Is it better to shorten the supererogatory and pre-Fard Sunnah prayers, in which all the remembrances of prayer reported from the Prophet (peace be upon him) are recited, and be content with prolonging the night prayer, or to continue with the prolongation? And did the Prophet (peace be upon him) say all the many ذكر (dhikr) mentioned, and what did he say after each obligatory prayer?
Scholars have stated that among the people of knowledge, some prefer combining the well-known supplications, such as the opening supplication (Du'a al-Istiftah). Imam Shafi'i held that the best of these is the of Ali (may Allah be pleased with him). Imam Nawawi was of the opinion that it is permissible to begin prayer with any reported formula, while others went further, allowing the combination of more than one formula.
The Shafi'i school has a detailed view regarding the imam and the individual worshiper concerning the opening supplication. It is preferable to vary the remembrances rather than prolonging the supererogatory prayer.
There is no explicit text stating that the Prophet (peace be upon him) combined all the opening remembrances. Rather, there are reports indicating his restriction to some of them, as in the hadith of Abu Hurayrah in Muslim. As for the remembrances in bowing (ruku') and prostration (), there is no report indicating restriction to a single one. Therefore, some scholars permitted combining them, unlike the opening supplication. And Allah knows best.
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Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
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