list he mentions Muhammad ibn Nasr al-Marwazi.[/i]


Sunnats BEFORE Salaat al-Asr
Rasulullah (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) has said: "May Allah show mercy upon that person who performs four rakats before the fard of `asr". [Tirmidhi, chapter on the narrations regarding the four rakats, Hadith no. 430]



Recommended time for Fajr Salah
Rasulullah (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) is reported to have said: "Perform the fajar salah when the sky brightens at the time of dawn (i.e. before sunrise) since this is a means of earning greater reward. [Tirmidhi, Hadith 154]

Imam Tirmidhi explains that the majority of the Sahaaba (radhiallahu anhum) used to perform fajar salah at this time (i.e. when the sky had brightened up).

[i]Contrary to the popular FALSE opinion, sub-continent scholars did not ask people to pray 4 rakats just in case juma is not valid under British rule. Those are sunnat as established by various ahadith.[/i]

Sunnah rakats' in Juma salat
On the authority of Abu Huraira (Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said: “When one of you performs the Friday prayer, he should perform four (rak’ats) after it. ” (Muslim)


On the authority of Abu Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami  (Allah be pleased with him) that he said, Abdullah (Allah be pleased w