The Sunnah Prayer After Jumu'ah: Two Rak'ahs or Four?السنة البعدية للجمعة: ركعتان أم أربع؟

Questioner: Brother Salman: and what is the preponderant view regarding the sunnah after Jumu'ah?

It came in the hadith of Ibn 'Umar in the two Sahihs that the Prophet ﷺ, when he prayed Jumu'ah, prayed two rak'ahs in his house. And it came in Sahih Imam Muslim [from] Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet ﷺ said: "When one of you prays Jumu'ah, let him pray four after it."

There is no contradiction between the two reports. When the Prophet ﷺ limited himself to two rak'ahs, he limited himself to them in his house; and when he said, "When one of you prays Jumu'ah, let him pray four after it," this is understood to refer to the mosque — reconciling the two reports. This is what Imam Ishaq, may Allah have mercy on him, said, according to what al-Tirmidhi, may Allah have mercy on him, related from him in his Jami'.

It came from 'Ali ibn Abi Talib and Ibn 'Umar that when they prayed in the mosque, they prayed six. Perhaps these [Companions] were combining his action and his statement: he prayed two rak'ahs in his house, and he said, "When one of you prays Jumu'ah, let him pray four after it," so (audio unclear) the six. And Ibn 'Umar, when he prayed in Makkah, would pray two rak'ahs, then move forward and pray four.

But what the Sunnah indicates is: either you pray two rak'ahs, or you pray four. The apparent [view] in this is what Ishaq, may Allah have mercy on him, said: whoever prays in his house limits himself to two rak'ahs, and whoever prays in the mosque prays four.

النص العربي الأصلي