Sunnah before Zuhr: Two or Four?

Question: 10889

Before the fard prayer of Zuhr, do we pray 2 or a rak’ah sunnah prayer? Is there a difference among the scholars?

Summary of answer

It was narrated in some hadiths that the Sunnah prayer before Zuhr is two rak`ahs. In some other hadiths, it is narrated that Sunnah prayer before Zuhr is four rak`ahs (two-by-two).

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Answer

Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah and his family.

You must mean, is the Sunnah prayer before Zuhr two rak`ahs or four rak`ahs? Because the one rak`ah is odd-numbered, and there is no odd-numbered prayer apart from Maghrib, and the Witr prayer at night.

The answer is: it was narrated in some hadiths that the Sunnah prayer before Zuhr is with one taslim (i.e., it is two rak`ahs), as stated in the hadith of Ibn ‘Umar (narrated) in al-Sahihayn.

And in some other hadiths, it is narrated that it is two taslims (i.e., four rak`ahs), as stated in the hadith of `Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her), (narrated) in Sahih Muslim.

So one has the choice of doing two or four rak`ahs before Zuhr prayer . But some scholars suggested that if a person prays it at home it is better to pray four rak`ahs with two taslims, and if he prays them in the mosque, he should pray two rak`ahs with one taslim).

For more, please see these answers: 33779 , 1048 , 12844 , and 181043 .

And Allah knows best.

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Source:

Shaykh Sa’d al-Humayd