Source: Ghair Masnoon Nafli Namazain by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Ameenpuri
Offering four rakʿāt before the ʿIshāʾ prayer is not established from the Prophet ﷺ or the Companions.
He writes:
"There is no known ḥadīth in the reliable books of ḥadīth that proves the four rakʿāt before ʿIshāʾ. However, all Ḥanafī jurists mention 'أربع قبل العشاء' as part of non-emphasized Sunnahs. In Kabīrī Sharḥ Munyat al-Muṣallī, this narration is quoted:
من صلى قبل العشاء أربعا يتهجد من ليلته الخ
and a reference is given to Sunan Saʿīd bin Manṣūr. But ʿAllāmah Binūrī has proven in Maʿārif al-Sunan (4/115) that the author of Kabīrī was mistaken. The correct narration is:
من صلى قبل الظهر أربعا كأنما تهجد من ليلته
Hence, this reasoning is invalid."
(Dars-e-Tirmidhī: 2/196–197)
In al-Muʿjam al-Awsaṭ (6/254, ḥadīth 6332), quoting from Sunan Saʿīd bin Manṣūr, the correct words are:
من صلى قبل الظهر
Chain is weak:
➊ Nābiḍ bin Sālim al-Bāhilī – no known biography
➋ Rabīʿ bin Lūṭ – no evidence of hearing from al-Barāʾ bin ʿĀzib رضي الله عنه
In al-Dirāyah by Ibn Ḥajar, the narration was mistakenly printed as من صلى قبل العشاء, leading to confusion.
This narration also appears with the wording:
من صلى قبل الهاجرة
(Musnad al-Ruyānī: 413, Shuʿab al-Īmān by al-Bayhaqī: 8935)
Chain is weak:
– No authentication found for Manṣūr bin ʿAbdullāh ʿAbd al-Raḥmān
"The narration about four rakʿāt before ʿIshāʾ is weak."
(al-ʿUrf al-Shadhī: 1/101)
Comment:
If the narration does not exist at all, then calling it weak is itself questionable.
He writes:
"Some derive evidence from the statement of ʿAllāmah Anwar Shāh Kashmīrī that one should pray four rakʿāt before and after ʿIshāʾ. I assumed perhaps Ḥāfiẓ Qāsim bin Qutlūbughā had presented a narration in al-Ikhtiyār for the four rakʿāt before ʿIshāʾ. I wrote to Shaykh Abū al-Wafā Afghānī (Director of Dāʾirah Iḥyāʾ al-Maʿārif al-Nuʿmāniyyah, Hyderabad Deccan), who possessed a photocopy of the manuscript.
Upon reviewing the relevant portion, he reported: ‘We found that section blank.’
This indicates that even a scholar like Ḥāfiẓ Qāsim bin Qutlūbughā — who authored a critical supplement on Ḥāfiẓ Jamāl al-Dīn al-Zaylaʿī’s Takhrīj Aḥādīth al-Hidāyah (entitled Minyat al-Almaʿī fīmā Fāta min Takhrīj Aḥādīth al-Hidāyah) — did not know any ḥadīth on this issue.
On the other hand, Ḥanafī texts are united in declaring the four rakʿāt before ʿIshāʾ as Sunnah, possibly relying on now-lost manuscripts of their Imāms.
Wa-Allāhu Aʿlam."
(Maʿārif al-Sunan: 4/115–116)
Conclusion:
Intellectual integrity demands that if no ḥadīth or Companion's report is found regarding a practice, then it should be honestly declared baseless. However, the contrary impression given in some writings is inappropriate.
A narration is reported from Saʿīd bin Jubayr رحمه الله:
كانوا يستحبون أربع ركعات قبل العشاء الآخرة
“They (Companions and Tābiʿīn) used to consider four rakʿāt before ʿIshāʾ preferable.”
(Mukhtaṣar Qiyām al-Layl by Muḥammad bin Naṣr al-Marwazī, p. 58)
Ruling: This statement is unsourced and thus unreliable as evidence.
Before the ʿIshāʾ prayer, one may offer:
These are valid and established from authentic sources.
✦ Four Rakʿāt Before ʿIshāʾ Prayer: Analysis and Authenticity
Offering four rakʿāt before the ʿIshāʾ prayer is not established from the Prophet ﷺ or the Companions.
❖ View of Mufti Taqi Usmani (Deobandi):
He writes:
"There is no known ḥadīth in the reliable books of ḥadīth that proves the four rakʿāt before ʿIshāʾ. However, all Ḥanafī jurists mention 'أربع قبل العشاء' as part of non-emphasized Sunnahs. In Kabīrī Sharḥ Munyat al-Muṣallī, this narration is quoted:
من صلى قبل العشاء أربعا يتهجد من ليلته الخ
and a reference is given to Sunan Saʿīd bin Manṣūr. But ʿAllāmah Binūrī has proven in Maʿārif al-Sunan (4/115) that the author of Kabīrī was mistaken. The correct narration is:
من صلى قبل الظهر أربعا كأنما تهجد من ليلته
Hence, this reasoning is invalid."
(Dars-e-Tirmidhī: 2/196–197)❖ Verification by Imām al-Ṭabarānī رحمه الله:
In al-Muʿjam al-Awsaṭ (6/254, ḥadīth 6332), quoting from Sunan Saʿīd bin Manṣūr, the correct words are:
من صلى قبل الظهر
Chain is weak:
➊ Nābiḍ bin Sālim al-Bāhilī – no known biography
➋ Rabīʿ bin Lūṭ – no evidence of hearing from al-Barāʾ bin ʿĀzib رضي الله عنه
In al-Dirāyah by Ibn Ḥajar, the narration was mistakenly printed as من صلى قبل العشاء, leading to confusion.
This narration also appears with the wording:
من صلى قبل الهاجرة
(Musnad al-Ruyānī: 413, Shuʿab al-Īmān by al-Bayhaqī: 8935)Chain is weak:
– No authentication found for Manṣūr bin ʿAbdullāh ʿAbd al-Raḥmān
❖ Statement of ʿAllāmah Anwar Shāh Kashmīrī (Deobandi):
"The narration about four rakʿāt before ʿIshāʾ is weak."
(al-ʿUrf al-Shadhī: 1/101)Comment:
If the narration does not exist at all, then calling it weak is itself questionable.
❖ Statement of ʿAllāmah Yūsuf Binūrī (Deobandi – 1397 AH):
He writes:
"Some derive evidence from the statement of ʿAllāmah Anwar Shāh Kashmīrī that one should pray four rakʿāt before and after ʿIshāʾ. I assumed perhaps Ḥāfiẓ Qāsim bin Qutlūbughā had presented a narration in al-Ikhtiyār for the four rakʿāt before ʿIshāʾ. I wrote to Shaykh Abū al-Wafā Afghānī (Director of Dāʾirah Iḥyāʾ al-Maʿārif al-Nuʿmāniyyah, Hyderabad Deccan), who possessed a photocopy of the manuscript.
Upon reviewing the relevant portion, he reported: ‘We found that section blank.’
This indicates that even a scholar like Ḥāfiẓ Qāsim bin Qutlūbughā — who authored a critical supplement on Ḥāfiẓ Jamāl al-Dīn al-Zaylaʿī’s Takhrīj Aḥādīth al-Hidāyah (entitled Minyat al-Almaʿī fīmā Fāta min Takhrīj Aḥādīth al-Hidāyah) — did not know any ḥadīth on this issue.
On the other hand, Ḥanafī texts are united in declaring the four rakʿāt before ʿIshāʾ as Sunnah, possibly relying on now-lost manuscripts of their Imāms.
Wa-Allāhu Aʿlam."
(Maʿārif al-Sunan: 4/115–116)Conclusion:
Intellectual integrity demands that if no ḥadīth or Companion's report is found regarding a practice, then it should be honestly declared baseless. However, the contrary impression given in some writings is inappropriate.
✦ Important Notes:
Point 1:
A narration is reported from Saʿīd bin Jubayr رحمه الله:
كانوا يستحبون أربع ركعات قبل العشاء الآخرة
“They (Companions and Tābiʿīn) used to consider four rakʿāt before ʿIshāʾ preferable.”
(Mukhtaṣar Qiyām al-Layl by Muḥammad bin Naṣr al-Marwazī, p. 58)Ruling: This statement is unsourced and thus unreliable as evidence.
Point 2:
Before the ʿIshāʾ prayer, one may offer:
- 2 Rakʿāt of Taḥiyyat al-Masjid (Greeting the Mosque)
- 2 Rakʿāt of Wudūʾ Prayer (Taḥiyyat al-Wuḍūʾ)
These are valid and established from authentic sources.
