Hazrat Asim bin Damrah narrates that I asked Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) about the (supererogatory) prayers of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), so he narrated this hadith. Imam Abu Bakr (may Allah have mercy on him) says that in this narration, Sayyiduna Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) has informed that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) performed two sets of two rak‘ahs each during the day. As for the four rak‘ahs before Zuhr and the four rak‘ahs before Asr, they are mentioned in general terms, whose explanation and clarification comes from explanatory narrations. Thus, the hadith of Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both), which he narrates from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), states that the prayers of the day and night are to be performed in sets of two rak‘ahs. This is evidence that whatever supererogatory prayer the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) performed during the day, he performed them in sets of two rak‘ahs. As he has stated, the prayers of both night and day are in sets of two rak‘ahs. If it is established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he performed four rak‘ahs of supererogatory prayer during the day with one salam, then this, according to us, would fall under the category of permissible and allowed difference. Therefore, a person has the choice to perform four rak‘ahs of supererogatory prayer together during the day, or to say salam after every two rak‘ahs.

As for the words in the hadith of Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) that“the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would separate every two rak‘ahs by sending salam upon Allah’s close angels and the believing followers among them,”this has two meanings. The first meaning is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would sit for tashahhud after two rak‘ahs, because in tashahhud, salam is also sent upon the angels and the obedient Muslims. But to take this meaning is far-fetched. The second meaning is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would separate every two rak‘ahs by saying salam, and this salam would be a separation and distinction between the first two rak‘ahs and the subsequent prayer. And this is the understood meaning from the narration (i.e., the meaning understood from the narration), because the scholars do not consider separation by tashahhud alone, without saying salam, as a separation and distinction between the first two rak‘ahs and the subsequent prayer. And from a juristic point of view, it is also impossible to say that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) performed four rak‘ahs of Zuhr and separated them by salam, or that he performed four rak‘ahs of Asr and separated them by salam, or that he separated the three rak‘ahs of Maghrib by salam, or that he separated the four rak‘ahs of Isha by salam and distinction. Undoubtedly, it is obligatory for the worshipper to perform the four rak‘ahs of Zuhr, Asr, and Isha together. Similarly, it is obligatory to perform all the rak‘ahs of Maghrib together without separation and distinction, and it is also obligatory to differentiate between separation and joining. The scholars, from a juristic perspective, do not consider separation by tashahhud alone, without saying salam, as a separation by which the worshipper exits the prayer and then starts the subsequent prayer. And if only tashahhud were considered a separation between the first two rak‘ahs and the subsequent prayer, then it should be permissible for the worshipper that whenever he sits for tashahhud in any prayer, he may then perform a supererogatory prayer, i.e., that he stands up and practically starts a supererogatory prayer before saying salam. Similarly, it would also be permissible for him to perform ten or more rak‘ahs of supererogatory prayer at night with one salam, and to sit for tashahhud after every two rak‘ahs, if tashahhud is considered a separation between the previous and subsequent prayer. Whereas this is also against the school of our opponents, the Iraqi scholars.