QUESTION:
1. If a person did not pray 4 Rakaats before Dhuhr and after Dhuhr, he made intention to pray 2 Rakaats Sunnat Muakadah after the second Rakaah instead of making Salaam, he mistakenly stood up and ended up praying 4 Rakaats. If he says it is for those 4 Rakaahs before Dhuhr, will it be considered as those 4 Rakaah Sunnah before Dhuhr which he never prayed?
Because of this Ibaarat of رد المحتار
(وَكَفَى مُطْلَقُ نِيَّةِ الصَّلَاةِ) وَإِنْ لَمْ يَقُلْ لِلَّهِ (لِنَفْلٍ وَسُنَّةٍ) رَاتِبَةٍ (وَتَرَاوِيحَ) عَلَى الْمُعْتَمَدِ، (قَوْلُهُ وَكَفَى إلَخْ) أَيْ بِأَنْ يَقْصِدَ الصَّلَاةَ بِلَا قَيْدِ نَفْلٍ أَوْ سُنَّةٍ أَوْ عَدَدٍ (قَوْلُهُ لِنَفْلٍ) هَذَا بِالِاتِّفَاقِ (قَوْلُهُ وَسُنَّةٍ) وَلَوْ سُنَّةَ فَجْرٍ، حَتَّى لَوْ تَهَجَّدَ بِرَكْعَتَيْنِ ثُمَّ تَبَيَّنَ أَنَّهَا بَعْدَ الْفَجْرِ نَابَتَا عَنْ السُّنَّةِ، وَكَذَا لَوْ صَلَّى أَرْبَعًا وَوَقَعَتْ الْأُخْرَيَانِ بَعْدَ الْفَجْرِ وَبِهِ يُفْتَى خُلَاصَةٌ، وَكَذَا الْأَرْبَعُ الْمَنْوِيُّ بِهَا آخِرُ ظُهْرٍ أَدْرَكْته عِنْدَ الشَّكِّ فِي صِحَّةِ الْجُمُعَةِ، فَإِذَا تَبَيَّنَ صِحَّتُهَا وَلَا ظُهْرَ عَلَيْهِ نَابَتْ عَنْ سُنَّةِ الْجُمُعَةِ عَلَى قَوْلِ الْجُمْهُورِ لِأَنَّهُ يَلْغُو الْوَصْفُ وَيَبْقَى الْأَصْلُ،
Or will the 2 Rakaats will be considered as Sunnah, and the last 2 as Nafl?
Because of this Ibaarat of رد المحتار
(وَلَا عِبْرَةَ بِنِيَّةٍ مُتَأَخِّرَةٍ عَنْهَا) عَلَى الْمَذْهَبِ،
2. In a vice versa situation, he made Niyyah for 4 Rakaah Sunnah Muakkadah which he didn’t pray before Dhuhr and ended up praying 2 Rakaah and intends it for the 2 Sunnah Muakkadah. Will he have to pray 4 and 2 again?
ANSWER:
In principle, one needs to realize that the intention for Sunnat-e-Muakkadah Salaah has to be made before the Salaah starts. It does not matter whether the intention of the Salaah was a general one (النية المطلقة) or a specific one (النية المقيدة). The main factor is that the intention is made before the Salaah starts [[i]].
1. In the queried scenario, the person after mistakenly reading four Rakaats in place of two Rakaats Sunnah Muakkadah after Zuhr, cannot now stipulate that these four Rakaats are in place of the four Rakaats of Sunnah Muakkadah that were missed before Zuhr. This is because he is changing his intention after starting his Salaah with a previous intention, which is prohibited (refer to the footnotes provided). Therefore, he will have to perform four independent Rakaats separately in place of the four Rakaats missed before Zuhr.
You have quoted the following Ibaarat from Shaami which states:
الدر المختار وحاشية ابن عابدين (رد المحتار) (1/ 417)
(قَوْلُهُ وَكَفَى إلَخْ) أَيْ بِأَنْ يَقْصِدَ الصَّلَاةَ بِلَا قَيْدِ نَفْلٍ أَوْ سُنَّةٍ أَوْ عَدَدٍ (قَوْلُهُ لِنَفْلٍ) هَذَا بِالِاتِّفَاقِ (قَوْلُهُ وَسُنَّةٍ) وَلَوْ سُنَّةَ فَجْرٍ، حَتَّى لَوْ تَهَجَّدَ بِرَكْعَتَيْنِ ثُمَّ تَبَيَّنَ أَنَّهَا بَعْدَ الْفَجْرِ نَابَتَا عَنْ السُّنَّةِ، وَكَذَا لَوْ صَلَّى أَرْبَعًا وَوَقَعَتْ الْأُخْرَيَانِ بَعْدَ الْفَجْرِ وَبِهِ يُفْتَى خُلَاصَةٌ، وَكَذَا الْأَرْبَعُ الْمَنْوِيُّ بِهَا آخِرُ ظُهْرٍ أَدْرَكْته عِنْدَ الشَّكِّ فِي صِحَّةِ الْجُمُعَةِ، فَإِذَا تَبَيَّنَ صِحَّتُهَا وَلَا ظُهْرَ عَلَيْهِ نَابَتْ عَنْ سُنَّةِ الْجُمُعَةِ عَلَى قَوْلِ الْجُمْهُورِ لِأَنَّهُ يَلْغُو الْوَصْفُ وَيَبْقَى الْأَصْلُ
From this Ibaarat, you are trying to establish that a person can change his intention after starting his Sunnah Muakkadah with a different intention. This deduction is incorrect. The reason for this is that the scenario that you have mentioned entails a person first having a specific intention (النية المقيدة) and then changing it afterwards, albeit, after the Salaah has terminated. However, the scenario mentioned in the aforementioned Ibaarat refers to where a person started his Sunnat-e-Muakkadah Salaah with a general intention (النية المطلقة) and thereafter regarded it to be a certain Sunnah or Nafl Salaah. Hence, the Hukm that was mentioned in the Ibaarat cannot be applied to your scenario in question (فافترقا).
Secondly, you have quoted another Ibaarat of Shaami which states:
الدر المختار وحاشية ابن عابدين (رد المحتار) (1/ 417)
(قَوْلُهُ وَلَا عِبْرَةَ بِنِيَّةٍ مُتَأَخِّرَةٍ) لِأَنَّ الْجُزْءَ الْخَالِيَ عَنْ النِّيَّةِ لَا يَقَعُ عِبَادَةً فَلَا يَنْبَنِي الْبَاقِي عَلَيْهِ،
You are correct when saying that if a person reads four Rakaats instead of two, then the first two will be regarded as his Sunnah Muakkadah, and the second two will be regarded as Nafl [[ii]]. However, to establish such a Hukm from the above-mentioned Ibaarat is incorrect. The Ibaarat is referring to such a Salaah which didn’t have an intention at the beginning at all, because of which it had to be rendered void. Hence, the Hukm mentioned in the Ibaarat of Shaami (above) cannot be applied to the mentioned scenario.
2. Here also, the same Hukm mentioned above will apply. That is, the two Rakaats that he read will not suffice for the two Rakaats Sunnat-e-Muakkadah of Zuhr (which is performed after the Fardh), simply because he changed his intention after starting off with another Niyyah. Consequently, he will have to repeat the four Rakaats Sunnah Muakkadah (before Zuhr) and perform the two Sunnat-e-Muakkadah after Zuhr independently. Behishti Zewar states, “If a person breaks the four Rakaats Sunnah of Zuhr Salaah, then he will have to make Qadha of all four Rakaats irrespective of whether he sat down after the second Rakaat for At-Tahiyyaat or not.” [Behishti Zewar Pg.211]
ALLAH TA’ALA ALONE IN HIS INFINITE KNOWLEDGE KNOWS BEST!
ANSWERED BY:
Mufti Abdur Rahman Abdur Razak
Date:- 02 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1445 / 18 September 2023
CHECKED AND APPROVED BY:
Mufti Mohammed Desai Saheb
[i] بدائع الصنائع في ترتيب الشرائع (1/ 129)
وَإِنْ نَوَى بَعْدَ التَّكْبِيرِ لَا يَجُوزُ
تبيين الحقائق شرح كنز الدقائق وحاشية الشلبي (1/ 99)
وَلَا يَعْتَدُّ بِالنِّيَّةِ الْمُتَأَخِّرَةِ عَنْ التَّكْبِيرِ إلَّا عِنْدَ الْكَرْخِيِّ؛ لِأَنَّ مَا مَضَى لَمْ يَقَعْ عِبَادَةً
[ii] Fataawa Mahmoodiyya (Vol 7 / Pg 439)
Bahishti Zewar Pg 211 (English version)
