Salam alaikum, I have heard that it is recomennded to pray 2 Rakaa after every Wudu. Can one pray those 2 Rakaa also at the time when praying is not allowed, such as after Asr? Would those 2 Rakaa be additional to the sunnah Rakaa before a fard prayer if I make Wudi for the fard prayer? Salam alaikum

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

The jurists differed in their opinions with regard to performing two Rak’ahs Sunnah (two units of prayer) after ablution at times when it is disliked to pray. Some of them forbade it and some of them permitted it.

According to the Fiqh Encyclopedia:

“The Hanafi and Hanbali Schools of jurisprudence are of the view that it is permissible for a person to perform two Rak’ahs Sunnah after having performed ablution at times when it is not disliked to pray, which is the five times when it is disliked to pray. This is because not doing what is disliked comes in priority over performing what is desirable. However, the Shaafi’i school of jurisprudence said, “There is evidence in the Hadeeth that it is desirable to pray two Rak’ahs or more after each ablution, and it is a confirmed Sunnah, and one may perform this prayer at times when it is disliked to pray and at other times because there is a reason for performing it.”

The view that it is permissible is the opinion that we adopt here at Islamweb and it is one of the two opinions of Imaam Ahmad . Abu Hurayrah narrated that the Prophet asked Bilaal at the time of Fajr prayer: "Tell me of the best deed that you did after embracing Islam, for I heard your footsteps in front of me in Paradise." Bilaal replied, "I did not do anything worth mentioning except that whenever I performed ablution at any hour during the day or night, I prayed after that ablution as much as was written for me (to pray)." [Al-Bukhari and Muslim] The expression ‘at any hour during the day or night’ is evidence that he used to pray even at times when it is disliked.

Imaam An-Nawawi said when interpreting the above Hadeeth reported by Imaam Muslim “In this Hadeeth there is evidence about the virtue of praying after performing ablution and it is evidence that it is a Sunnah and that it is permissible to pray it at times when it is disliked to pray: i.e. when the sun rises or sets or when it is at its meridian, and after the Fajr and ‘Asr prayers, because there is a reason for performing it, and this the view we adopt in our School.”

In principle, these two Rak’ahs are separate from the Rawaatib Sunan (plural of Sunnah) [i.e. confirmed or unconfirmed supererogatory prayers connected to obligatory prayers] and they are prayed with the intention of Sunnah of ablution. However, the scholars stated that the two Rak’ahs of Sunnah of ablution are not intended by themselves; rather, the person who performed ablution is required to pray after his ablution. Therefore, if you start by praying the Rawaatib Sunan, you would have prayed after having performed your ablution and you get the reward of praying after having performed ablution, Allaah willing.

Allaah Knows best.