The Ruling on Salat al-Duha: Persistence, Timing, and Whether It Is Made Up If Missedحكم صلاة الضحى والمواظبة عليها ووقتها وهل تُقضى إذا فاتت

Questioner: When does the time for Salat al-Duha begin and end, and should a person maintain it regularly?

Salat al-Duha is legislated. The scholars, may Allah have mercy on them, differed over whether one should maintain it regularly, on three views. The first view is that one should persist in it absolutely, based on the general evidences on its virtue and because the Prophet ﷺ used to pray it, offering four rak'ahs and adding more if he wished. This is supported by the hadith of Abu Hurairah in the Sahihayn: "My close friend ﷺ enjoined upon me three things: that I pray Witr before sleeping, that I fast three days of every month, and that I pray two rak'ahs of Duha." It is also supported by the hadith of Zayd ibn Arqam, in which the Prophet ﷺ said, "The prayer of those who often turn to Allah [salat al-awwabin] is when the young weaned camels feel the heat of the sun," recorded by Muslim, along with other established evidences from the Prophet ﷺ. Indeed, the reports concerning Salat al-Duha reach the level of tawatur (mass transmission) — bearing in mind that tawatur as defined by the earlier scholars differs from tawatur as defined by the later scholars.

The second view is that one who has a portion of night prayer (qiyam al-layl) prays Duha only occasionally, without maintaining it regularly. The third view is that a person may pray it at times and leave it at other times. The first view — maintaining it regularly — is the most correct, due to the general evidences on this matter. The Prophet ﷺ enjoined Abu Hurairah not to leave two rak'ahs of Duha, and it has been reported that Duha prayer is, at minimum, two rak'ahs, with no fixed upper limit. It is also supported by what is in Sunan Abi Dawud, that the Prophet ﷺ said there ought to be no idle talk between one prayer and the next, and by the hadith qudsi in Sahih al-Bukhari: "My servant continues to draw near to Me with voluntary works until I love him. And when I love him, I am his hearing with which he hears, his sight with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes, and his foot with which he walks. If he asks Me, I surely grant him, and if he seeks refuge in Me, I surely grant him refuge."

As for the preferred time to begin Duha: from the point the sun has risen and cleared the horizon, it is recommended to hasten to pray four rak'ahs, based on the hadith of Abu Dharr, recorded by al-Tirmidhi who graded it sound, with a strong chain through Isma'il ibn 'Ayyash from Bahir ibn Sa'd. Isma'il ibn 'Ayyash's narrations from the people of the Hijaz and Iraq are weak, as stated by Imam Ahmad, al-Bukhari, al-Tirmidhi, and others among the hadith masters, but his narrations from the Levantines (al-Shamiyyin) are reliable, and Bahir ibn Sa'd was a Levantine. In this hadith Allah says, "O son of Adam, pray four rak'ahs for Me at the beginning of the day, and I will suffice you for the rest of it." This meaning is corroborated by what is found in Sahih Muslim in the hadith of 'Amr ibn 'Abasah, in which the Prophet ﷺ told him to pray Fajr, then to refrain from voluntary prayer until the sun has fully risen and cleared the horizon — for at the moment of sunrise itself it is witnessed by the disbelievers who prostrate to it, and that time is therefore forbidden — after which he may pray, this being evidence of the virtue of prayer at that time.

As for the widely circulated report that whoever sits in his place after praying Fajr, remembering Allah, until the sun rises, and then prays two rak'ahs, has a reward like a complete Hajj and 'Umrah — this report is not authentic; its chain cannot be relied upon. There is no contradiction between hastening to pray four rak'ahs early in the day and praying further rak'ahs when the heat intensifies, as in the hadith of Zayd ibn Arqam; a person may do both.

The time for Duha begins from sunrise and extends until shortly before the time of Dhuhr, roughly five minutes before the sun reaches its zenith. The best time to pray it is when the heat intensifies, based on the hadith of Zayd ibn Arqam concerning salat al-awwabin, which was recorded by Muslim in his Sahih.

If Duha prayer is missed, it is not made up. Whoever is able to pray it should do so; if its time passes, its place and time have passed with it. This applies equally whether one is resident or traveling — the correct view is that Duha is prayed both at home and while traveling. As for the two rak'ahs before the Fajr obligatory prayer, the view that they refer to the Fajr prayer itself combined with these two rak'ahs is weak; the correct view is that they are a confirmed sunnah (sunnah mu'akkadah).

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