The Distinguished Jurists Primer by Ibn Rushd

They disagreed about supererogatory prayers, whether they are to be observed as two rak'as, four, or three. Malik and al-Shafi‘1 said that voluntary prayers during the night or the day are to be offered as two at a time with a salutation after every two rak^as. Abu Hanifa said that if the worshipper likes he may offer them as two at a time, or three, or four, or six, or eight, without offering a salutation in between. A group of jurists distinguished between prayers during the night and those during the day, saying that prayers during the night are two at a time while prayers during the day are four at a time.

The reason for their disagreement in this arises from the conflict of the traditions on the subject. A tradition from Ibn TJmar is related that a man asked the Prophet (God’s peace and blessings be upon him) about prayers during the night, and he said, “The prayer during the night is two at a time, and if you find that the morning is going to overtake you, then, offer one rak^a as witr”. It is also established from the Prophet (God’s peace and blessings be .upon him) “that he used to pray two rak^as before zuhr and two after it, two rakfas after maghrib, two rakfas after the Friday prayer, and two rak'as before casr”. Those who adopted these two traditions said that prayers during the night as well as the day are two rakcas at a time. It is established through a tradition of ‘Arisha in which she describes the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (God’s peace and blessings be upon him) by saying “He prayed four rak^as and you cannot imagine how beautiful they were or how long! He then then prayed four and you cannot imagine how beautiful they were or how long! He then prayed three, and I said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, do you sleep before observing the wilrP He said, CO c Arisha, my eyes go to sleep, but my heart does not”*. It is also established, through a narration of Abu Hurayra, that the Prophet (God’s peace and blessings be upon him) said, “He who prays after the jumida should pray four”. Al-Aswad has related from <A>isha “that the Messenger of Allah (God’s peace and blessings be upon him) used to offer nine ra&as during the night”—“but when he grew older, he prayed seven”. Those who adopted the apparent meaning in these traditions permitted supererogatory prayers as four or three at a time without a break between them with the salutation. The majority maintained that super­ erogatory prayers are not offered through a single rak*a, and I think there is some deviant disagreement in this.