Al-San’āni said,
Ibn al-Qayyim compiled all the views of the scholars regarding the ruling on praying the Duha prayer, and they totalled to six different views, as follows:
1. It is a recommended Sunnah.
2. It is not prescribed unless there is a reason for it.
3. It is not recommended.
4. It is recommended to pray it but not on a regular basis.
5. It is preferable to pray it at home.
6. It is an innovation.
The most correct view of these is that it is a recommended Sunnah as stated by Ibn Daqīq al-‘Eid.
288. Mu’ādhah narrated: “I asked Aisha, ‘Did the Prophet (peace be upon him) pray the Duha prayer?’ She replied, ‘Yes, he prayed four units, and would also increase upon that [number] whatever Allāh willed.’” [330]
Ibn Battal said,
Masrūq said: “We used to recite Qur’ān [after Fajr] in the masjid and would remain in the masjid after Ibn Mas’ūd would leave, and then [later we would] perform the Duha prayer. The news reached Ibn Mas’ūd and so he said to us, ‘Why do you dictate upon people that which Allāh did not oblige them to do. If you want to pray it, then do so at home.’”
The salaf preferred praying the Duha prayer in secret and not to pray it in public.
Al-Sindī said,
The affirmative answer of Aisha indicates that he (peace be upon him) prayed it sometimes. This is because she related in other hadīths that he did not pray it; thus to reconcile between these hadīths, it appears she meant that he did not pray it all the time or that she did not see him pray it but was then informed by someone at a later point that he did pray it.
Hafith al-‘Iraqī said,
Al-Nawawī and al-Bayhaqī said that scholars understood the hadīths indicating that the Prophet (peace be upon him) did not pray it to mean that he did not pray it regularly as he feared that it may become obligatory. This is evident in the statement of Aisha wherein she said, “The Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him) would not do an act of worship he liked to perform just out of fear that the people would follow suit and accordingly, it would become obligatory.”
Al-Minnawī said,
This hadīth was used as evidence by some scholars that the number of its units is open.
289. Anas ibn Mālik narrated: “The Prophet (peace be upon him) used to pray six units as the Duha prayer.” [331]
Al-Minnawī said,
The Duha prayer is an established Sunnah. The Shafi’ī scholars stated that the minimum number of its units is two, the best is eight units and the maximum is twelve (based on the hadīths narrating the number of units of this prayer).
290. ‘Abdul Rahman ibn Abī Laylah narrated: “No one had informed me that they had observed the Prophet pray the Duha prayer besides Umm Hānī’ for she related, ‘The Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him) came to my house on the day Makkah was conquered, and there he performed ghusl and then prayed eight units that I did not observe him perform any prayer shorter than, but he still bowed and prostrated his normal length.’” [332]
Alau’ddin al-Baghdadī said,
Ibn Abbās said: “I did not know Duha prayer was mentioned in the ayah: {Indeed, We subjected the mountains [to praise] with him, exalting [Allāh] in the [late] afternoon and [after] sunrise.}[333] until I heard Umm Hānī’ tell me that the Messenger of Allāh visited her and asked for water to perform ablution and then prayed the Duha prayer. After he finished, he said to her, ‘O Umm Hānī’! This is the Duha prayer.’”[334]
Ibn Hajar al-Asqalānī said,
Though this hadīth indicates that it is prescribed to shorten the Duha prayer, this is something debatable due to the possibility that he (peace be upon him) shortened it due to the multitude of tasks he was burdened with when Makkah was conquered, particularly as it is proven that he (peace be upon him) prayed lengthy Duha prayers at other times. However, al-Qadī ‘Iyyād reported from some scholars that the prayer mentioned in this hadīth is the prayer of conquest which Khālid ibn al-Walīd prayed in some of his conquests.
Al-Tirmidhī narrated from Imām Ahmad that the most authentic hadīth about the Duha prayer is the hadīth of Umm Hānī’, and it is as he stated. This is the reason Al-Nawawī said that the best number of units to pray are eight, while the maximum is twelve (though many other scholars did not place a restriction on the maximum number of units).
291. ‘Abdullāh ibn Shaqīq related: “I asked Aisha, ‘Did the Prophet (peace be upon him) pray the Duha prayer?’ She replied, ‘No. He did not perform it except when he would return from a journey.’” [335]
Ibn Hajar al-Asqalānī said,
He prayed it after his return from travelling because he admonished arriving home from a journey at night and so he would arrive early in the morning and the first thing he would do was to go to the masjid and pray during the forenoon time.
Al-Suyūtī said,
This clarifies the other hadīth of Aisha wherein she negated that the Prophet (peace be upon him) prayed the Duha prayer as she meant that he did not pray it regularly.
292. Abu Sa’īd al-Khudarī narrated: “The Prophet (peace be upon him) used to pray the Duha prayer with such regularity that we thought he would not leave it. And, he would not pray it [for such a lengthy period of time], that we thought he would not pray it again.” [336]
Ibn Hajar al-Asqalānī said,
‘Ikrimah related that Ibn Abbās used to pray it for ten days and then leave it for ten days. Sufyān al-Thawrī related that Mansūr said, “They (the salaf) disliked praying the Duha prayer on a regular basis just like they observe the obligatory prayer.” Sa’īd ibn Jubair said, “I do not pray it [sometimes], though I like praying it as I fear I might start obliging myself to pray it.”
Zain al-Dīn al-Iraqī said,
The reason he (peace be upon him) did not pray it on a regular basis was because he feared it becoming obligatory upon his nation. However, as he (peace be upon him) passed away and the religion is now complete and perfect, one should try to pray it as much as possible.
293. Abu Ayyūb al-Ansārī narrated: “The Prophet (peace be upon him) always prayed four units when the sun passed the zenith. I said, ‘O Messenger of Allāh! You constantly pray these four units when the sun passes the zenith!’ The Messenger (peace be upon him) replied, ‘The doors of the heavens open from the time the sun passes the zenith until the Dhuhr prayer is performed; hence I like that a good deed of mine reaches the heavens at that time.’ I asked, ‘Is there a recital in every unit?’ He replied, ‘Yes.’ I enquired, ‘Is there a taslīm in between?’ He replied, ‘No.’” [337]
Abdul Rahman al-Mubarakfūrī said,
These four units are known as the Sunnah of Zawāl which is different to the four units of Sunnah preceding the Dhuhr prayer and they are linked to the time of the sun passing the zenith. The wisdom for praying it at that time is because the time of midday mirrors the time of midnight; the doors of the heavens are open at midday and Allāh descends after midnight; thus both times are times of mercy.
Ibn al-Qayyim said that the Prophet (peace be upon him) prayed these four units after the sun passed the zenith.
Abdullah ibn Sa’īd al-Hadramī al-Makkī said,
The inquiry about whether these units included any Qur’ān recitation refers to anything in addition to the Fātihah. This is because a prayer is not accepted without reciting the Fātihah even if it is an optional prayer, and this is something well known.
The inquiry about the taslīm was to find out whether the four units are prayed with one taslīm or prayed two units by two. This hadīth was used as evidence by the scholars who hold the view that the optional prayers of the daytime should consist of four units with one taslīm. However, other scholars understood the statement of the Prophet (peace be upon him) to mean that the taslīm is not obligatory. Meaning one is not obligated to pray them two units by two and so it does not contradict that the best manner of praying the optional prayers is two by two.
294. Abu Ayyūb al-Ansārī narrated from the Prophet (peace be upon him) a similar narration through a different route.
295. ‘Abdullāh ibn al-Sāi’b narrated: “The Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him) used to pray four units between the time of the sun passing the zenith and the prayer of Dhuhr, and he (peace be upon him) said, ‘The doors of the heavens open at this moment; therefore I like that a good deed of mine ascends at this moment.’” [338]
296. Alī ibn Abī Tālib used to pray four units before the prayer of Dhuhr and he mentioned that the Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him) used to pray these four units when the sun passed the zenith and he would make the units long in duration. [339]
Ibn Hajar al-Haytamī said,
This shows that it is recommended to prolong the Duha prayer.