Pray before Maghrib, pray before Maghrib. He said: “In the third instance: for whoever wishes.” Does this mean that there is a sunnah before Maghrib?

The questioner : He is asking about a hadith. In the hadith: He said in the third instance: Does this mean that there is a sunnah before Maghrib?

The Shaykh : Yes, there is a sunnah before the Maghrib prayer, but it is after the Maghrib adhan, because the time before the adhan is a time of prohibition. However, since the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded this sunnah and repeated the command three times, the one addressed might think that this sunnah is obligatory, or at least that it is a regular sunnah (rawatib) like the one after Maghrib. Therefore, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: so that it is not thought to be obligatory or a regular sunnah. For this reason, the narrator said: “out of dislike for people to take it as a sunnah” meaning a regular sunnah.
This is similar to his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): The two adhans referred to are the adhan and the iqamah. So in Fajr, there is the regular sunnah of Fajr, and in Zuhr, there is the regular sunnah of Zuhr, because Fajr has a regular sunnah before it, between the adhan and the iqamah, and Zuhr likewise has a regular sunnah before it, between the adhan and the iqamah, which is four rak'ahs with two taslims. In 'Asr as well, a person prays as many rak'ahs as he wishes, two or more, with a taslim for every two rak'ahs. In Maghrib, this is the hadith the questioner referred to. And in 'Isha' as well, it is recommended to pray between the adhan and the iqamah two rak'ahs or more, with a taslim from every two rak'ahs.