Taraweeh Prayers

'A'isha reported that the Messenger of Allah (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) prayed one night in the mosque and people also prayed along with him. He then prayed on the following night and there were many persons. Then on the third or fourth night (many people) gathered there, but the Messenger of Allah (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) did not come out to them (for leading the Tarawih prayer). When it was morning, he said: I saw what you were doing, but I desisted to come to you (and lead the prayer) for I feared that this prayer might become obligatory for you. (He the narrator) said: It was the month of Ramadan.

[Reported by Sahih Muslim, Book 004, Number 1666]

Taraweeh prayers were done by the Prophet (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) in jamaa’ah and then he stopped it because he feared we might think them to be compulsory.

Taraweeh prayers are Sunnah Muakkada.

An-Nadr bin Shaiban said: "I said to Abu Salamah bin 'Abdur-Rahman: 'Tell me of something that you heard from your father, that he heard from the Messenger of Allah, with no one in between your father and Messenger of Allah concerning the month of Ramadan. He said: 'Yes; my father said: The Messenger of Allah (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:

“Allah, may He be blessed and exalted, enjoined the fast of Ramadan upon you, and I have made it Sunnah for you to spend its nights in prayer. Whoever fasts it and spends its nights in prayer out of faith and in the hope of reward, he will emerge from his sins as on the day his mother bore him."

[Reported by Sunan al-Nasa'i (4/158) No. 2210, Sunan Ibn Majah (2/355) No. 1328, Musnad Ahmad (1/191) No. 1660] (Daeef)

This above-mentioned hadith is weak, however Shaikh is allowed to quote it to encourage us to do good. Whenever a Shaikh quotes a weak hadith, he must mention that the Hadith is weak in order to be sincere with the knowledge.

It is better to pray under one Imam in the Masjid than to pray Taraweeh by yourself at home. Salah at the masjid is 27 times better than to pray by yourself at home. Uniting the ummah under 1 imam for Taraweeh prayer was one of the greatest accomplishments of Umar during his caliphate.

Likewise to unite the ummah with the Qurayshi dialect for the holy Quran was the greatest accomplishment during the caliphate of Uthman.

You can pray either 8 or 20 Rakah.

Let us listen to what Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Here we say that we should not go to extremes or be negligent. Some people go to extremes in adhering to the number mentioned in the Sunnah, and say that it is not permissible to do more than the number mentioned in the Sunnah, and they aggressively denounce those who do more than that, saying that they are sinners.

This is undoubtedly wrong. How can they be sinners, when the Prophet (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), upon being asked about night prayers, said that they are to be done two by two, and he did not specify any particular number? Of course, the one who asked him about the night prayer did not know the number, because if he did not know how to do it, it is even more likely that he did not know the number. And he was not one of those who served the Prophet (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) so that we might say that he knew what happened inside his house. Since the Prophet (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) told him how to do it but did not say how many times, it may be understood that the matter is broad in scope, and that a person may pray one hundred rak'ahs then pray Witr with one rak'ah.

With regard to the words of the Prophet (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), “Pray as you have seen me praying”, this does not apply in absolute terms even for these people. Hence, they do not say that a person should pray Witr with five rak'ahs sometimes and with seven rak'ahs sometimes and with nine rak'ahs sometimes. If we understand it in absolute terms, then we would have to pray Witr with five rak'ahs sometimes and with seven rak'ahs sometimes and with nine rak'ahs sometimes. But what is meant by the hadeeth is pray as you have seen me praying with regard to how to pray not how many rak'ahs, unless there is a text to state what the number is.

Whatever the case, a person should not be strict with people with regard to a matter that is broad in scope. We have even seen some brothers who are strict on this matter accusing the imams who pray more than eleven rak'ahs of following bid'ah, and they leave the mosque, thus missing out on the reward of which the Messenger of Allah (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever stands with the imam until he finishes (the prayer), the reward of qiyaam al-layl will be recorded for him.” (Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 806; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Tirmidhi, 646). Some of them even sit down after completing ten rak'ahs, thus breaking up the rows of worshippers by sitting there, and sometimes they start talking and disturb the people who are praying.

We have no doubt that their intentions are good and they are doing their best to come to the right conclusion, but that does not mean that they are correct.

The other group does the opposite. They sternly denounce those who pray only eleven rak'ahs and say that they have gone against scholarly consensus. Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“And whoever contradicts and opposes the Messenger (Muhammad) after the right path has been shown clearly to him, and follows other than the believers' way, We shall keep him in the path he has chosen, and burn him in Hell -- what an evil destination!” [Surah An-Nisa' 4:115]

All the generations who came before you only knew the number as twenty-three rak'ahs, and they denounce anyone who says anything different. [Al-Sharh al-Mumti', 4/73-75]

When the Person is evil, they always take Quran and Sunnah out of context. They think they can deceive you because you don't know your DEEN