Sunnah Solah

Munyatul Musolli 8th November 2008

Sunnah Rawatib

Often those who take good care of their solah also take care to perform the rawatibs. These are the supererogatory (sunnah) solahs performed either before or after the obligatory (fard) solahs. If your fard is flawed due to inattentiveness or other mistakes, a rawatib can patch it up. Considering the huge rewards Allah has promised, a small mistake in performing a fard could mean missing a sizable chunk of divine returns.

In doing business, we want to get back the capital plus some profit. A fard solah is the capital and the sunnah is the profit.

In the after life, we will be taken account for our worldly actions. The first to be checked is quality of solah. If we score low in this department, then our sunnah solahs will be inspected so as to fill up the deficit.
The rawatib consists of 2 types:.

Muakkad rawatibs:

• 2 raka’ahs before Subuh.
• 2 raka’ahs before and 2 raka’ahs after Zuhur. (Same case for Jumu'ah) on Friday.
• 2 raka’ahs after Maghrib and 2 after Isya’.

Ghair-muakkad rawatibs:

• 2 more raka’ahs before and 2 more raka’ahs after Zuhur (on top of the above-mentioned rawatibs) .
• 4 raka’ahs before Asr.
• 2 raka’ahs before Maghrib.
• 2 raka’ahs before Isya’.
  

The rawatibs are performed just like the fard. When doing the niat (statement of intention), be precise whether you performing the before- (qabliah) or after- (ba’diah) rawatib. Examples:
"I perform solah sunnah before-Zuhur two raka’ahs due to Allah Ta'ala."
"I perform solah sunnah after-Zuhur two raka’ahs due to Allah Ta'ala."

When there is only before-rawatib, you need not be specific. Example:
"I perform solah sunnah Subuh two raka’ahs due to Allah Ta'ala."

Other Sunnah Muakkad Solahs

Witir is another sunnah muakkad that we should observe and be consistent with. The Prophet (saw) said:

الوترحق فمن لم يوتر فليس منا

Witir is for real, whoever does not observe it then he is not one of us.

Witir, by definition is anywhere between 1 and 11 raka’ahs but ideally should be performed at least 3 raka’ahs.
After the al-Fatihah in the 1st raka’ah, recite the surah "Sabbihisma…:
after al-Fatihah in the 2nd raka’ah, recite the surah "Qulyaa ayyuhal kafirun…"
after al-Fatihah in the 3rd raka’ah, recite the surah "Qulhuallahu ahad…"

For every two raka’ahs, the niat is:
أُصَلِّي سُنَّةَ الْوِترِ رَكعَتَيْنِ لِلّٰهِ تَعَالَى

For the final 1 raka’ah, the niat is:
أُصَلِّي سُنَّةَ الْوِترِ رَكعَةً لِلّٰهِ تَعَالَى

Among sunnah muakkad is the Solah Dhuha. The prophet (saw) said:

من حافظ على شفعة الضحى غفرة له ذنوبه وإنكانة مثل زبد البحر

Whoever observes 2 raka’ahs of Dhuha, his sins will be forgiven – even if his
sins number as much as foam floating in the sea.

Hasten to do sadaqah. For every tasbih is sadaqah, every tahmid is sadaqah,
every tahlil is sadaqah, every takbir is sadaqah, for every encouragement to do
good is sadaqah, every discouragement from doing evil is sadaqah. And 2 raka’ahs
of Dhuha suffice to top them all.

The statement for niat is
أُصَلِّي سُنَّةَ الضُّحَى رَكعَتَيْنِ لِلّٰهِ تَعَالَى
"I perform solah sunnah Dhuha 2 raka’ahs due to Allah Ta'ala."

The maximum number of raka’ah for Dhuha is 8 (a weaker position says max of 12). The time for Dhuha is when the sun has risen about 2 feet up in the morning (approx. 8 am Malaysian time).
In the 1st raka’ah, recite "Wasshamsi wa dhuhaha…" after al-Fatihah.
In the 2nd raka’ah, recite "Waddhuha wallaili iza saja…" after al-Fatihah.

Other Sunnah Ghair-Muakkad Solahs

It is also encouraged to perform sunnah Isyraq – in the morning just before Dhuha, as soon as the sun has risen (but outside the time that disallowed to do sunnah solah).

The statement for niat is:
أُصَلِّي سُنَّةَ الإِشرَاق رَكعَتَيْنِ لِلّٰهِ تَعَالَى
"I perform solah sunnah Ishraq 2 raka’ahs due to Allah Ta'ala."

In the 1st raka’ah, recite "Qulyaa ayyuhal kafirun…".
In the 2nd raka’ah, recite "Qulhuwallahu ahad…".

Sunnah Awwabin are the solah performed between Maghrib and Isha’, any raka’ah between 2 and 20.
"I perform solah sunnah awwabin 2 raka’ahs due to Allah Ta’ala"
Other sunnah solahs are listed as follows:
Zawwal, Tahiyyatul Masjid, Wudhu’
Safar - before starting a journey
Qudum, Taubah
‘Arus – upon getting married
Manzil – upon halting in middle of journey
Ihram – upon donning ihram for Haj or Umrah
Tawaf

Istikharah – asking for Allah’s guidance in making important decision .
"I perform solah sunnah Istikharah 2 raka’ahs due to Allah Ta'ala."
In the 1st raka’ah, recite "Qulyaa ayyuhal kafirun…".
In the 2nd raka’ah, recite "Qulhuwallahu ahad…".

After finishing the solah recite the du’a as has been done by Nabi (saw) and narrated by Imam Bukhari (rh):

أََللّٰهُمَّ إِنِّي أَستَخِيرُكَ بِعِلمِكَ وَأَستَقدِرُكَ بِقُدرَتِكَ وَأَسْأَلُكَ
مِن فَضلِكَ العَِظِيمِ فَإِنَّكَ تَقدِرُ وَلاَ أَقدِرُ وَتَعلَمُ وَلاَ أَعلَمُ
وَأَنتَ عَلاَّمُىالغُيُوبِ
أَللّٰهُمَ إِن كُنتَ تَعلَمُ أَنَّ هٰذَاالأَمرَ(٭) خَيْرٌ لِي فِي دِينِي
وَمَعَاشِي وَعَاقِبَةِ أَمرِي (٭) عَاجِلِهِ وَآجِلِهِ فَاقْدُرهُ لِي
وَيَسِّرهُ لِي ثُمّ بَارِكلِي فِيهِ وَإِن كُنتَ تَعلَمُ أَنَّ هٰذَاالأَمرَ
شَرٌّ لِي في دِينِي وَمَعَاشي وَعَاقِبَةِ أَمرِي عَاجِلِهِ وَآجِلهِ
فَاصرِفهُ عَنِّي وَاقدُرلِِي الخَيرَ حَيْثُ كَانَ ثُمَّ أَرضِنِي بِهِ

State your predicament at (*) - two times in total.

Wallahu a'lam

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