Delaying Sunnah prayer until end of its due time
Fatwa No: 237211

Question

Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullah. Dear Shaykh,My question is about the time of sunnah prayers that come after Farz Salah[Juhr,Magrib and Isha].After praying Isha in congregation,I sit for Zikr and Duas in the masjid.Then I pray the 2 rakaat sunnah prayer changing my position usually.But sometimes, when I am busy,I leave the masjid without praying the sunnah prayer.Then I come home after the work.I have my supper and I offer a few rakaah of Qiaam ul Lail with witr before sleep [It may be noted that It is my general practice to offer a rakaah with witr before sleep].I generally go to sleep after midnight.When I miss the sunnah of Isha, I offer it with Qiam ul Lail.What is the ruling on this? Assalamu Alaikum

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, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

It is permissible to delay the Sunnah prayer of ‘Ishaa’ until its end time and it is also permissible for a person to make up for it if he fails to perform it in its due time. We have underlined in Fataawa 99861 and 101612 that the time of the Sunnah prayer of ‘Ishaa’ starts right after performing ‘Ishaa’ prayer until the end time of ‘Ishaa’ prayer. Also, it is allowable to make up for the missed Sunnah prayer of ‘Ishaa'.

The same applies to the Sunnah prayers of Thuhr and Maghrib; it is permissible to perform them right after performing Thuhr and Maghrib and until their end times. It is also allowable to make up for the missed Sunnah prayers of Thuhr and Maghrib if one fails to perform them in their due times.

Based on that, what you are doing is correct, Allaah Willing. We advise you to perform the Sunnah prayer before its end time and it is better to perform Sunnah prayers in your house. For more benefit, please, refer to Fatwa 84892.

We implore Allaah, The Exalted, to guide us to all that is good and shield us against all evils.

Allaah Knows best.

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