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 "Sabil al-Salam" a hadith narrated by 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) saying: I prayed with the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's 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 they were in his house, and the two after 'Isha were in his house, and he sometimes said, "two after Jumu'ah." This is an addition to the hadith. So, I mean, I don't know; I understood from this that there are no 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, who is commenting, says that those for which it is not specified that they are in his house are permissible to be prayed in the mosque.

The Shaykh : No, I do not see this opinion. Because of his (peace and blessings be upon him) saying in the authentic hadith: , 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 this is not established, rather this is 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 in the other prayers he would pray the Sunnah in the mosque. We do not have such a text at all. But if we assume he did that, and his (peace and blessings be upon him) action was constant and perpetual, something can be derived from it for the benefit of Muslims and to correct their understanding of his (peace and blessings be upon him) sayings. He may understand one thing and prefer another to what he did. Why? Because he wants to clarify things for people. So, if he prays some of the Sunnah in the mosque, it is to clarify that it is permissible. But by his saying, he clarifies what is better, and the better is for a person to pray in his house, except for the obligatory prayers. In the hadith of Ibn 'Umar, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to pray the ten rak'ahs, two in Fajr. Well, 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.

The Shaykh : Please go ahead.