How do I pray Salat al-Duha, and when is its time?

When the time begins

The window opens once the sun has climbed clear of the horizon. Shaykh Ibn Baz describes this as irtifa' al-shams qad ramh — the sun rising by about a spear's length in the eye of the beholder — and he and Shaykh Ibn Uthaymin both put it at roughly a quarter of an hour after sunrise. IslamWeb notes that no fixed clock time can be given, since sunrise varies by season and country.

When it ends

The time closes at wuquf al-shams — when the sun halts at the middle of the sky before declining toward the west, which is the start of the pre-noon prohibition on prayer. Shaykh Ibn Uthaymin places the end at about ten minutes before the sun's decline; IslamWeb describes it as the moment the sun reaches its zenith, before the entry of Zuhr. The Permanent Committee (fatwa 1742) states the same span: from the sun's rising and clearing by a spear's length until it is level in the middle of the sky.

The best time within it

The most virtuous time is when the heat grows intense — hina tarmad al-fisal, when the sun burns the young camels' feet. This is the salat al-awwabin (the prayer of those who turn back to Allah).

"The prayer of the awwabin is when the young camels feel the heat of the sun."— Sahih Muslim 748

Shaykh Ibn Baz explains fisal as the young of camels and tarmad as the sun's heat bearing down on them. He adds that praying at the very start of the window, right after the sun clears a spear's length, is perfectly fine, and praying later before Zuhr is fine too — "the matter is wide, praise be to Allah." But if a person tends to get busy at the end of the time and fears missing it, he should pray early so as not to lose the virtue.

IslamWeb (fatwa 170203) records that the jurists named the chosen time as after a quarter of the day has passed, citing al-Nawawi's commentary on Sahih Muslim and the Shafi'i I'anat al-Talibin, and reports al-Qurtubi's comparison of Duha to 'Asr in the evening.

How many rak'ahs

The minimum is two, and the Prophet ﷺ prayed eight on the day of the conquest of Makkah.

"Every day that the sun rises, charity is due from every joint of one of you: every tasbih is a charity, every tahmid is a charity, every tahlil is a charity, every takbir is a charity, enjoining good is a charity, and forbidding evil is a charity; and two rak'ahs prayed in the forenoon suffice for all of that."— Sahih Muslim 720, from Abu Dharr رضي الله عنه

Shaykh Ibn Baz draws from this the great standing of these two rak'ahs. He permits four, six, eight or more, saying all of it is good, with the greeting of peace after every two rak'ahs — as the Prophet ﷺ did on the day of the conquest. IslamWeb (fatwa 17199) cites the hadith of Umm Hani' رضي الله عنها in al-Bukhari and Muslim for the eight rak'ahs, and the Prophet's ﷺ words "the prayer of the night and the day is two by two" for praying them in pairs.

How to pray it

1. Make sure the time has entered — wait until the sun has fully risen and cleared the horizon by about a quarter of an hour. Praying before that falls in the prohibited time after Fajr.
2. Pray two rak'ahs, intending Duha. This alone fulfils the sunnah.
3. Recite whatever you wish of the Qur'an. Shaykh Ibn Baz states plainly that no particular surah or verse is specified for it.
4. If you pray more, pray two at a time and give the greeting of peace after each pair.
5. Aim for the later part of the window if you can, since that carries the greater reward — but pray early if your day will not allow it.

If you are sitting in the mosque after Fajr

Shaykh Ibn Baz was asked about this. If a person remains seated in the mosque until sunrise, the better course is to pray two rak'ahs when he stands to leave, after the sun has risen — or in his home if he sat there after Fajr. Those two rak'ahs suffice for Duha. If he then prays again when the heat intensifies, that is additional good and virtue.

Key takeaways

• The window is from sunrise plus roughly a quarter of an hour until the sun's zenith just before Zuhr — the whole span is valid for Duha.
• The best time is when the heat intensifies, the prayer of the awwabin.
• Two rak'ahs is the minimum and fulfils the sunnah; four, six, eight or more are all permitted, two rak'ahs at a time.
• No surah is specified — recite whatever is easy for you.
• It is a sunnah, not an obligation — but consistency in it is better than praying it only occasionally.

Further reading

• Shaykh Ibn Baz, Majmu' Fatawa wa Maqalat
• Shaykh Ibn Uthaymin, al-Sharh al-Mumti'
• IslamWeb fatwas 98161, 170203 and 17199

And Allah knows best.