Salaatut Duha (Chaast Prayers)

Mu'adha said: "I asked ‘A'isha (may Allah the Exalted be well pleased with her): “Did the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) perform the mid-morning ritual prayer?” She said: “Yes, four cycles, and he used to add whatever Allah wished (Almighty and Glorious is He).”

Anas ibn Maik said: “The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) used to perform the mid-morning ritual prayer in six cycles.”

'Abd ar-Rahman ibn Abi Laila said: “I have never heard anyone mention seeing the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) performing the mid¬morning ritual prayer except Umm Hani (may Allah the Exalted be well pleased with her). “She related that Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace) entered her house on the Day of the Conquest of Mecca, whereupon he performed the major ritual ablution and glorified Allah in eight cycles. I never saw him (Allah bless him and give him peace) perform a ritual prayer in a more abbreviated form than that, even though he completed the bowing !”

'Abdu’llah ibn Shaqiq said: “I asked 'A'isha (may Allah the Exalted be well pleased with her): ‘Was the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) used to performing the mid-morning ritual prayer?’ She said: ‘No, except when he was coming back from an absence.'"

Abi Sa'id al-Khudri said (may Allah the Exalted be well pleased with him): "The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) would perform the mid-morning ritual prayer so often that we would say: “He does not omit it,” and he would omit it so often that we would say: “He does not perform it!”

Abu Ayyub al-Ansari said (may Allah the Exalted be well pleased with him): “The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) used to devote himself to four cycles ?’ He said: ‘Yes!’ I said: ‘Do they contain a separating salutation of peace?’ He said: ‘No!'” Another chain reports a similar narration.

'Abdu’llah ibn as-Sa’ib said: “Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace) used to perform four cycles of ritual prayer after the sun had passed its zenith before the noon prayer, and he said: 'It is a time in which the gates of heaven are opened, so I love to have a righteous deed ascend for me then!'”

‘Ali said: "He used to perform four cycles of ritual prayer before noon", and he mentioned that Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace) used to perform them at the time of the sun's zenith, and he used to prolong them.