A man followed him and said: "O Commander of the Faithful, you only prayed one rak'ah." He replied: "It is a voluntary prayer; whoever wishes may increase it, and whoever wishes may decrease it." Our response is that this contradicts the statement of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace): "The prayer of the night is two by two." Furthermore, legislation (Shar') does not come with something like this, and legal rulings are only received from the Lawgiver, either through His text or the meaning of His text, and there is nothing of that here.
Section: Voluntary prayers are of two categories: The first is that for which congregation is prescribed as a Sunnah, which are the prayers of the eclipse (kusuf), the prayer for rain (istisqa'), and the tarawih prayers; we will mention them, God willing, in their appropriate places. The second is what is performed individually, and these are of two categories: specific Sunnah and absolute supererogatory prayer (nafilah). As for the specific, it comprises several types; among them are the regular Sunnah prayers (al-sunan al-rawatib) associated with the obligatory prayers, which are ten rak'ahs: two rak'ahs before Dhuhr, two rak'ahs after it, two rak'ahs after Maghrib, two rak'ahs after 'Isha', and two rak'ahs before Fajr. Abu al-Khattab said: And four [rak'ahs] before 'Asr, based on what Ibn 'Umar narrated, who said: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: "May Allah have mercy on a person who prays four [rak'ahs] before 'Asr." Recorded by Abu Dawud (8). Al-Shafi'i said: Four [rak'ahs] before Dhuhr, based on what 'Abd Allah ibn Shaqiq narrated, who said: I asked 'A'isha about the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace)? She said: He used to pray four [rak'ahs] in his house before Dhuhr, then he would go out and lead the people in prayer, then return and pray two [rak'ahs]. He would lead the people in Maghrib, then return and pray two [rak'ahs]. Then he would lead the people in 'Isha' and enter my house and pray two [rak'ahs]. Recorded by Muslim (9). Our response is what Ibn 'Umar narrated, saying: I memorized ten rak'ahs from the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace): two rak'ahs before Dhuhr, two rak'ahs after it, two rak'ahs after Maghrib in his house, two rak'ahs after 'Isha' in his house, and two rak'ahs before the morning [Fajr] prayer, which was a time when no one could enter upon the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). Hafsa told me that he
(8) In: The chapter on prayer before 'Asr, from the Book of Voluntary Prayer. Sunan Abi Dawud 1/292. It was also recorded by al-Tirmidhi, in: The chapter on what has been narrated regarding the four [rak'ahs] before 'Asr, from the chapters on prayer. 'Aridat al-Ahwadhi 2/223. And Imam Ahmad, in: Al-Musnad 2/117. (9) In: The chapter on the permissibility of voluntary prayer while standing or sitting... etc., from the Book of the Traveler's Prayer. Sahih Muslim 1/504. It was also recorded by Imam Ahmad, in: Al-Musnad 6/30.
