صلاة السنّة
Ṣalāh al-Sunna
A ritual prayer that follows the example of the Prophet and is strongly encouraged; Muslims who omit it are not punished but forgo its reward.
What it means
Ṣalāh al-sunna is the prayer that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) offered regularly alongside the obligatory prayers, and that he encouraged others to offer. Typical examples are two rakʿas before the dawn prayer, and sets of rakʿas before and after the midday prayer and after the sunset and night prayers. Jurists call the most regular of these sunna muʾakkada, the confirmed sunna. Faruqi describes the class as obligatory in the sense of a strong duty of conscience, while he notes that no punishment follows from neglecting it. Most jurists place it below the farḍ and so call it recommended and not required. Muslims who keep these prayers gain reward and make up any shortfall in the obligatory prayers.
Often misunderstood as
The book’s wording calls the sunna prayer obligatory, which can mislead; the schools treat it as strongly recommended and distinct from the farḍ.
What the sources say
Umm Habiba reported that the Prophet said that whoever prays twelve rakʿas in a day and night apart from the obligatory prayers will have a house built for him in Paradise (Sahih Muslim). Scholars cite this and similar reports as the basis for the regular sunna prayers.
Term and Arabic as listed in Ismail al Faruqi, Toward Islamic English (International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1995), p. 55, listed as ṢALAH AL SUNNAH. The definition is restated here.