Namaz rakat: how many rakats in each prayer

The short answer

A namaz rakat is one cycle of standing, bowing and two prostrations. Al-Shafi'i's Kitab al-Umm gives the fard (obligatory) rakats as two for Fajr, four for Zuhr, four for Asr, three for Maghrib and four for Isha. Our sum of those counts is 17 fard rakats a day. The other three schools' counts are not yet checked on Ilmwell.

What do the category words mean?

A rakat is one cycle of standing, bowing and two prostrations. "Rakat" is the spelling most people search, so it is the one used here. The transliteration of the Arabic is rak'ah (plural rak'ahs, or rak'at), and it is the form on Ilmwell's other prayer pages. Four words sort the prayers into categories, and the schools do not always use them the same way.

In Hanafi usul (legal theory), as al-Sarakhsi sets it out in his Usul, fard is established by evidence that gives certain knowledge, and wajib by evidence that requires action but leaves a doubt in its route 4. That is one school's usage, not every school's terminology.

Al-Nawawi, in al-Majmu', reports a definition that Shafi'i scholars gave: nafl and tatawwu' are two words with one meaning, and both mean whatever is other than the fard 5. The Hanafi work Maraqi al-Falah says every sunnah is a nafl, though not every nafl is a sunnah, and defines nafl as an act that is neither fard, wajib nor sunnah 6.

So a count labelled sunnah or nafl depends on the definition the work uses. The tables below keep the counts apart and name the work for each. The fuller definitions are in Sunnah and Nafl prayers.

How many rakats are in the five daily prayers?

Al-Shafi'i reports in Kitab al-Umm, in the chapter on the count of the five prayers, that the community handed down the count of each one, as the table shows 7. The report comes from one Shafi'i work. It is not presented as the view of the other three schools.

The fard (obligatory) rakats of the five daily prayers, in Kitab al-Umm (Shafi'i)
Prayer	Fard rakats	Recitation, as al-Umm reports
Fajr	2	Both rakats aloud
Zuhr	4	None aloud
Asr	4	None aloud
Maghrib	3	Two aloud, the third quiet
Isha	4	Two aloud, two quiet

Adding the five counts in al-Umm gives 17 fard rakats a day. That total is our sum of the table, not a figure stated in the work. The sunnah rakats prayed around them are not included; they are in the next table.

Al-Shafi'i's Kitab al-Umm reports two rakats for Fajr, both aloud. 7

'Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, reports that when Allah made the prayer obligatory it was two rakats, both when resident and when travelling. The travelling prayer stayed at two, and the resident's prayer was increased (Sahih al-Bukhari 350).

1AuthenticSahih al-Bukhari 350

The report does not name the prayers, so it does not give the five counts. Those come from the table above.

Which sunnah rakats come around the five prayers?

Maraqi al-Falah, a Hanafi work, lists these as emphasised sunnah prayers (sunnah mu'akkadah) around the daily prayers 8. The table gives that one school's list. Ilmwell has not yet read another school's list.

The Hanafi list of emphasised sunnah rakats (Maraqi al-Falah)
Around the prayer	Rakats in this list
Before Fajr	2
Before Zuhr	4
After Zuhr	2
After Maghrib	2
After Isha	2

The commentary on the same page says that al-Marghinani reported from Abu Hanifa that the two before Fajr are wajib 8. The work does not say which narration is the school's settled view.

Another report from 'Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, says that the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, never missed four rakats before Zuhr or two before Fajr (Sahih al-Bukhari 1182).

2AuthenticSahih al-Bukhari 1182

It does not say whether those sunnah rakats are required.

How do the four schools classify Witr and night prayer?

Witr is prayed after Isha, and the works differ on its status and its smallest form. In the table, a salam is the closing greeting that ends a prayer. The table gives one named work from each school. Each cell is that work's view, not a ruling from us.

Witr and night prayer, in one named work of each school
	HanafiMaraqi al-Falah, al-Hidayah	Malikial-Kafi	Shafi'ial-Majmu', Minhaj al-Talibin	Hanbalial-Mughni, Kashshaf al-Qina'
Status of Witr	Wajib in the more correct view, the last of Abu Hanifa's views. Narrated from him as sunnah, the view of Abu Yusuf and Muhammad al-Shaybani. 9 10	Among the most emphasised sunnahs. 11	Sunnah in the school without disagreement. The Minhaj lists it among the voluntary prayers. 12 13	Not wajib. Ibn Qudamah reports that Abu Hanifa held it wajib, and Ahmad, in Hanbal's narration, calls witr, with the two rakats before Fajr, a sunnah mu'akkadah. 14 15
Rakats in Witr	Three rakats with one salam, with al-Fatihah and a surah in each. 9	There should be a prayer of at least two rakats before Witr. A group of scholars disliked one rakat with nothing before it, and others allowed it. 11	At least one. Three is the lowest complete form, and best with two salams on the sahih view. 12	At least one, and not disliked alone. Three is the lowest complete form, best with two salams. Three with one salam is allowed. 14
Night prayer	Abu Hanifa allows up to eight rakats with one salam and prefers four at a time. Abu Yusuf and Muhammad hold two at a time. 10	Night and day voluntary prayer is two by two. 11	A salam after every two rakats, and night prayer is better than day. 13	Only two by two, the view of most scholars. Ibn Qudamah notes that Abu Hanifa allowed up to eight. 15

The hadith behind the two-by-two form is a report from Ibn 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with him. A man asked the Prophet about the night prayer. The answer was that it is two rakats at a time, and that someone who fears the approach of dawn should pray one rakat, which makes what he has already prayed odd (witr) (Sahih al-Bukhari 990).

3AuthenticSahih al-Bukhari 990

The hadith sets no total number of rakats, and it does not settle whether four rakats with one salam are valid.

What Ilmwell has not yet read

The Hanafi, Maliki and Hanbali counts for the five daily prayers. No work giving those counts has been read yet, so none is stated.
The sunnah lists of the Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali schools.
Voluntary prayers outside the daily set. The Sunnah and Nafl prayers guide covers the definitions, and the Tahajjud guide covers the night prayer.

What to do after losing count during a prayer is not covered here.

Honestly, I thought the counts were something everyone just knew, like their own phone number. I hadn't. I stuck a little list inside the cupboard door and peeked at it every morning for two weeks, and I still had to check the Maghrib one.

Haroon Alistudent of knowledge

Try it: the counts

Three checks, each with its source.

1In Kitab al-Umm, what count does al-Shafi'i give for Maghrib?
Answer: Three. Al-Umm gives three for Maghrib: two rakats aloud and the third quiet. Source 7
2How many rakats does the Hanafi list in Maraqi al-Falah give before Zuhr?
Answer: Four. The list gives four before Zuhr and two after it. It is one school's list, and the other schools' lists are not set beside it. Source 8
3In al-Majmu', what is the lowest complete form of Witr?
Answer: Three rakats. Al-Nawawi says at least one rakat is allowed, but three is the lowest complete form. Source 12

Questions people ask

How many namaz rakats are there in a day?

The five daily prayers come to 17 fard (obligatory) rakats when the table's counts are added: two for Fajr, four for Zuhr, four for Asr, three for Maghrib and four for Isha. That sum is ours, not a figure the work states. The sunnah rakats around these prayers are separate, and the Hanafi list is given above.

Is there a hadith that gives the count for each prayer?

The hadith we checked do not list all five counts. Sahih al-Bukhari 350 says the prayer began at two rakats, when resident and when travelling, and that the resident's prayer was increased. It does not name the prayers. The count for each prayer comes from the Shafi'i work named in the table.

Do all four schools count Witr as a sunnah?

No. The schools do not agree. The table above gives each named work's own words on Witr.

What if I lose count of my rakats during a prayer?

That case is not covered here. Forgetting a count in prayer is a separate question, so ask a scholar you trust about your own situation.

Sources

Every claim on this page comes from one of these. Gradings are reported with the scholar's name; we do not grade hadith ourselves.

1
'Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, mother of the believers, said that when Allah made the prayer obligatory it was two rak'ahs in residence and while travelling; the prayer while travelling stayed as it was and the prayer of the resident was increased.
Sahih al-Bukhari 350 Book 8, Hadith 2
Authentic: in Sahih al-Bukhari
2
Aishah reports that the Prophet never missed four rak'ahs before Zuhr or two before Fajr
Sahih al-Bukhari 1182 Book 19, Hadith 59
Authentic: in Sahih al-Bukhari
3
Ibn 'Umar reported that a man asked the Prophet about the night prayer and he said: the night prayer is two by two (mathna mathna), and when one of you fears the dawn (al-subh), he prays one rak'ah, which makes what he has prayed odd (witr).
Sahih al-Bukhari 990 Book 14, Hadith 1
Authentic: in Sahih al-Bukhari
4
Al-Sarakhsi, in his Usul, divides prescribed acts of worship into fard, wajib, sunnah and nafl, and distinguishes fard, established by evidence that gives certain knowledge, from wajib, established by evidence that requires action but not certain knowledge because of a doubt in its route.
al-Sarakhsi, Usul al-Sarakhsi 1/110 to 111 Read on shamela.ws.
5
Al-Nawawi (Shafi'i), in al-Majmu', at the opening of the chapter on voluntary prayer, reports that Shafi'i scholars gave three definitions of tatawwu', nafl and sunnah: (1) tatawwu' is what no particular report singles out but a person does on his own initiative, and apart from the fard there are three kinds, sunan (regular Prophetic practice), mustahabbat (done sometimes, not regularly) and tatawwu'at; (2) nafl and tatawwu' are synonyms, both meaning whatever is other than the fard; (3) sunnah, nafl, tatawwu', mandub, murghab fihi and mustahabb are synonyms, meaning whatever is other than the obligatory acts.
al-Nawawi, al-Majmu' 4/2 Read on shamela.ws.
6
Al-Shurunbulali (Hanafi), in Maraqi al-Falah, explains why the chapter is titled nawafil and not sunan: nafl is the broader term, since every sunnah is a nafl but not every nafl is a sunnah. Linguistically nafl means addition or extra; in the sharia it is an act that is neither fard, wajib nor masnun (sunnah).
al-Shurunbulali, Maraqi al-Falah, p. 145 Read on shamela.ws.
7
Al-Shafi'i's Kitab al-Umm, Kitab al-Salah, 'Adad al-salawat al-khams: the general body of Muslims handed down the count of each prayer: Zuhr four rak'ahs with no aloud recitation, Asr four with no aloud recitation, Maghrib three (aloud in two, quiet in the third), Isha four (aloud in two, quiet in two) and Subh (Fajr) two, aloud in both.
al-Shafi'i, Kitab al-Umm, chapter 'Adad al-salawat al-khams' Read on ar.wikisource.org.
8
Al-Shurunbulali (Hanafi), in Maraqi al-Falah, lists the emphasised sunnah prayers (sunnah mu'akkadah) around the daily prayers as: two before Fajr; two after Dhuhr; two after Maghrib; two after Isha; and four before Dhuhr. The commentary on the same page records that al-Marghinani narrated from Abu Hanifa that the two before Fajr are wajib.
al-Shurunbulali, Maraqi al-Falah, p. 145 Read on shamela.ws.
9
Al-Shurunbulali (Hanafi), in Maraqi al-Falah: witr is wajib (in the more correct view, the last of Abu Hanifa's views), three rak'ahs with one salam, al-Fatihah and a surah in each, a sitting with the tashahhud only after two; in the third, after the surah, the hands are raised to the ears, a takbir is said and qunoot is made standing before ruku', all year.
al-Shurunbulali, Maraqi al-Falah, pp. 139 to 143 Read on shamela.ws.
10
Al-Marghinani's al-Hidayah (Hanafi): witr is wajib for Abu Hanifa and sunnah for his two companions, and is three rak'ahs with no salam between them; its time is after 'Isha until dawn; one used to praying at night is recommended to delay witr to the end of the night, and one not confident of waking prays it before sleep; at night Abu Hanifa allows up to eight rak'ahs with one salam and prefers four at a time, while Abu Yusuf and Muhammad hold two at a time.
al-Marghinani, al-Hidayah 1/41, 1/66 and 1/67 Read on shamela.ws.
11
Ibn 'Abd al-Barr (Maliki), in al-Kafi: witr is among the most emphasised sunnahs; its time is from after 'Isha until the Subh prayer; there should be a prayer before witr, at least two rak'ahs; a group of scholars disliked a single rak'ah with nothing before it and others allowed it, and Ibn 'Abd al-Barr prefers what Malik chose, since no one preserved from the Prophet a witr of one rak'ah; behind an imam who prays three without a salam between them, do not go against him.
Ibn 'Abd al-Barr, al-Kafi 1/255 to 1/259 Read on shamela.ws.
12
Al-Nawawi (Shafi'i), in al-Majmu': witr is sunnah in the school without disagreement, at least one rak'ah, three the lowest complete form; three are best prayed separated with two salams on the sahih view, and joining them is allowed; its time begins after the obligatory 'Isha and ends at dawn; delaying it is recommended for one with a night prayer habit or confident of waking.
al-Nawawi, al-Majmu' 4/12 to 4/14 Read on shamela.ws.
13
Al-Nawawi's Minhaj al-Talibin (Shafi'i): witr is among the voluntary (nafl) prayers, at least one rak'ah and at most eleven; its time is between 'Isha and dawn; it is sunnah to make it the last prayer of the night, and one who prayed witr and then prayed Tahajjud does not repeat it; night voluntary prayer is better than day, with a salam after every two; Tahajjud is sunnah; unrestricted voluntary prayer has no limit.
al-Nawawi, Minhaj al-Talibin, pp. 36 and 37 Read on shamela.ws.
14
Al-Buhuti (Hanbali), in Kashshaf al-Qina': witr is not wajib on the community; its time is after 'Isha until the second dawn, best at the end of the night for one confident of rising; at least one rak'ah, not disliked alone; three is the lowest complete form, best with two salams; three with one salam is allowed.
al-Buhuti, Kashshaf al-Qina' 3/19 to 3/29 Read on shamela.ws.
15
Ibn Qudamah's al-Mughni (Hanbali): night voluntary prayer is only two by two (Abu Hanifa allowed up to eight; he reports Malik and al-Shafi'i as holding two by two); unrestricted voluntary prayer is prescribed through the whole night; Ahmad said nothing after the obligatory prayers is better than standing at night; witr is not wajib, a sunnah mu'akkadah in Ahmad's words; its time is between 'Isha and dawn and it is best at the end of the night; one who prayed witr and then wakes for Tahajjud prays two by two and does not undo his witr; one who missed his Tahajjud may make it up between Fajr and Zuhr.
Ibn Qudamah, al-Mughni 2/91 to 2/120 Read on shamela.ws.

For your own situation, ask a scholar you trust.

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