Q. Some People
Say that there is no hadith which proves that we should pray 4 Rakaat
of Sunnah before the obligatory Prayer of "Isha" . Can you give
a hadith proving the point of view that these 4 Rakaat are Sunnah before
performing the 4 Rakat of Isha?
A. It is true that there is no Hadith specifically that 4 Rakat
before the obligatory prayer of isha is Sunnah . How ever there is hadith
reported in Sahih Al-Bukhari and narrated by the Holy Companion Abdullah
Ibn Mughaffal (R.A) that the Holy Prophet ( Sallaho Alaihi Wasallam) has
said

Between Every Two Calls Of Prayers There Is A Prayer For Whomsoever Who
Wishes To Perform It " ( Al-Bukhari,Book X, Chapter 14, Hadith.No.624)
it is accpeted by all the commentators of hadith that the words Two
Calls of prayer mentioned in the hadith refer to the Adhan and Iqamah.
The Haidth, therefore, means that after every Adhan and berore Iqamah
some kind of Salah is advisable . On the basis of this Hadith the Muslim
Jurists have inferred that before every obligatory Prayer it is desirable
( Mustahhab) to perform some prayer which may be either Nafl or Sunnah
. The Rakat performed before Fajr and Dhuhr are Sunnah, while the prayers
performed before the rest of the five prescribed prayers are held to be
Nafl or Sunnah Ghayer Muakkadah. It will be noted in the above quoted
Hadith that the number of Rakat has not been mentioned there meaning there
by that to perform any number of Rakat may serve the purpose of the Hadith
. how ever a large number of Muslim scholars have preferred to perform
4 Rakat before Isha prayer on the analogy of Fajr Dhuhr and Asr, it may
be seen in the case of these three obligatory prayers that the number
of Sunnah and Nafl performed before each of them corresponds to the number
of the of the obligatory prayers respectively i.e. the number of Sunnah
before Fajr is two which is corresponding to the 2 Obligatory Rakat of
Fajr, the number of Rakat of Sunnah performed before Dhuhr is Four which
corresponds to the number of 4 obligatory Rakats of Dhuhr, and the number
of Nafl prayer performed before Asr is four which again corresponds to
the number of 4 obligatory Rakats of Asr. On This analogy the said scholars
have preferred to perform 4 Rakat before Isha because it will correspond
to the four obligatory Rakat to be performed after this Nafl Prayer. It
should, however be kept in mind that the number of these 4 Rakat should
not be taken as determined by the Holy Prophet ( Sallaho Alaihai Wasallam)
nor should it be taken as a specific Sunnah instead if one performs 2
Rakat only. On should also get the reward contemplated in the Hadith of
Sahih Al-Bukhari Quoted Above.
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