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As-salaam aleykum wa rahamatullah wa barkatahu.
Can I change the sequence of sunnah and fard salaah? For example, if I am waiting for the congregation / jamaat for zohar fard can I offer 4 raqat sunnah which is supposed to precede the fard and also read the 2 raqat sunnah which is supposed to follow the fard, before the congreation fard salaah since I have time for it.
As-salaam aleykum wa rahamatullah wa barkatahu. Mohammed Eliyas.
Short answer: No you can't, but you can use the time to pray any nafl or recite the Qur'an.
Allah told us:
... prayer has been decreed upon the believers a decree of specified times. (5:103)
So if you want to pray those sunnah porayers which are considered as sunnah muakadah by many madhhabs and are related to specific fard prayers (also called as-sunan ar-Rwatib) you can't pray them before or after their time (the later unless you've missed it as qada' according to some madhhabs). See also What are Sunnah Rawaatib?.
But none can hinder you to pray any nafl prayer at any time unless it is a time of karaha (where praying optional prayers is frowned upon like after sunrise and right before sunset etc.).
Other related posts:
Time of reading Sunnah prayer before the fard prayer
Offer all sunnah before farz
How many raka'ats of salat is to be recited before 4 raka'ats of farz of zuhr salat?
