Leading the Zuhr Fard Without Praying the Sunnas

Question

May the imam lead the Zuhr prayer before praying the sunnas? Will the prayer be valid, and will no harm occur in the prayer?

Answer

In this case the fard of Zuhr will be discharged, but doing so without an excuse is contrary to the Sunna, because the four [rak‘as of] sunna of Zuhr are an emphasized sunna (sunna mu’akkada), and their time is before the fard.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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