بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيم
The Al-Duha prayer (Arabic: صَلَاة الضحى “the time of sunrise”) is a voluntary prayer between the obligatory routine prayers of Fajr and Zuhr. The time for the prayer begins when the sun has risen to the height of a spear, which is fifteen or twenty minutes after sunrise, until just before the sun passes its zenith (after the zenith is when the time for dhuhr prayer begins).
It is an optional two rakaah prayer that the Prophet ﷺ prayed frequently and advised the companions to pray, and its time is between sunrise and Zuhr.
The ruling is that Duha prayer is a sunnah mu’akkadah (confirmed Sunnah), which entails massive rewards and blessings if established, but there is no sin on the one who leaves it.
The virtues of Duha prayer are life-changing and of immense benefit to those who implement the habit of praying it daily.
Duha prayer, also referred to as Salāt al-Awwābeen (the prayer of the oft-repentant), is prayed like most other voluntary prayers in that you pray two units and end the prayer with the tasleem to the right and left. If you wish to pray more than two units, you may pray as many as you want to, two units at a time.
The time of Duha begins after the sun fully rises, and it ends approximately 15 minutes before Zuhr prayer. The most preferred time for Duha prayer is at the hottest part of the day when the sun has reached its zenith (its highest point), and this is approximately halfway between sunrise and Zuhr prayer.
حَدَّثَنَا زُهَيْرُ بْنُ حَرْبٍ، حَدَّثَنَا يَحْيَى بْنُ سَعِيدٍ، عَنْ هِشَامِ بْنِ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا الْقَاسِمُ الشَّيْبَانِيُّ، عَنْ زَيْدِ بْنِ أَرْقَمَ، قَالَ خَرَجَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم عَلَى أَهْلِ قُبَاءٍ وَهُمْ يُصَلُّونَ فَقَالَ “ صَلاَةُ الأَوَّابِينَ إِذَا رَمِضَتِ الْفِصَالُ ” .
Sahih Muslim 748b
Zaid b. Arqam reported that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) went out to the people of Quba’ and saw them observing prayer; upon this he said: The prayer of the penitent should be observed when the young weaned camels feel heat of the sun.