It is narrated from Hazrat Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) that in Makkah Mukarramah, when prayer was initially made obligatory, it was in the form of two rak‘ahs for each prayer except Maghrib. But when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) reached Madinah Munawwarah, by the command of Allah, two rak‘ahs were added to each of the prayers, except for Maghrib prayer, as it is the witr of the day, and Fajr prayer, in which the recitation is made long. However, when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would travel, he would perform only two rak‘ahs as per the initial method.