بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Imām Muslim said:
Chapter, it is recommended to pray two rak’ah before Maghrib
Hadīth 1.
وَكُنَّا نُصَلِّي عَلَى عَهْدِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ رَكْعَتَيْنِ بَعْدَ غُرُوبِ الشَّمْسِ، قَبْلَ صَلَاةِ الْمَغْرِبِ فَقُلْتُ لَهُ : أَكَانَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ صَلَّاهُمَا ؟ قَالَ : كَانَ يَرَانَا نُصَلِّيهِمَا ، فَلَمْ يَأْمُرْنَا وَلَمْ يَنْهَنَا
Anas narrated:… And we used to pray during the time of the Messenger of Allāh (ﷺ) two rak’ahs after the setting of the sun, before the Maghrib prayer.
I (i.e. the narrator – Mukhtar ibn Fulful) said to him: Did the Messenger of Allāh (ﷺ) pray them?
He said: He used to see us praying them, and he neither commanded us nor forbade us. (Sahīh Muslim 836)
Hadīth 2.
عَنْ أَنَسِ ابْنِ مَالِكٍ قَالَ: كُنَّا بِالْمَدِينَةِ، فَإِذَا أَذَّنَ الْمُؤَذِّنُ لِصَلَاةِ الْمَغْرِبِ ابْتَدَرُوا السَّوَارِيَ، فَرَكَعُوا رَكْعَتَيْنِ رَكْعَتَيْنِ، حَتَّى إِنَّ الرَّجُلَ الْغَرِيبَ لَيَدْخُلُ الْمَسْجِدَ فَيَحْسِبُ أَنَّ الصَّلَاةَ قَدْ صُلِّيَتْ مِنْ كَثْرَةِ مَنْ يُصَلِّيهِمَا
Anas ibn Mālik narrated: We were in Medīnah, and when the muadhin called the adhān for the Maghrib prayer, they (i.e. the companions) would hasten to the pillars and pray two rak’ahs, to the extent that a stranger would enter the mosque and think that the prayer had already been performed due to the large number of those praying them. (Sahīh Muslim 837)
Al-Shawkānī said: His (ﷺ) approval of those whom he saw praying at that time indicates that prayer at that time is not disliked, especially when a large number of companions were doing so…
… (The two rak’ah) was recommended by a group of companions and successors (tabi’īn), and from among the later scholars Ahmad and Ishāq.
Those who held the view of recommendation argued with the authentic hadīths in this chapter (i.e. hadīth 1 and 2) and with what Ibn Hibbān reported from the hadīth of ‘Abdullah ibn Mughaffal: [Hadīth 3]
أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم صَلَّى قَبْلَ المَغْرِبِ رَكْعَتَيْنِ،[ثم قال: «صَلُّوا قَبْلَ المَغْرِبِ رَكْعَتَيْنِ ثُمَّ قَالَ عِنْدَ الثَّالِثَةِ : لِمَنْ شَاءَ… ]
“That the Prophet (ﷺ) prayed two rak’ahs before Maghrib, [then said: “Pray two rak’ahs before Maghrib.” Then at the third time he said: “For whoever wishes… “] (Sahīh Ibn Hibbān 1588, ibn Khuzaymah 1293. Sahīh upon the conditions of Muslim according to al-Arnāūt)
so it is established from him (ﷺ) in word, in action, and in approval. (Nayl al-Awtār 1/525, slightly adapted)
Al-Muhibb al-Tabarī said regarding hadīth 3: this hadīth is one of the strongest evidences for its recommendation. (Tahdhīb Sharh as-Sunnah of al-Baghawī 2/243)
Al-Arnāūt said: Ahmad, Ishāq, and the people of hadīth held the view that they are recommended, and the totality of evidence indicates the recommendation to make them brief, as in the two rak’ahs of Fajr. (Tahdhīb Sharh as-Sunnah 2/244)
A weak narration used to prohibit these two rak’ah
حَدَّثَنَا ابْنُ بَشَّارٍ، حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ جَعْفَرٍ، حَدَّثَنَا شُعْبَةُ، عَنْ أَبِي شُعَيْبٍ، عَنْ طَاوُسٍ، قَالَ سُئِلَ ابْنُ عُمَرَ عَنِ الرَّكْعَتَيْنِ، قَبْلَ الْمَغْرِبِ فَقَالَ مَا رَأَيْتُ أَحَدًا عَلَى عَهْدِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يُصَلِّيهِمَا
Ibn Bashshār > Muhammad ibn Ja’far > Shu’bah > Abū Shu’ayb > Tawūs who said: Ibn ‘Umar was asked about the two rak’ahs before Maghrib, and he said: “I did not see anyone during the time of the Messenger of Allāh (ﷺ) praying them.” (Abū Dawūd 1284 and others
Declared da’īf (weak) by Al-Albānī in his checking of Abū Dawūd saying (10/49): Abū Shu’ayb is not known who he is, as Ibn Hazm stated.
Declared inauthentic by Ibn Hazm in al-Muhallā 2/254, who also said: “even if (the narration) were authentic, there is no prohibition (of performing the two rak’ah) in it.”
Declared shādh (irregular/anomalous) by Yasīr Fathī in his checking, 14/267)
In a variant wording: “I did not find anyone during the time of the Messenger of Allāh (ﷺ) praying them.”
In a variant wording: “I did not see anyone praying them during the time of the Messenger of Allāh (ﷺ).”
In a variant wording: “I did not see anyone pray them during the time of the Messenger of Allāh (ﷺ) nor after him.”
Yasīr Fathī said: This is how it was narrated from Shu’bah by three of his companions: Ghundar Muhammad ibn Ja’far, Abū Dawūd al-Tayalisī, and Yahyā ibn Kathir al-‘Anbarī.
They were contradicted by: Waki’ ibn al-Jarrah… [full isnād omitted]… I heard Tawūs saying:
سألت ابن عمر عن الركعتين قبل المغرب؟ فلم ينه عنهما
I asked Ibn ‘Umar about the two rak’ahs before Maghrib? And he did not forbid them. [This narration is mawquf, i.e., it stops at the companion and doesn’t reach the Prophet]. (Ibn Abi Shaybah 7387 and others)
What appears clearer to me is that this hadīth is anomalous (shādh); because it contradicts what is in the two Sahīhs (i.e. the narrations of Anas and Abdullāh ibn Mughaffal. (Summarised and abridged, Takhrīj Sunan Abū Dawūd 14/267)
Shaykh ‘Abdul-Muhsin said: This hadīth (of Ibn ‘Umar), is weak and cannot be used as evidence; because it contradicts the previously mentioned hadīths, and in its chain of narration is Abū Shu’ayb who was said to be Shu’ayb. Some scholars said: both are unknown, while others said: Shu’ayb is the seller of tayālisah (a type of head garment), and there’s nothing wrong with him (i.e. he is acceptable). However, even if the chain of narration were authentic, established, and without any issues, it would still be classified as shādh (irregular/anomalous), meaning: it contradicts the narrations of trustworthy narrators who reported from the Messenger of Allāh (ﷺ) what indicates the permissibility of prayer between the adhān and iqāmah before Maghrib prayer. (Sharh Abū Dawūd 9/158)
‘Adhīm al-Ābādī said: In my view, this hadīth is a mistake/error from Shu’ayb, the narrator from Tawūs, and he alone narrated it from Tawūs.
How can this narration be authentic when a group of companions like ‘Abdullah ibn Mughaffal, Anas, ‘Uqbah ibn ‘Amir, and others have narrated from the Prophet (ﷺ) that he permitted this for whoever wanted to pray, and it was done during his time in his presence, and he did not forbid it?
It has been narrated from a group of companions and successors that they used to pray two rak’ahs before Maghrib, including among the companions: Anas, ‘Abd al-Rahmān ibn ‘Awf, Ubayy ibn Ka’b, Abū Ayyūb al-Ansārī, Abū al-Darda’, Jābir ibn ‘Abdullāh, and others, and the narrations of these are reported in “Qiyām al-Layl” by Muhammad ibn Nasr. (‘Awn al-Ma’būd 3/132-133)
Another weak narration used to prohibit these two rak’ah
حَدَّثَنَا ابن المبارك: أخبرنا شعبة، عن قتادة، قال: قلت لسعيد بن المسيب: إن أبا سعيد الخدري كان يصلي الركعتين قبل المغرب، فقال: كان ينهى عنهما، ولم أدرك أحدًا من أصحاب رسول الله – صلى الله عليه وسلم – يصليهما غير سعد بن مالك – رضي الله عنه
Nu’aym ibn Hammād > Ibn al-Mubarāk > Shu’bah > Qatādah, who said: I said to Sa’īd ibn al-Musayyib: “Abū Sa’īd al-Khudrī used to pray the two rak’ahs before Maghrib.” He said: “He used to forbid them, and I did not encounter anyone from the companions of the Messenger of Allāh (ﷺ) praying them except for Sa’d ibn Mālik – may Allāh be pleased with him.” (al-Tahāwī in al-Mushkil 5501)
Yasīr Fathī said (14/270): This (narration) is not established; neither from the hadīth of Shu’bah, nor from the hadīth of Ibn al-Mubarāk. It was uniquely narrated by: Nu’aym ibn Hammād al-Marwazī, and he is: weak, (who) narrates objectionable/rejected reports from trustworthy narrators, and narrates (that) which has no basis… [see: al-Tahdhīb (4/234), al-Mīzān (4/267)].
Nu’aym ibn Hammād al-Marwazī:
Ibn Hajr said: (He is) Truthful but makes many mistakes. A jurist knowledgeable in inheritance laws. From the tenth (class of narrators). (al-Taqrīb pg. 309)
Al-Dhahabī said: (He was) one of the leading scholars, layyin (soft, i.e. has some weakness) in his hadīth.
His kunyah is Abū ‘Abdullah al-Faradī, the one-eyed (al-A’war), the memoriser (al-Hāfidh).
He settled and stayed in Egypt for about forty years.
He was severe against the Jahmiyyah, having taken this from Nūh al-Jāmi’, whose scribe he was.
Sālih ibn Mismār said: I heard Nu’aym saying:
“I was a Jahmī, and that is why I knew their discourse. When I sought hadīth, I realised that their matter leads to ta’tīl (i.e. denying [Allāhs attributes].”
Al-Khatīb said: It is said that Nu’aym ibn Hammād was the first to compile a Musnad.
Yahyā ibn Ma’īn said: “Nu’aym ibn Hammād is truthful…”
Ahmad al-‘Ijlī said: “Trustworthy, truthful.”
Al-‘Abbās ibn Mus’ab said in his Tarīkh (“History”): “Nu’aym ibn Hammād authored books refuting the Hanafīs and books refuting the Jahmiyyah. He was among the most knowledgeable people in inheritance laws. Then he went to Egypt and stayed there for over forty years. He was then taken to Iraq during the inquisition/trial of the Qur’ān, shackled along with al-Buwaytī, and Nu’aym ibn Hammād died in Surra Man Ra’ā (Sāmarrā in Irāq).”
Ibn Sa’d said: Nu’aym was brought from Egypt during the caliphate of al-Mu’tasim. He was questioned about the Qur’ān and refused to answer, so he was imprisoned in Sāmarrā. He remained imprisoned until he died in prison.
Abū Dāwūd said: Nu’aym ibn Hammād had about twenty hadīths from the Prophet that have no basis.
Al-Nasā’ī said: He is weak.
Al-Nasā’ī also said:… he is among those whose narrations cannot be used as proof.
Al-Azdī said: Nu’aym used to create/make-up hadīth to strengthen the Sunnah…
Ibn Yūnus said: He died in Jumādā al-Ūlā, in the year 228 AH. He said: He understood hadīth and narrated objectionable/rejected hadīths from trustworthy narrators. (Abridged and adapted from al-Mīzān al-‘Itidāl 5/29-31)
Ahmad ibn Shu’ayb said: He is weak.
Ahmad and Yahyā (ibn Ma’īn) said: ‘Nu’aym ibn Hammād is known for seeking knowledge,’ then Yahyā criticised him saying: ‘He narrates from unreliable narrators.’ (al-Kāmil 8/251)
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