The Special Prayers during the Month of Ramadan (Tarawih)
Volume 2, Page 27a: The legality of
the Tarawih prayer
The specific prayers during the month of Ramadan, which are
known as tarawih, are sunnah for both men and women, and they
are to be performed after the obligatory 'isha and before the
performance of the witr. They should be prayed in sets of two
rak'at each. It is allowed to pray them after witr; though,
this is not the best thing to do. They may be performed until
the end of the night.
Abu Hurairah reports that the Prophet sallallahu alehi
wasallam would encourage people to perform the special prayers
during Ramadan without commanding them as obligatory and he
said: "Whoever prays during the nights of Ramadan [tarawih]
with a firm belief and hoping for reward, all of his previous
sins would be forgiven." This is related by the group.
'Aishah says: "The Prophet offered salah in the mosque
and many people prayed with him. The next day he did the same
and more people prayed with him. Then the people gathered on
the third night but, the Prophet did not come out to them. In
the morning, he said to them: 'Surely I saw what you did, and
nothing prevented me from coming out to you, save that I
feared that [that prayer] would be made obligatory upon you.'
And that was during Ramadan." This is related by the
group except for at-Tirmizhi .
'Aishah reported that the Prophet sallallahu alehi wasallam
would not pray more than eleven rak'at during Ramadan or
otherwise. This is related by the group.
Ibn Khuzaimah and Ibn Hibban have recorded in their sahihs
on the authority of Jabir that the Prophet prayed eight rak'at
and the witr prayer with the companions. Then, the next day,
the people waited for him but he did not come out to them.
Abu Ya'la and at-Tabarani record, with a hasan chain, from
Jabir that Ubayy ibn Ka'b came to the Prophet sallallahu alehi
wasallam and said: "O Messenger of Allah, I have done
something last night," (i.e., during Ramadan). The
Prophet said: 'And what was that, O Ubayy?' He said: The women
in my house said, 'We don't recite Qur'an [well or much] so
can we pray behind you?' I prayed eight rak'at and the witr
prayer with them.
The Messenger of Allah sallallahu alehi wasallam was
pleased with that and did not say anything."
This is the sunnah that has been related from the Messenger
of Allah and nothing besides that is authentic. It is also
true that during the time of 'Umar, 'Uthman, and 'Ali the
people prayed twenty rak'at, and this is the opinion of the
majority of the jurists of the Hanafi and Hanbali schools as
well as that of Dawud.
At-Tirmizhi says: "Most of the people of knowledge
follow what has been related from 'Umar and 'Ali and other
companions of the Prophet, [i.e., that they prayed] twenty
rak'at. And this is the opinion of al-Thauri, Ibn al-Mubarak,
and ash-Shaf'i. And so I found the people of Makkah praying
twenty rak'at."
Some of the scholars are of the opinion that the sunnah is
eleven rak'at, including witr, and it is also preferred to
pray the remainder [of the twenty rak'at] .
Al-Kamal ibn al-Hamam says: "The evidence indicates
that the sunnah of the twenty rak'at is what the Prophet
sallallahu alehi wasallam himself did and then he stopped out
of fear that it would become something obligatory (for his
followers), therefore, the rest of the rak'at are only
preferred. It is however, confirmed that he only prayed eleven
rak'at, including the witr, as is stated in the two sahihs.
According to the scholars, the sunnah is eight rak'at while it
is preferred to pray twelve rak'at."
It is allowed to pray tarawih of the month of Ramadan in a
congregation just as it is allowed to pray them on an
individual basis. The majority of the scholars, however,
prefer to pray them in congregation. The Prophet sallallahu
alehi wasallam, as stated earlier, prayed tarawih in
congregation with the Muslims but he discontinued since he
feared that it would be made obligatory.
'Umar was the one who convoked the Muslims to pray tarawih
behind one imam. Abdurahman ibn Abdulqari reports: "One
night during Ramadan, I went with 'Umar to the mosque and the
people were praying in different groups. Some were praying by
themselves and others were praying in small groups. 'Umar
said: 'I think it would be better if I gathered them under one
imam .' Then he did so and appointed Ubayy ibn Ka'b as the
leader of the prayer. Then I went out with him on another
night and all the people were praying behind one imam and 'Umar
said: 'What a good innovation (bid'ah) this is,' but, it is
better to sleep and delay it until the latter portion of the
night." The people (however) prayed it at the beginning
of the night. This is related by al-Bukhari, Ibn Khuzaimah,
alBaihaqi, and others.
There is no particular sunnah regarding the recitation
during salat at-tarawih. It is related that some people of the
early generations would pray with two hundred 'ayyahs or so
and the people would be leaning on staffs due to the
protracted standing during the salah. They would not leave
their prayers until shortly before dawn and some of them would
rush their servants to prepare food for them fearing that dawn
may break soon. They would recite al-Baqarah in eight rak'at
and if they would complete it in twelve rak'at, they would
consider their prayers to have been very short.
Ibn Qudamah says: "Ahmad said: 'Recite of the Qur'an
what is easy for the people and do not be hard upon them,
especially during the short nights [i.e., during the
summer].'"
[On the same subject], Al-Qadi says: 'It is not preferred
to recite less than the entire Qur'an during the month: in
this way, the people will be able to hear the whole Qur'an. Do
not recite more than one reading of the Qur'an as this may be
hard upon the people. [While reciting], consideration should
be given to the condition of the people. If the people concur
that they would prefer a long recital, that would be best.'
Likewise, Abu Zharr said: 'We prayed with the Prophet
sallallahu alehi wasallam until we feared that we would miss
the pre-dawn meal. And the imam would recite two hundred 'ayyahs.'"
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