How many rak‘ahs in salah? The mosque wall-chart, not a fatwa

People search “how many rak‘ahs” because they are standing in a row and do not want to guess. This page is the wall-chart most Hanafi mosques in Turkey put up: fard, the sunnah glued to it, then a few extras. It is not a ruling. If the board in your mosque disagrees, the board wins. A teacher you trust owns the details that depend on madhhab.

The clock is local. The same four rak‘ahs of Dhuhr land at different minutes in Istanbul, London, and Jakarta. Open today’s city page. Do not screenshot a generic world graphic.

The five daily prayers

Counts below add the emphasised sunnah that sit before or after the fard, the way a Turkish mosque timetable usually does. The fard column is what you must not drop. The first four of Asr are sunnah ghayr mu’akkadah — common to pray, not in the same rank as Dhuhr’s first four.

Prayer	Before	Fard	After	Usual total
Fajr	2 sunnah	2	—	4
Dhuhr	4 sunnah	4	2 sunnah	10
Asr	4 sunnah	4	—	8
Maghrib	—	3	2 sunnah	5
Isha	4 sunnah	4	2 sunnah	10

Witr comes after Isha. Do not fold it into the “10” above. In Hanafi practice it is three rak‘ahs, wajib. Other schools pray an odd number another way. Follow the imam in front of you, not a comment thread.

Jumu‘ah and janazah

Friday congregation replaces Dhuhr that day for those who catch it. The usual Hanafi wall-chart: 4 sunnah before, 2 fard with the imam, 4 sunnah after (10 in total). If you miss Jumu‘ah, you pray Dhuhr — four fard, not two.

Janazah is fard kifayah: if some of the community pray it, the rest are clear. You stand. There is no ruku and no sujud. Four takbirs. Do not count it like a sitting-and-bowing rak‘ah. If a funeral is at your mosque, follow the imam’s hands and stay quiet.

Witr and the two Eids

In the same Hanafi chart these are wajib — strongly commanded, not optional nafl:

• Witr — 3 rak‘ahs after Isha (and after taraweeh in Ramadan).
• Eid al-Fitr — 2 rak‘ahs, extra takbirs, no adhan.
• Eid al-Adha — 2 rak‘ahs, same shape, different morning.

Dates move. Use the Hijri calendar for the year, then confirm the hilal with the mosque you actually pray in.

Nafl that is not glued to the five

Sunnah before and after the fard already sat in the table. Taraweeh is the strong Ramadan night prayer after Isha — 8 or 20 rak‘ahs depending on the mosque. The Ramadan 2027 guide is for the month’s shape, not for a verdict on how many.

A few others people ask about, all voluntary:

• Duha (ishraq / mid-morning) — after sunrise leaves the disliked window. Often 2, up to 8 or 12.
• Tahajjud — after sleeping, in the last third of the night. Even numbers, often 2 to 8.
• Tahiyyat al-masjid — 2 rak‘ahs when you enter a mosque, if it is not a disliked time.

None of these replace the five. If you only have time for one thing, keep the fard on time. The rest is extra breath, not a scoreboard.

Then check the clock

Namaz Buddy is an Islamic quiz and Hal, not a mufti. After you know the counts, open today’s times for your city and fail a question on purpose. That is the point. Turkey districts sit under prayer times in Turkey; more salah notes under salah articles. Create an account if you want the streak — the site stays a guide.