He said: The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, saw me praying the two rak'ahs of Fajr after the Fajr prayer, and he said: "What are these two rak'ahs, O Qays?" I replied: O Messenger of Allah, I had not performed the two rak'ahs of Fajr, so these are they. Recorded by Imam Ahmad, Abu Dawud, and al-Tirmidhi (28). The Prophet's silence (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) indicates permissibility. Furthermore, the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) made up the Sunnah of Dhuhr after 'Asr, and this is similar in its meaning; also, it is a prayer that has a specific cause, so it resembles the two rak'ahs of Tawaf. The scholars of opinion (ashab al-ra'y) said: It is not permissible, due to the generality of the prohibition and because of what Abu Hurayrah narrated: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: "Whoever does not pray the two rak'ahs of Fajr, let him pray them after the sun has risen." Recorded by al-Tirmidhi (29), who said: We do not know it except from the hadith of 'Amr ibn 'Asim. Ibn al-Jawzi, may Allah have mercy on him, said: He is reliable, and al-Bukhari reported from him. Ibn 'Umar used to make them up after the sun has risen (duha). The hadith of Qays is mursal (a narration where a Successor omits the Companion), as stated by Ahmad and al-Tirmidhi, because Muhammad ibn Ibrahim narrates it from Qays and did not hear from him. It was also narrated through the path of Yahya ibn Sa'id from his grandfather (30), and it is also mursal. Al-Tirmidhi recorded (31) that he said: I said: O Messenger of Allah, I had not performed the two rak'ahs of Fajr. He said: "Then do not [pray them] now." This potentially implies a prohibition. Since the matter is thus, delaying them until the time of Duha is better in order to avoid the disagreement and not conflict with the generality of the hadith, although if one performs them, it is permissible because this report does not fall short of indicating permissibility. And Allah knows best.