There is no regular Sunnah prayer before Friday Jumu‘ah Salah.
Concerning the virtue of the one who prays twelve rak‘ahs every day, there is a report narrated by Muslim from Umm Habeebah (may Allah be pleased with her), the wife of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), that she said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) say: “There is no Muslim slave who prays twelve rak‘ahs to Allah each day, voluntarily, apart from the obligatory prayers, but Allah will build for him a house in Paradise.”
The rak‘ahs are mentioned in detail in another hadeeth, in which there is no mention of Jumu‘ah, as in the hadeeth of at-Tirmidhi (415) from Umm Habeebah (may Allah be pleased with her), who said: The Messenger of Allah (sa) said: “Whoever prays twelve rak‘ahs in a day and night, a house will be built for him in Paradise: four before Zuhr and two after it, two rak‘ahs after Maghrib, two rak‘ahs after ‘Isha’, and two rak‘ahs before Fajr prayer.” It was classed as saheeh by Shaykh al-Albaani in Saheeh Sunan at-Tirmidhi.
Based on that, Friday is an exception from the general meaning of the hadeeth, “… whoever prays twelve rak‘ahs to Allah each day…”
This does not mean that the Muslim should not be keen to offer naafil prayers before Jumu‘ah prayer or to do a great deal of that. Concerning the virtue of offering naafil prayers before Jumu‘ah, there is the hadeeth reported by al-Bukhaari (910) from Salmaan al-Faarisi (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever does ghusl on Friday, and purifies himself with whatever means of purification he can, then puts on perfume, then goes and does not push between any two people, then prays whatever is decreed for him, then when the imam comes out he listens attentively, (his sins) between that and the next Friday will be forgiven.”
What is the number of confirmed Sunnah rak‘ahs (Sunnah mu’akkadah) that we should pray on Friday? It is well known that the hadeeth mentions twelve rak‘ahs; how should that be done on Friday?
There is no regular Sunnah prayer before Jumu‘ah prayer, but there is a regular Sunnah prayer after it, which is four rak‘ahs, because it is proven in Saheeh Muslim (881) that Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “When one of you prays Jumu‘ah, let him pray four (rak‘ahs) after it.” In as-Saheehayn it is narrated that Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) used not to pray after Jumu‘ah until he left, then he would pray two rak‘ahs in his house.
Al-Bukhaari, 937; Muslim, 882
Some of the scholars reconcile between the two hadeeths by stating that if he prays in the mosque, he should pray four, and if he prays at home, he should pray two. This is the view of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him). Others said: rather he should pray six rak‘ahs, so as to reconcile between the two hadeeths. This was narrated from Imam Ahmad, and was also the view of some of the early generations, such as Sufyaan ath-Thawri, ‘Ata’ and Mujaahid. Yet others said: rather he should pray four rak‘ahs after Jumu‘ah in all cases, whether he prays in the mosque or at home, because this was clearly stated by the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). His praying two rak‘ahs was his practice, and his practice does not contradict his words, because this may be understood in several ways. In my view, this opinion is more sound, that the regular Sunnah prayer after Jumu‘ah in all cases is four rak‘ahs. Hence when a person has prayed Jumu‘ah, he should pray four rak‘ahs after that, whether he is travelling or not, and whether he prays them in the mosque or home. In that case, Friday is exempted from the general meaning of the hadeeth, “There is no Muslim slave who prays twelve rak‘ahs to Allaah each day, voluntarily, apart from the obligatory prayers, but Allah will build for him a house in Paradise.” (Narrated by Muslim, 728). And Allah knows best.
There is no regular Sunnah prayer prescribed before Jumu‘ah; rather what is prescribed is to offer whatever voluntary prayers one wants, from the time one enters the mosque until the imam ascends the minbar.
