The hadith of 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar: I prayed with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) ten rak'ahs: two before Fajr, two before Dhuhr, and two after it.

The questioner : I read in the book *Subul al-Salam* a hadith narrated by 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) in which he says: I prayed with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) ten rak'ahs: two before Fajr, two before Dhuhr, two after Dhuhr, two after Maghrib, and two after 'Isha. As for the two after Maghrib, he said he prayed them in his house, and the two after 'Isha, he said he prayed them in his house. He sometimes also said: two after Jumu'ah. This is an addition to the hadith. So, I mean, I do not know; I understood from this that there are no two rak'ahs before Jumu'ah, and I also understood that I should pray Maghrib and 'Isha, and the two before Dhuhr and the two after Dhuhr in the mosque. And the writer comments that for those where "in his house" was not mentioned, it is permissible to pray them in the mosque.

The Shaykh : No, I do not see this opinion. Because of his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) in the authentic hadith: . So, is the generalization in the words of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) what should be made a law for individual Muslims? If it were established—and it is not established, this is merely a deduction—that he mentioned "in his house" for some prayers and did not mention it for the rest, this is not a text stating that for the other prayers he would pray the sunnah in the mosque. We do not have such a text at all. But even if we assume he did so, and his doing so (peace and blessings be upon him) was constant and perpetual, something can be derived from it for the benefit of Muslims and to correct their understanding of his sayings (peace and blessings be upon him). He may understand one thing and prefer another to what he did. Why? Because he wants to clarify things for people. So, when he prays some of the sunnahs in the mosque, it is to clarify that it is permissible. But with his saying, he clarifies what is better, saying: "The best prayer of a man is in his house, except for the obligatory prayer." In the hadith of Ibn 'Umar, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to pray the ten rak'ahs, two in Fajr. Now, these were certainly prayed in the house. We have many, many hadiths that he used to pray them in the house, and then what? He would go out.

The questioner : If you permit me.

The Shaykh : Please.