Sunnah Prayers: The 12 Rak‘ahs That Build a House in Paradise

The five daily prayers are the duty. Around them the Prophet ﷺ kept a set of voluntary prayers, the sunnah prayers (also called rawatib), and he promised a house in Paradise to whoever prays twelve rak‘ahs of them each day. Here are six authentic hadith that name them, prayer by prayer.

1. Twelve rak‘ahs, a house in Paradise

Umm Habibah (may Allah be pleased with her), the wife of the Prophet ﷺ, heard him say:

The reward is tied to keeping them up, day after day. In the same report, each narrator after her says the same thing: he never left them after hearing the hadith.

Try this: Write down the twelve rak‘ahs (listed in the next hadith) and tick them off for one week.

2. Which twelve rak‘ahs are the sunnah prayers?

In at-Tirmidhi’s narration of the same hadith, the Prophet ﷺ names them:

At-Tirmidhi himself called it hasan sahih. Put simply:

• Fajr: 2 before
• Zuhr: 4 before, 2 after
• Asr: none among the twelve (see hadith 5)
• Maghrib: 2 after
• ‘Isha: 2 after

Try this: Start with the two before Fajr. The Prophet ﷺ kept no voluntary prayer more regularly than these (Sahih al-Bukhari 1163).

3. The ten rak‘ahs Ibn ‘Umar remembered

‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) describes the voluntary prayers he saw the Prophet ﷺ keep:

Ibn ‘Umar saw two before Zuhr, while Umm Habibah’s hadith gives four. Both are authentic: ‘Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) said he never left four before Zuhr (Sahih al-Bukhari 1182). She also described him praying them in her house (Sahih Muslim 730a), and he said that a person’s best prayer is in his house, except the obligatory prayers (Sahih al-Bukhari 731).

Try this: Pray the sunnah after Maghrib or ‘Isha at home, as the Prophet ﷺ did.

4. Four before and four after Zuhr

Umm Habibah (may Allah be pleased with her) also reported a promise for those who keep four rak‘ahs on each side of Zuhr:

At-Tirmidhi records it too (Jami‘ at-Tirmidhi 427, Sahih (Darussalam)). Four after Zuhr is two more than the twelve: an extra for whoever can keep it.

Try this: On a lighter day, pray four after Zuhr instead of two.

5. Four before Asr

Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) reported this prayer of the Prophet ﷺ for whoever prays before Asr:

At-Tirmidhi has it as well (Jami‘ at-Tirmidhi 430, Hasan (Darussalam)). HadeethEnc’s explanation notes that it is a recommended sunnah, not an obligation, and that its reward is the Prophet’s ﷺ prayer for mercy.

Try this: Reach the masjid or your prayer spot a few minutes before Asr and pray four.

6. A prayer between every adhan and iqamah

‘Abdullah ibn Mughaffal al-Muzani (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet ﷺ said:

The “two adhans” are the adhan and the iqamah, so there is room for a voluntary prayer before every obligatory one. This includes Maghrib: he said “Pray before Maghrib” three times, adding “for whoever wishes” the third time, because he did not want people to treat it as a fixed sunnah (Sahih al-Bukhari 1183).

Try this: Arrive before the iqamah and use those minutes for two rak‘ahs.

Bringing it together

On Fridays, the Prophet ﷺ told whoever prays Jummah to pray four rak‘ahs after it (Sahih Muslim 881a); more in our article on the importance of Jummah prayer.

Reflection: The sunnah prayers are small and steady: two rak‘ahs here, four there. Kept every day, they wrap each obligatory prayer in more remembrance of Allah, and the promise for them is a house in Paradise.

Questions people ask

Key lessons

• Twelve rak‘ahs a day bring a house in Paradise (Muslim 728a).
• They are 2 before Fajr, 4 before Zuhr and 2 after, 2 after Maghrib and 2 after ‘Isha (Tirmidhi 415).
• Two or four before Zuhr are both reported (Bukhari 1180, 1182).
• Four before Asr earns the Prophet’s ﷺ prayer for mercy (Abu Dawud 1271).
• There is a prayer between every adhan and iqamah, for whoever wishes (Bukhari 624).

Part of our Salah series: see all our salah articles in one place.

May Allah help us keep these small prayers every day, and build for us a house in Paradise.

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