We are a group of girls who pray, and praise be to Allah, and we pray two rak'ahs after the Maghrib prayer, and we have heard that there are two rak'ahs before the Maghrib prayer that must be prayed, so is this true?

The questioner : We are a group of girls who pray, and praise be to Allah, but we pray two rak'ahs after the Maghrib prayer, and we have heard that there are two rak'ahs before the Maghrib prayer that must be prayed, so is this true?

The Shaykh : The prayer that is before the Maghrib prayer, meaning between the adhan and the iqamah, is a sunnah (recommended practice) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded three times, saying: out of dislike that people would make it a regular practice. So praying two rak'ahs before the Maghrib prayer, meaning between the adhan and the iqamah, is a sunnah, but it is not a rawatib (regular voluntary prayer attached to the obligatory ones), so it is not befitting to maintain it constantly, because if one maintained it, it would become a rawatib. Unlike the two rak'ahs after it, which is a rawatib, and it is recommended to maintain it except in travel, for the traveler is not recommended to perform the rawatib of the Zuhr, Maghrib, or Isha' prayers. Rather, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: