Ghair-Mu’akkadah Sunnahs After Maghrib and ʿIshāʾ

Source: Abu ʿAdnān Muḥammad Munīr Qamar Nawāb al-Dīn, Namāz Panjgānah kī Rakaʿāt Maʿa Namāz Witr wa Tahajjud

❖ Reports of Four, Six, and Eight Rakʿahs Between Maghrib and ʿIshāʾ​

Some narrations mention four, some six, and some eight rakʿahs between Maghrib and ʿIshāʾ. However, the status of these reports is not reliable:

• Four rakʿah narration → mursal
• Six rakʿah narration → very weak
• Eight rakʿah narration → fabricated

(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 4/160; Ibn Khuzaymah 2/267; al-Dāraqutnī 1/266; Sunan al-Dārī; al-Mirʿāt 2/48-165)

❖ Authentic Evidence of Nawaafil Between Maghrib and ʿIshāʾ​

Without specifying a number, praying nafl between Maghrib and ʿIshāʾ is authentically established.


Hudhayfah (رضي الله عنه) said:


صليت مع النبى صلى الله عليه وسلم المغرب فلما قضى صلوته قام فلم يزل يصلى حتى صلی العشاء ثم خرج


"I prayed Maghrib with the Prophet ﷺ. After finishing, he stood up and continued to pray until he prayed ʿIshāʾ, then he left."
(al-Irwāʾ 3/322; reported in Tirmidhī, Nasāʾī, Musnad Aḥmad)


This shows that any number of voluntary rakʿahs can be offered between Maghrib and ʿIshāʾ.

❖ Timing Between ʿIshāʾ Adhān and Iqāmah​

When the adhān for ʿIshāʾ is given, there is a gap before the iqāmah. During this time, one may pray as many rakʿahs as desired.

• A person inside the masjid may perform two rakʿahs in accordance with the ḥadīth: “Between every two adhāns (adhān and iqāmah) there is a prayer.”
• One entering the masjid may pray taḥiyyat al-masjid and taḥiyyat al-wuḍūʾ.
• All voluntary rakʿahs should be prayed in sets of two.
• If the congregation begins, even the mu’akkadah sunnahs should be left aside for the congregation.

❖ Sunnahs After ʿIshāʾ​

Some books of fiqh mention four ghair-mu’akkadah sunnahs before ʿIshāʾ, usually prayed with one salām. However, there is no authentic ḥadīth establishing this specific form.

• After the obligatory ʿIshāʾ prayer, two mu’akkadah sunnahs are confirmed.
• In Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī and Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Ibn ʿUmar (رضي الله عنه) narrated these two rakʿahs after ʿIshāʾ.
• ʿĀʾishah (رضي الله عنها) said:

ثم يصلي بالناس العشاء ويدخل بيتي فيصلي ركعتين
"He ﷺ would lead the people in ʿIshāʾ, then enter my house and pray two rakʿahs."
(Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim)

❖ Reports of Four or Six After ʿIshāʾ​

In Sunan Abū Dāwūd, there is a narration mentioning four or six rakʿahs. ʿAẓīm Ābādī (Sharḥ ʿAwn al-Maʿbūd 4/186) explained:

• Sometimes the Prophet ﷺ prayed two,
• Sometimes four,
• Sometimes six.

Other narrations from several companions mention four rakʿahs. Though mostly weak, one narration in Abū Dāwūd, Musnad Aḥmad, and al-Bayhaqī was considered relatively acceptable by Abū Dāwūd, al-Mundhirī, and al-Shawkānī.


Al-Albānī, however, declared this narration weak (Mishkāt 368/1).
But al-Shawkānī said regarding its chain:


رجال إسناده ثقات ومقاتل بن بشير العجلي قد وثقه ابن حبان
"Its narrators are reliable, and Muqātil ibn Bashīr al-ʿIjlī was declared trustworthy by Ibn Ḥibbān."
(Nayl al-Awṭār 2/3/18)


Furthermore, Ibn ʿAbbās (رضي الله عنه) reported in al-Bukhārī, Abū Dāwūd, Nasāʾī, and Musnad Aḥmad that the Prophet ﷺ prayed four rakʿahs after ʿIshāʾ when returning home.

❖ Summary of Sunnahs After ʿIshāʾ​

• Two rakʿahs mu’akkadah after the obligatory prayer (authentic and agreed upon).
• Additional rakʿahs (2, 4, or 6) are mustaḥabb, not emphasized, and based on variant reports.
• Jamhūr scholars consider two mu’akkadah and the rest as optional nafl.

❖ Timing of Sunnahs​

Ibn Qudāmah said:

• Sunnahs before the obligatory prayer can be prayed from the entrance of that prayer’s time until the iqāmah.
• Sunnahs after the obligatory prayer can be prayed from completing the farḍ until that prayer’s time ends. (al-Mughnī 1/128)

The Prophet ﷺ also made up missed sunnahs, such as the two rakʿahs before Fajr and the two after Ẓuhr (established in the books of ḥadīth).


Conclusion:

• Between Maghrib and ʿIshāʾ, nafl are established without a fixed number.
• After ʿIshāʾ, two mu’akkadah sunnahs are firmly proven.
• Additional rakʿahs (2, 4, or 6) are permissible as ghair-mu’akkadah, based on varying narrations.