Adhering to the Sunnah is better than merely doing more good deeds:

بـسـم الله والحـمـد لله والـصلاة والـسـلام عــلى رسـول الله، وبـعـد

[Sharh al-Mumti` (1/406-407) of Shaikh al-`Uthaymeen]

Shaikh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-`Uthaymeen رحمه الله said:

The evidence for this is what Abu Dawood رحمه الله has reported in his Sunan:

Two persons set out on a journey. Meanwhile the time of prayer came and they had no water. They performed Tayammum with clean earth and prayed. Later on they found water within the time of the prayer. One of them repeated the prayer and ablution but the other did not repeat. Then they came to the Messenger of Allaah صلى الله عليه وسلم and related the matter to him. Addressing to the one who did not repeat, he صلى الله عليه وسلم said:

أَصَبْتَ السُّنَّةَ

“You followed the Sunnah and your (first) prayer was enough for you.” He صلى الله عليه وسلم said to the one who performed ablution and repeated:

لك الأجْرُ مَرَّتين

“For you there is the double reward.” [Sunan Abu Dawood (338) and Sunan al-Nasa’ee (433) and graded as “Saheeh” by Shaikh al-Albaanee]

So if a person says: “I want to earn the reward twice.”

We say to him: “If you know the Sunnah, then you will not have two rewards; rather that act will be treated as Bid`ah. As for the one who repeated the prayer and to whom the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said: “For you there is the double reward”, he did not know the Sunnah and did his Ijtihaad, so he received two rewards: i.e. for praying twice.”

And from this Hadeeth we learn a very important benefit and that is: Adhering to the Sunnah is better than doing more good deeds.

Example: Praying more optional prayers between the Adhaan and the Iqaamah of the Fajr prayer is not prescribed because the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم did not do that (nor did he inform others to do it).

Similarly, if someone wants to prolong the optional prayer of two Rak`aat of Fajr by prolonging the recitation, the Rukoo` and the Sujood because there is lot of time - between the Adhaan and the Iqaamah - we say to him: “You have opposed the Sunnah because the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم used to pray this as two light Rak`aat.”^[1]

Or if someone intends to pray four Rak`aat consecutively behind the Maqaam (of Ibraaheem) after the Tawaaf or if he intends to prolong the two Rak`aat behind the Maqaam after the Tawaaf, we say to him: “This is wrong, because the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم used to pray them light and he never increased it more than two Rak`aat.”^[2]

*******

[1] Narrated `Aaishah رضي الله عنها: “The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم used to make the two Rak`aat before the Fajr prayer so light that I would wonder whether he recited Al-Fatihah (or not).” [Saheeh al-Bukhaaree (1171) and Saheeh Muslim (724)]

[2] As reported by Imaam Muslim in his Saheeh from the Hadeeth of Jaabir bin `Abdullaah (2803) [and in it is mentioned that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم recited Surah al-Ikhlaas and Surah al-Kaafiroon in these two Raka`aat], and also from the Ahaadeeth of Ibn `Umar (2832, 2848, 2894).