A man of Asad b. Khuzaima said he put this question to Abu Ayyub al-Ansari:I* pray at home and then go to the mosque and the time to begin the prayer comes, so I pray along with the congregation, but I feel some uneasiness about that. Abu Ayyub replied,“We asked the Prophet about that and he said that such a person gets a portion of the reward for corporate prayer.”* The Arabic has“One of us prays . . . then goes . . .”After that the first person singular is used. While such a construction is quite usual in 'Arabic, it makes impossible English, so I have used the first person all through. Malik and Abu Dawud transmitted it.

Yazid b. ‘Amir said:I came to God’s Messenger when he was praying and sat down, but did not join the congregation in prayer. When he finished he saw me sitting and asked,“Have you not become a Muslim, Yazid?”I replied,“I certainly have become a Muslim, Messenger of God.”He asked,“What prevented you from joining the people in their prayer?”I replied,“I had already prayed at home, thinking you had prayed.”So he said,“When you come to prayer and find the people praying, pray along with them. If you have already prayed it will be a supererogatory prayer for you, though this is a prescribed prayer.”Abu Dawud transmitted it.

Ibn ‘Umar said that a man questioned him saying,“When I pray in my house and then come to the mosque in time for prayer along with the imam, should I pray along with him?”He replied,“Yes.”The man asked which of them he should consider his obligatory prayer, and Ibn ‘Umar replied,“Is that your affair?* that is only to be left to God’s decision who will appoint whichever He wishes.”*The Arabic is in the form of a statement, but in view of the phrase immediately following it seems necessary to treat it as a question. Malik transmitted it.

Sulaiman, client of Maimuna said:We came to Ibn ‘Umar at al- Balat* when the people were praying, and I remarked on the fact that he was not praying along with the people. He replied that he had already prayed and that he had heard God’s Messenger say,“Do not pray a prayer twice on the same day.”* A square paved with stones between the Prophet's mosque and the market-place in Medina. Ahmad, Abu Dawud and Nasa’i transmitted it.

Nafi‘ said that Ibn ‘Umar used to say,“If anyone prays the sunset or the morning prayer and then comes when the imam is praying them, he must not say them over again.”Malik transmitted it.

Umm Habiba reported God’s Messenger as saying,“A house will be built in paradise for anyone who prays in a day and a night twelve rak'as, four before and two after the noon prayer, two after the sunset prayer, two after the evening prayer, and two before the dawn prayer.”Tirmidhi transmitted it. In a version by Muslim she said she heard God’s Messenger say,“If any Muslim prays to God twelve voluntary rak'as daily, over and above the obligatory ones, God will build a house for him in paradise,”or,“a house will be built for him in paradise.”

Ibn ‘Umar said,“I prayed along with God’s Messenger two rak'as before and two rak'as after the noon prayer, two after the sunset prayer in his house, and two after the evening prayer in his house.”He said Hafsa told him that God’s Messenger used to pray two short rak'as at daybreak. (Bukhari and Muslim.)

He said that God’s Messenger did not pray after the Friday noon prayer till he had departed. He would then pray two rak'as in his house. (Bukhari and Muslim.)

‘Abdallah b. Shaqiq said he asked ‘A'isha about the Messenger of God’s voluntary prayers and she replied,“Before the noon prayer he would pray four rak'as in my house, then go out and lead the people in prayer, then come in and pray two rak'as. He would lead the people in the sunset prayer, then come in and pray two rak'as. Then he would lead the people in the evening prayer, and enter my house and pray two rak'as. He would pray nine rak'as during the night, including the witr.* At night he would pray for a long time standing and for a long time sitting, and when he recited the Qur’an while standing he would bow and prostrate himself from the standing position, and when he recited while sitting he would bow and prostrate himself from the sitting position; and when dawn came he prayed two rak'as." *See Chap. 34 Muslim transmitted it, and Abu Dawud added,“Then he would go out and lead the people in the dawn prayer.”

‘A’isha said that the Prophet was more particular about observing the two supererogatory rak'as at dawn than about observing any of the other supererogatory prayers. (Bukhari and Muslim.)