Back to search

How sound are the different narrations regarding the number of Sunnah rak'ahs (10, 12, 14) and their distribution after the obligatory prayers? Is it permissible to make up the Sunnah of Dhuhr after Asr prayer, or to delay it without an excuse? And can one make up the Sunnah of Fajr after the Fajr prayer if they missed it?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Scholars differ regarding the number of Sunnah Rawatib (supererogatory regular prayers). Some believe they are ten rak'ahs, others twelve rak'ahs, some fourteen, and still others eighteen. All of them are established Sunnah prayers mentioned in authentic Ahadith, and some are more emphasized than others. However, they should not be less than ten.

As for making up missed Rawatib prayers, the most preponderant opinion is that it is permissible to make them up, whether they were missed intentionally or due to forgetfulness. However, intentionally missing them is not appropriate and leads to the loss of the full reward. Some scholars are of the opinion that whoever intentionally misses them should not make them up.

Regarding the Sunnah of Fajr specifically, it is permissible to make it up immediately after the Fajr prayer, or after sunrise, which is preferable to avoid scholarly disagreement.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

Read the full answer on Ftawy