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Can I leave out Sunnah during prayers?

Mohsin

Mohsin

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Hey guys, can anyone clarify the situation regarding 'Sunnah' in prayers. For example can I pray Asr by just praying 4 Farz? I've started to tru and read Namaz regularly (though I'll be honest I always serm to keep it up after Ramadan before eventually falling away, when school, now Uni, starts...but one can try to change that) and normally read the Farz, Nafl and Witr but leave out Sunnah. After all it's just...Sunnah right?

Or am I doing wrong here? :moyo
 
You absolutely cannot leave out the 2 rakat Sunnah in Fajr salat.
 
I dunno tbh...I know it sounds bad but it's probably mostly due to the fact that Nafl are short anyways lol
 
Oh yeh yeh, when I read Fajr I read the 2 Sunnah, I've no problem then
 
There are two types of sunnah; sunnah muakkada which the prophet (pbuh) never missed while there are sunnah ghair muakkada which the the prophet (pbuh) missed sometimes. So I think that you should always try and read sunnah muakkada but for the other sunnah ghair muakkada's if you miss them there is no sin.

Fajr:

2 Sunnah Muakkadah

Zuhr:

4 Sunnah Muakkadah
2 Sunnah Muakkadah

Asr:

4 Sunnah Ghair Muakkadah

Maghrib:

2 Sunnah Muakkadah

Isha:

4 Sunnah Ghair Muakkadah
2 Sunnah Muakkadah

I think the bare minimum you should make the intention of reading is the Fard as they are compuslory and then sunnah muakkada if you have time then the ghair muakkadah and then the nafl in that priority. But do not miss FARD.
 
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As we all know reading or practising any Sunnah gives the sweetness of Imaan.

We should not make a habit of missing out Sunnah's, or else it can turn into Gunnah. here and there in emergencies as a last option we have freedom but making a habit is when thing get weighed up.
 
Mohsin said:
Hey guys, can anyone clarify the situation regarding 'Sunnah' in prayers. For example can I pray Asr by just praying 4 Farz? I've started to tru and read Namaz regularly (though I'll be honest I always serm to keep it up after Ramadan before eventually falling away, when school, now Uni, starts...but one can try to change that) and normally read the Farz, Nafl and Witr but leave out Sunnah. After all it's just...Sunnah right?

Or am I doing wrong here? :moyo
Click to expand...

Btw, isn't asar four farz only?
 
Should read the Muakkadah Sunnah, but sadly I am also guilty of leaving these (May Allah forgive me). However you can't leave out the 2 rakat Sunnah for Fajr, since they are compulsory.
 
lol Mohsin you seem confused. Why are you leaving out sunnah but praying nafl? I'm sure the sunnah takes priority above nafl prayers. Anyways I'll break it down for you for each salah (according to Hanafi fiqh):

Fajr: Compulsory to pray 2 sunnah before the 2 fardh.
Zohr: Compulsory to pray 4 sunnah, 4 fardh, 2 sunnah.
Asr: Compulsory to pray 4 fardh.
Maghrib: Compulsory to pray 3 fardh, 2 sunnah.
Isha: Compulsory to pray 4 fardh, 2 sunnah and 3 witr.

I have been taught that the Sunnah Muaqqadah prayers are compulsory and I advise, seen as though you want to make 5 times salah regularly, for you to read the Sunnah Muaqqadah prayers so you can gain the reward for following the Prophets sunnah, Insha'Allah!
 
Boi said:
lol Mohsin you seem confused. Why are you leaving out sunnah but praying nafl? I'm sure the sunnah takes priority above nafl prayers. Anyways I'll break it down for you for each salah (according to Hanafi fiqh):

Fajr: Compulsory to pray 2 sunnah before the 2 fardh.
Zohr: Compulsory to pray 4 sunnah, 4 fardh, 2 sunnah.
Asr: Compulsory to pray 4 fardh.
Maghrib: Compulsory to pray 3 fardh, 2 sunnah.
Isha: Compulsory to pray 4 fardh, 2 sunnah and 3 witr.

I have been taught that the Sunnah Muaqqadah prayers are compulsory and I advise, seen as though you want to make 5 times salah regularly, for you to read the Sunnah Muaqqadah prayers so you can gain the reward for following the Prophets sunnah, Insha'Allah!
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Great post :)
 
I see thanks guys...lol I never knew you could leave out Nafl, hence why I'm talking about Sunnah only...never thought Sunnah was 'above' Nafl
 
Pak_NM said:
From what I have read it is sunnah muakkadah but feel free to correct me.
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i think i am wrong , thanks for correcting me i am gonna pray sunna also for duhur starting tomorrow InshaAllah
 
Allah ( swt ) will ask you about the Fard ( compulsory ) part only . Prophet Muhammad ( pbuh ) in an hadeeth told a bedouni that if he performs the fardh part ONLY , he will get salvation.

If you have time you pray 2 rakats before Fajr , that is easy and also most important sunnah. After that all depends upon your time.

If you pray more , other than fardh , you will be rewarded , if you do not ..... you would not be doing sin.

All the hadeeths speaks about rewards of sunnah BUT NO Hadeeth says that not praying sunnah is sin.

Allah ( swt ) knows Best
 
Boi said:
lol Mohsin you seem confused. Why are you leaving out sunnah but praying nafl? I'm sure the sunnah takes priority above nafl prayers. Anyways I'll break it down for you for each salah (according to Hanafi fiqh):

Fajr: Compulsory to pray 2 sunnah before the 2 fardh.
Zohr: Compulsory to pray 4 sunnah, 4 fardh, 2 sunnah.
Asr: Compulsory to pray 4 fardh.
Maghrib: Compulsory to pray 3 fardh, 2 sunnah.
Isha: Compulsory to pray 4 fardh, 2 sunnah and 3 witr.

I have been taught that the Sunnah Muaqqadah prayers are compulsory and I advise, seen as though you want to make 5 times salah regularly, for you to read the Sunnah Muaqqadah prayers so you can gain the reward for following the Prophets sunnah, Insha'Allah!
Click to expand...

Great post boi, thankfully i have been praying the same.
 
While you are only accountable for the Fard, here's the thing, just how long does it take to read the Fard? 2 minutes? 3 minutes? 4 minutes? So we're trying to skimp out on a couple of minutes? We likely spend more time doing Wudu than reading 2 Sunnah.

If you're reading the prayers later than the prescribed time, then you only have to offer the Fard. We really should try to pray on time, and the Sunnah as well - it really doesn't take that much time. It's not a huge ask so we shouldn't treat it as such. Just my humble advice.
 
It is important to differentiate between obligatory and optional acts. If one transforms an optional act into a compulsory one, the scope of Religion has been extended beyond that which was intended.

So, do not impose upon yourself restrictions by making optional acts of worship into obligatory ones. If you do this, then you have made Islam harder for yourself than it actually is: do whatever you can - however great or small - and leave the rest to Allah SWT. Remember, that it is not quantity of worship which is taken into account, but rather the quality of intention underpinning it.
 
Jadz said:
It is important to differentiate between obligatory and optional acts. If one transforms an optional act into a compulsory one, the scope of Religion has been extended beyond that which was intended.

So, do not impose upon yourself restrictions by making optional acts of worship into obligatory ones. If you do this, then you have made Islam harder for yourself than it actually is: do whatever you can - however great or small - and leave the rest to Allah SWT. Remember, that it is not quantity of worship which is taken into account, but rather the quality of intention underpinning it.
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Nice Post.
 
Jadz said:
It is important to differentiate between obligatory and optional acts. If one transforms an optional act into a compulsory one, the scope of Religion has been extended beyond that which was intended.

So, do not impose upon yourself restrictions by making optional acts of worship into obligatory ones. If you do this, then you have made Islam harder for yourself than it actually is: do whatever you can - however great or small - and leave the rest to Allah SWT. Remember, that it is not quantity of worship which is taken into account, but rather the quality of intention underpinning it.
Click to expand...

Hi Jadz

Can you please define what is an optional act and a compulsory one in terms of prayer(salat)? Do you have any specific numbers? Thanks
 
Jadz said:
It is important to differentiate between obligatory and optional acts. If one transforms an optional act into a compulsory one, the scope of Religion has been extended beyond that which was intended.

So, do not impose upon yourself restrictions by making optional acts of worship into obligatory ones. If you do this, then you have made Islam harder for yourself than it actually is: do whatever you can - however great or small - and leave the rest to Allah SWT. Remember, that it is not quantity of worship which is taken into account, but rather the quality of intention underpinning it.
Click to expand...

Gold.
 
It depends on your madhab , if hanafi then the sunnah of fajr, zohr, magrib and the 2 in isha become sunnah -muakidah rather then the ghair muakidah sunnah

Sunnah-e-muakidah is considered near compulsory by hanafi scholars and missing it without a valid excuse is considered sinful

If you're shaafi then only the fardh are considered necessary, with everything else optional
 
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Depending on the school of thought you follow. Some say that by reading just the fard you have fulfilled your duty of namaz.Other say that Sunnat ul maqida are sunnahs that are as fard as the actual fard prayers.
 
from_da_lost_dim3nsion said:
Depending on the school of thought you follow. Some say that by reading just the fard you have fulfilled your duty of namaz.Other say that Sunnat ul maqida are sunnahs that are as fard as the actual fard prayers.
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If people say such a thing then they think they know more than what Prophet Muhammad ( pbuh ) told us. Hadeeth clearly says that prophet ( pbuh ) said that if a person fulfills the fard part that is 5 prayers a day , he has done what was required of him.

People who are living on benefits and do not bother to work have ample time , and can keep on praying chast / awabeen etc etc. But at the same time there are people who work hard , to feed there families. Allah ( swt ) knows that.
 
There are sunnah fasts also , why do people not insist on that? When it comes to Fasts we say it is only a sunnah to fast 13 / 14 / 15 of a month or on Thursdays and Mondays.

When it comes to salat we try to force upon people who do not have much time.

My mother all these years kept thinking that without Witr there is no Isha. Recently she understood when i explained to her.
 
Compulsory is compulsory, optional is optional. I only offer compulsory prayers.

I offer Witr though.

I do not wish to engage in a debate since I am not discouraging anyone from offering optional/extras prayers.
 
Can I leave out Sunnah during Prayers?

I thought I should add here that I recently read a Hadeeth that touched me so much, and one I felt that applied a great deal to me, my life, my condition, my situation, that I´ve added the Sunnah Prayers as well to my routine, inasmuch even the four Sunnah Rakaat before Salaat-al-Asr stimetimes, which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to skip some days and some days he would offered them. As an extension to it, I now often extend my Witr Prayer to three Rakaat from the earlier routine of offering just a single Rakah of it. Anyway, the Hadeeth that I´m referring to is the one below:

".... The first of his deeds for which a person will be brought to account on the Day of Resurrection will be his prayer. If it is sound then he will have succeeded but if it is not sound then he will be lost and doomed. If anything is lacking from his obligatory prayers, the Lord will say: "Look and see whether My slave has any voluntary (prayers)," and the shortfall from his obligatory prayers will be made up from that. Then all his deeds will be dealt with in like manner" - Sunaan Abu Dawood, Hadeeth #863.

I don´t necessarily fear about the mistakes made whilst offering the Obligatory Prayers, as God is the Most Merciful for a reasons and He recognises a person´s efforts, as long as the latter is pure and true in intentions and performs all his obligatory acts with all his heart and soul, because, as it is, mistakes made in forgetfulness etc. are those which even the Prophet himself made once (for which he then proceeded to offer two prostrations of forgetfulness/mistake). For us, even if we read the translations of it a thousand times, Arabic is not our native language and hence to make mistakes or to wander in concentration is most natural, but our intentions should be pure that we keep trying to stay focused and remind ourselves that we are standing in front of our Lord.

However, regardless of whether how valid or sound my excuse is, it is a fact that there are some obligatory acts of worship that I´m unable to perform, and hence with a sense of blame and guilt I find my guidance in the above Hadeeth and try my best to make up for them through offering the Supererogatory Prayers.

But the fact remains, the Prophet has throughout his life only recommended the Sunnah and the Nawaafil Prayers and has nowhere mentioned of him who misses them as having sinned. So it should be up to the individual to judge for himself, and it should never be forced upon people and we should confine it to just recommending them and not look down on someone who comes back to a gathering or the living room having only offered the Obligatory Prayers. As someone put it so well above, why are the Supererogatory Fasts not looked at in the same way as the Supererogatory Prayers? Is it so, because it is not a prevailing practice amongst the Muslims of today and hence missing them makes no sin? Islamic practices aren´t time-bound or dependent on the prevailing practice or culture. If something is obligatory, it is obligatory till forever. It is well documented that the Prophet very regularly used to observe the Supererogatory Fasts of the months Muharram, Shawaal and Shabaan, and the days of Ashoorah and Araafah.
 
From what i know. Only Fard prayer are compulsory in any case. Listen to ghamdi. He gave a really good lecture over it.
 
Can I leave out Sunnah during Prayers?

This Hadeeth beyond doubts establishes my point.....

A Bedouin with unkempt hair came to Allah's Messenger and said, "O´ Allah's Apostle! Inform me what Allah has made compulsory for me as regards the prayers." he replied: "You have to offer perfectly the five compulsory prayers in a day and night (24 hours), unless you want to pray Nawaafil." The Bedouin further asked, "Inform me what Allah has made compulsory for me as regards fasting." he replied, "You have to fast during the whole month of Ramadhaan, unless you want to fast more as Nawaafil." The Bedouin further asked, "Tell me how much Zakat Allah has enjoined on me." Thus, Allah's Messengers informed him about all the rules (i.e. fundamentals) of Islam. The Bedouin then said, "By Him Who has honored you, I will neither perform any Nawaafil nor will I decrease what Allah has enjoined on me. Allah's Messenger said, "if he is saying the truth, he will succeed (or he will be granted Paradise)" - Sahih Bukhari, Book #31, Hadeeth #115.
 
Mohsin said:
Hey guys, can anyone clarify the situation regarding 'Sunnah' in prayers. For example can I pray Asr by just praying 4 Farz? I've started to tru and read Namaz regularly (though I'll be honest I always serm to keep it up after Ramadan before eventually falling away, when school, now Uni, starts...but one can try to change that) and normally read the Farz, Nafl and Witr but leave out Sunnah. After all it's just...Sunnah right?

Or am I doing wrong here? :moyo
Click to expand...

You can leave Nafil, but not Sunnah. For exampl in Fajar, 2 sunnah before Farz and you have to pray those Sunnah.

Nafil is upto you, pray or not, it's ok.
 
chacha kashmiri said:
It depends on your madhab , if hanafi then the sunnah of fajr, zohr, magrib and the 2 in isha become sunnah -muakidah rather then the ghair muakidah sunnah

Sunnah-e-muakidah is considered near compulsory by hanafi scholars and missing it without a valid excuse is considered sinful

If you're shaafi then only the fardh are considered necessary, with everything else optional
Click to expand...

Solid post, good one.
 
During Namaz. Can you just offer Farz only if you are pressed for time at work? For Zuhr, Asr you just offer 4 farz and thats it?
 
Savak said:
During Namaz. Can you just offer Farz only if you are pressed for time at work? For Zuhr, Asr you just offer 4 farz and thats it?
Click to expand...

I have done that when i am pressed for time, its normally for fajr, when i have woken up late.
 
Savak said:
During Namaz. Can you just offer Farz only if you are pressed for time at work? For Zuhr, Asr you just offer 4 farz and thats it?
Click to expand...

Yes.

Bewal Express said:
What about if you are in the last few min before the sun rises?
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Most people try to pray the 2 Sunnah of the Fajr because of the immense virtues of these 2 rakat.

_____________


Regarding the question of this thread, I think it's best to pray the Sunnah rakat whenever you can. But obviously when you're short of time, etc., there's no harm in skipping. It shouldn't be considered at the same level as the Fard which is an absolute must. However, there's many virtues of praying Sunnah rakats.

Narrated Abu Huraira: A Bedouin came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said, "Tell me of such a deed as will make me enter Paradise, if I do it." The Prophet (pbuh) said, "Worship Allah, and worship none along with Him, offer the (five) prescribed compulsory prayers perfectly, pay the compulsory Zakat, and fast the month of Ramadan." The Bedouin said, "By Him, in Whose Hands my life is, I will not do more than this." When he (the Bedouin) left, the Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Who likes to see a man of Paradise, then he may look at this man." (Sahih al-Bukhari 1397)
 
Reading fard is The bare minimum to get your namaz fulfilled. Sunnah gets you more sawab though . Out of All Sunnah's the Fajr one is the most important one because the Prophet never left it . I believe that Isha you have to read the Witr as well , I am not sure but I do read the witr for isha .
 
For fajir try to pray the sunnah. For the rest of Salahs reading your Farz only makes your Namaz valid still.
 
In hanfi fiqh the 2 sunnats of fajar are most important sunnats not to be missed to the extent that if imam is leading salat and u can read sunnats and join in salat with jamat then read sunnats and then join in salat with jamat otherwise if u fear missing farz then skip sunnats

Apart from asar and isha all sunnats are muakkada. If u miss them out you'll be sinful.

Witr is wajib and you'll also be sinful for missing them

Sunnat and nawafil are very important because they make up for deficiencies in our farz salat.
 
The whole fard and wajib issue doesn't make sense either.

I have no problem with what Allah has enjoined on us as fard.

But when people start talking about sinning if you dont offer optional prayers, or how something is not compulsory but compulsory at the same time, it's perplexing. It sounds nonsensical.

Allah prescribed 5 prayers per day, each with their fard rakat. The only sunnah I pray without fail is the fajr ones.

The answer is a simple one that gets complicated for no reason. Read your fard prayers as minimum. And if your intention is to show even more gratitude, read the sunnah, nafl etc.
 
The Sunnahs that should be performed regularly are:
* Fajr: 2 Rakkahs before Fard
* Zuhr: 4 Rakkahs before Fard
* Zuhr: 2 Rakkahs after Fard
* Mughrib: 2 Rakkahs after Fard
* Isha: 2 Rakkahs after Fard

* Jumma: 4 Rakkahs before Fard
* Jumma: 4 Rakkahs after Fard
* Jumma: 2 Rakkahs after Fard
 
Rayyman said:
[MENTION=133760]Abdullah719[/MENTION]

What about Witr?
Click to expand...

The general consensus is that it isn't mandatory.

However, it's best to pray it whenever possible, as with the other confirmed sunnahs. Even one rakat suffices.
 
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