MASNUN AND NAFL PRAYERS

MASNUN AND NAFL PRAYERS

Q.   What prayers are the Prophet’s emphasized precept?

  The following are the emphasized precepts of the holy Prophet (peace be on him):

             i.     Two Rak'ahs before the commanded prayer of Fajr;

           ii.     Four Rak'ahs (in one continuation) before the commanded prayers of Dhuhr and Jum’ah;

         iii.     Four Rak'ahs after the commanded prayer of Dhuhr;

          iv.     Four Rak'ahs (in one continuation) after the commanded prayer of Jum’ah;

            v.     Two Rak'ahs after the commanded Maghrib prayer;

          vi.     Two Rak'ahs after the commanded prayer of ‘Isha;

        vii.     Twenty Rak'ahs of Taravih prayer during Ramadhan.

Q.   What prayers are the unemphasized precept of the holy Prophet (peace be on him)?

  The unemphasized precepts are the following:

             i.     Four Rak'ahs before the ‘Asr prayer;

           ii.     Two Rak'ahs after the emphasized prayers in ‘Isha;

         iii.     Six Rak'ahs in Maghrib after the emphasized Masnun prayer of Maghrib;

          iv.     Two Rak'ahs in Jum’ah after the emphasized Masnun prayer:

            v.     Two Rak'ahs by way of Tahiy-yat-ul-Wudu (thanks giving for ablution);

          vi.     Two Rak'ahs by way of Tahiy-yat-ul-Masjid (thanks giving to the Masjid);

        vii.     Four or eight pre-noon Rak'ahs;

      viii.     Two Rak'ahs after the Witr prayer:

          ix.     Four, six or eight Rak'ahs of Tahaj-jud (prayer in the small hours of the morning);

            x.     Salat-ut-Tasbih (Salat with additional formula in praise of Al-lah);

          xi.     Salat-ut-Istikhara (Salat seeking Al-lah’s will or command in a certain matter);

        xii.     Salat-ut-Taubah (prayer of repentance);

      xiii.     Salat-ut-Hajah (prayer to seek fulfillment of some need or desire from       Al-lah);

All the above Salats are unemphasized prayers.

Q.   Where is it better to say the Masnun prayer in the masjid or at home?

  All the Masnun and Nafl prayers excepting a few (such as Taravih, Tahiy-yat-ul-Masjid, Salat on the occasion of solar eclipse) are preferable to be said at home.

Q.   At what hours is it undesirable to say the Nafl Salat?

  Any Nafl Salat in addition to the Masnun Rak'ahs before commanded prayer on Fajr (after the true dawn) is undesirable.

Nafl prayer is also undesirable from after the Salat of Fajr till sunrise.

Similarly, Nafl prayer after the commanded Salat of ‘Asr (and before the change of the sun’s colour) is undesirable.

But in all of these hours a missed prayer if it is commanded can be said as also the Sijdah of Tilawah (Sijdah due for reciting certain portions of the Qur-an) and the funeral prayers without any scruples.

All prayers are however, undesirable from sunrise till the time the sun attains to the height of a soldier’s lance and at exact noon, as also from the time the sun changes colour till sunset.

Nevertheless, if the ‘Asr prayer for the day is still pending, it can be said even while the sun has changed colour or is setting.

Likewise, Masnun and Nafl prayers at the time of the khutbah for Jum’ah (oration before the Jum’ah prayer) are undesirable.

Q.   What do we mean by change in the colour of the sun?

  The sun may be considered to have changed colour when it is transformed into a red circle and human gaze can be fixed on it.