Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

I have read somewhere that if the Sunnah prayers which precede or follow the Fard prayers are done in different locations/places (maybe a few centimetres or feet difference), it is better for the believer as those places will speak for him/her tomorrow on the Day of Judgement.

Is it true and authentic? Kindly reply and thanx 

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Offer sunnah prayers in diff place

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

It is reported that the Prophet (saws) prayed the afternoon prayer and right afterward a man stood up to pray. Hadrat Umar (r.a.) saw him and told him: "Sit, the People of the Book were destroyed because they did not differentiate between their prayers." The Prophet (saws) said: "Well said, Ibn al-Khattab [i.e., 'Umar]."

This is related by Ahmad.

Sahih Muslim Hadith 1921 Narrated by Mu'awiyah ibn AbuSufyan

Umar ibn Ata ibn AbuKhuwar said that Nafi ibn Jubayr sent him to as-Sa'ib the son of Namir's sister with a view to asking him about what he had seen in the prayer of Mu'awiyah. He said: ‘Yes I observed the Jumu'ah prayer along with him in Maqsura and when the Imam pronounced salutation I stood up at my place and observed (sunnah rak'ahs). As he entered (the apartment) he sent for me and said: “Do not repeat what you have done. Whenever you have observed the Jumu'ah prayer, do not observe (optional Sunnah/Nafl prayers) till you have talked or (moved), or got out for the Messenger of Allah (saws) had ordered us to do this and not to combine two (types of) prayers without talking or (moving), or going out.”

It is preferred to make a separation between the Fard and the optional prayers after one finishes the Fard prayer. It is also preferred to change the place of prayer a little, so that a clear differentiation is made between the two prayers. It is the opinion of some of the scholars that since Allah Subhanah will call everything and everyone to witness man’s good and evil deeds; every place of prayer and every spot of prostration will bear witness to the person’s worship in the Just Court of Allah Subhanah.

Some scholars are of the opinion that this guidance of moving and thus making a clear distinction between the obligatory and optional prayers is to emphasize and signify the fact that all deeds in Islam are not horizontal or equal in the Scales of Justice of the Lord Most Just; but rather they are vertical, where each deed is qualified according to its importance. For example the sin of shirk and the sin of back-biting is not the same amount of evil, just as Jihad in the Cause of Allah and lifting a stone from the middle of the road in case it harms someone is not the same in virtue.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan