The number of rakats in the daily prayers
The full rak'ah count of each daily prayer in the Hanafi school: the sunnah before, the fard, the sunnah after, Witr and the nafl, with the emphasised sunnah marked apart from the rest.
Every day you pray 17 rak'ahs that are fard, which means you must pray them. Around those you also pray sunnah and nafl rak'ahs, and Witr after Isha. Here is the whole day.
| Prayer | Before the fard | Fard | After the fard | Anything else |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fajr | 2 sunnah (the strong kind) | 2 | None | None |
| Zuhr | 4 sunnah (the strong kind) | 4 | 2 sunnah (the strong kind) | None |
| Asr | 4 sunnah (the lighter kind) | 4 | None | None |
| Maghrib | None | 3 | 2 sunnah (the strong kind) | Some extra nafl, called Awwabeen |
| Isha | 4 sunnah (the lighter kind) | 4 | 2 sunnah (the strong kind) | 3 rak'ahs of Witr, which you must pray |
The fard rak'ahs add up to 17. Witr is not one of those 17: it has its own rule, and you must pray it.
| Kind | Which ones | What happens if you leave it |
|---|---|---|
| The strong kind (sunnah muʾakkadah) | 2 before Fajr, 4 before Zuhr, 2 after Zuhr, 2 after Maghrib, 2 after Isha | Leaving it without a good reason is a sin. Your fard prayer still counts. |
| The lighter kind (sunnah ghair muʾakkadah, also called nafl) | 4 before Asr, 4 before Isha, and the Awwabeen after Maghrib | It is not a sin to leave it. You get reward for praying it. |
The five daily prayers carry seventeen fard rak'ahs between them. Around those sit the sunnah and nafl rak'ahs, and after Isha the Witr, so the table below gives the whole of what is prayed in a day and not only the obligatory part.
| Prayer | Sunnah before | Fard | Sunnah after | Witr and nafl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fajr | 2, sunnah muʾakkadah | 2 | None | None |
| Zuhr | 4, sunnah muʾakkadah | 4 | 2, sunnah muʾakkadah | None |
| Asr | 4, sunnah ghair muʾakkadah | 4 | None | None |
| Maghrib | None | 3 | 2, sunnah muʾakkadah | Salat al-Awwabeen, nafl |
| Isha | 4, sunnah ghair muʾakkadah | 4 | 2, sunnah muʾakkadah | Witr, 3 rak'ahs, wājib |
| Jumu'ah (Friday, in place of Zuhr) | 4, sunnah muʾakkadah | 2 | 4, sunnah muʾakkadah | None |
The fard column totals seventeen rak'ahs. Witr is wājib rather than fard and is counted separately. On Friday the four fard rak'ahs of Zuhr are replaced by two of Jumu'ah, prayed in congregation.
| Kind of sunnah | Which prayers | What hangs on it |
|---|---|---|
| Sunnah muʾakkadah (emphasised) | 2 before Fajr; 4 before Zuhr; 2 after Zuhr; 2 after Maghrib; 2 after Isha. On Friday, 4 before and 4 after Jumu'ah. In Ramadan, the 20 rak'ahs of Taraweeh. | Abandoning it without a valid excuse is sinful, though the fard prayer itself remains valid. |
| Sunnah ghair muʾakkadah (not emphasised), also called nafl or mustaḥabb | 4 before Asr; 4 before Isha; Salat al-Awwabeen after Maghrib. | There is no sin for leaving it. |
The four-rak'ah sunnah prayers are prayed with a single tasleem. Prayed with two, they do not count as the sunnah.
The farḍ rakʿāt across the five daily prayers total seventeen. The sunan and nawāfil that surround them, and the Witr that follows ʿIshāʾ, are set out here alongside so that the day is shown whole rather than as its obligatory core alone.
| Prayer | Sunnah before | Farḍ | Sunnah after | Witr and nafl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fajr | 2, sunnah muʾakkadah | 2 | None | None |
| Ẓuhr | 4, sunnah muʾakkadah | 4 | 2, sunnah muʾakkadah | None |
| ʿAṣr | 4, sunnah ghair muʾakkadah | 4 | None | None |
| Maghrib | None | 3 | 2, sunnah muʾakkadah | Ṣalāt al-Awwābīn, nafl |
| ʿIshāʾ | 4, sunnah ghair muʾakkadah | 4 | 2, sunnah muʾakkadah | Witr, 3 rakʿāt, wājib |
| Jumuʿah (in place of Ẓuhr) | 4, sunnah muʾakkadah | 2 | 4, sunnah muʾakkadah | None |
The farḍ column totals seventeen rakʿāt, matching the source passage. Witr is wājib, not farḍ, and falls outside that seventeen. The sunnah of Fajr is singled out in the manual as the weightiest of them, some scholars holding it wājib.
| Class | Where it falls | Consequence of omission |
|---|---|---|
| Sunnah muʾakkadah | 2 before Fajr; 4 before Ẓuhr; 2 after Ẓuhr; 2 after Maghrib; 2 after ʿIshāʾ. On Jumuʿah, 4 before and 4 after the farḍ. In Ramaḍān, Tarāwīḥ at 20 rakʿāt. | Its abandonment without ʿudhr is sinful; the farḍ prayer is nonetheless valid. |
| Sunnah ghair muʾakkadah, termed nafl or mustaḥabb in the manual | 4 before ʿAṣr; 4 before ʿIshāʾ; Ṣalāt al-Awwābīn after Maghrib. | No sin attaches to its omission. |
The four-rakʿah sunan are performed with one tasleem; performed with two, they do not count as the sunnah. Nafl is capped at 4 rakʿāt by day and 8 by night with a single tasleem, beyond which it is makrūh.
Related
- Sunnah muakkadah and nafl prayers The twelve emphasized sunnahs of the day, the Friday and Ramadan additions, and the nafl prayers that carry no sin for leaving them.
- The rules of adhan and iqamah, and when an adhan counts Who must call the adhan, when it is and isn't required, and the four conditions that make an adhan valid.
- The obligatory acts of prayer (wajibat) The twelve wajib acts of prayer: Fatiha, the surah, order, tumaninah, the sittings, tashahhud, recitation volume, salam, qunoot and the Eid takbirs.
- Salat al-Tarawih The confirmed sunnah of Ramadan night prayer: its twenty rak'ahs, its timing, completing the Qur'an, and the rules of praying it in congregation.