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Fatwa CenterPerforming supererogatory prayer before Fajr and 'Asr obligatory prayers
Question
Aasalamualikum wa rahmatullahe wa barakatuhu. I understand that we can not offer nafl Salah between Fajr & Ishraq and between Asr & Magrib. My question therefore is (1) Whether I say it in masjid or home, is it permissible to offer 2 or more rakat nafl Salah before I say my 2 rakat sunnat & 2 rakat fard in Fajr and 4 rakat sunnat & 4 rakat fard in Asr ? (2) Is the 4 rakat sunnat in Asr mandatory i.e. is it the way of our Prophet Sallallahu alayhe wa sallam? Jazakallah Khairan
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. We ask Allaah to exalt his mention as well as that of his family and all his companions.
It is permissible for a person to perform supererogatory prayers before performing the Fajr obligatory prayer, and before performing the two Rak'as optional before Fajr, after the time of the prayer starts. It is also permissible for a person to perform supererogatory prayers before performing the four recommended optional Rak'as before 'Asr prayer. The Prophet 
said: "No supererogatory prayers should be performed after 'Asr obligatory prayer until the sun sets, and no supererogatory prayers should be performed after Fajr obligatory prayer until the sun rises." [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]. Moreover, the Prophet said to 'Amr Ibn Salamah 
: ''Perform Fajr prayer, then stop performing any supererogatory prayers until the sun rises…until then perform 'Asr obligatory prayer and then stop performing supererogatory prayers until the sun sets.'' [Muslim].
Ibn Qudaamah 
said: ''The prohibition of performing supererogatory prayers after the 'Asr obligatory prayer relates to the person who has already performed 'Asr obligatory prayer, and whoever has not yet performed 'Asr obligatory prayer, then it is permissible for him to perform supererogatory prayers [before he performs 'Asr obligatory prayer.]" Similarly, the prohibition of performing supererogatory prayers after Fajr obligatory prayer relates to the person who has already performed Fajr obligatory prayer as the narration suggests. This is one of the two narrations of Imaam Ahmad, and it is also reported from Al-Hasan and Ash-Shaafi'ee 
.
As regards the four supererogatory prayers before 'Asr prayer, then they are not obligatory and one is not sinful for not performing them, but they are a confirmed act from the Prophet .
For more benefit, please refer to Fataawa 83409 and 84280.
Allaah Knows best.
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