The Book of Prayer - Travellers
كتاب صلاة المسافرين وقصرها
Chapter 9: It is disliked to start a voluntary prayer after the Mu’adhdhin has started to say Iqamah for prayer, whether that is a regular sunnah, such as the sunnah of Subh or Zuhr, or anything else, and regardless of whether he knows that he will catch up with the rak`ah with the Imam or not
I then met 'Amr (the other narrator) and he narrated it to me, but it was not transmitted directly from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ).
Chapter 11: It is recommended to greet the masjid by praying two rak`ah, and it is disliked to sit before praying these two rak`ah, and this is prescribed at all times
I entered the mosque, when the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) had been sitting among people, and I also sat down among them. Upon this the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: What prevented you from offering two rak'ahs (of Nafl prayer) before sitting down? I said: Messenger of Allah, I saw you sitting and people sitting (around you and I, therefore, sat in your company). He (the Holy Prophet) then said: When anyone among you enters the mosque, he should not sit till he has observed two rak'ahs.
The Apostle of Allah (ﷺ) owed me a debt; he paid me back and made an addition (of this). I entered the mosque and he (the Holy Prophet) said to me: Observe two rak'ahs of prayer.
Chapter 12: It is recommended to pray two rak`ah in the masjid for one who has come from a journey, when he first arrives
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) bought a camel from me. When he came back to Medina, he ordered me to come to the mosque and observed two rak'ahs of prayer.
Chapter 13: It is recommended to pray Duha, the least of which is two rak`ah, the best of which is eight, and the average of which is four or six, and encouragement to do so regularly
I asked 'A'isha whether the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to observe the forenoon prayer. She said: No, but when he came back from the journey.
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to observe four rak'ahs in the forenoon prayer and he sometimes observed more as Allah pleased.
A hadith like this has been narrated by Qatada with the same chain of transmitters.
My friend Abu'l-Qasim (ﷺ) instructed me to do three things, and the rest of the hadith is the same.
Chapter 14: It is recommended to pray two rak`ah for the sunnah of Fajr. And encouragement to pray them regularly, and to make them brief, and to persist in offering them, and clarifying what is recommended to recite therein
When the dawn appeared, the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) observed two rak'ahs (of Sunnah prayers).
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to observe two rak'ahs of Sunnah (prayer) when he heard the Adhin and shortened them.
'A'isha reported that the Apostle (ﷺ) was not so much particular about observing supererogatory rak'ahs as in case of the two rak'ahs of the dawn prayer.
They are dearer to me than the whole world.
Chapter 15: The virtue of the regular sunnah prayers before and after the obligatory prayers, and their numbers
A house will be built in Paradise, for anyone who prays in a day and a night twelve rak'ahs; and she added: I have never abandoned (observing them) since I heard it from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). Some of the other narrators said the same words: I have never abandoned (observing them) since I heard (from so and so).
If any Muslim servant (of Allah) prays for the sake of Allah twelve rak'ahs (of Sunan) every day, over and above the obligatory ones, Allah will build for him a house in Paradise, or a house will be built for him in Paradise; and I have not abandoned observing them after (hearing it from the Messenger of Allah). (So said also 'Amr and Nu'man.)
Chapter 16: It is permissible to offer voluntary prayers standing or sitting, and to stand and sit in the same rak`ah
I fell ill in Persia and therefore, prayed in a sitting posture, and I asked 'A'isha about it and she said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) prayed for a long time in the night sitting.
I asked 'A'isha how the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) did in the two rak'ahs as he (observed them) sitting. She said: He would recite (the Qur'an) in them, and when he intended to bow, he would stand up and then bowed.
I said to 'A'isha and she made a mention of that (recorded above) about the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ).
Never did I see the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) observing supererogatory prayer sitting till one year before his death when he would observe Nafl prayer in a sitting position, and he would recite the Surah (of the Qur'an) in such a slow-measured tone (that duration of its recital) became more lengthy than the one longer than this.
A hadith like this has been narrated by Abu Yahya al-A'raj with the same chain of transmitters.
Chapter 17: Night prayers and the number of rak`ah offered by the Prophet (saws) at night, and that Witr is one rak`ah, and a one-rak`ah prayer is correct
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to observe thirteen rak'ahs of the night prayer. Five out of them consisted of Witr, and he did not sit, but at the end (for salutation).