Tharaweeh (night prayers) in the month of Ramadan

Bismillahirrahmanirraheem wassalatu wassalamu ala rasoolihil kareem!

The specific prayers performed during the nights of Ramadan are known as Taraweeh (variant taravih). It is 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 raka'at each. Abu Hurairah RA reports that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) 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."

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. It was 'Umar RA 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 RA said: 'I think it would be better if I gathered them under one imam .' Then he did so and appointed Ubayy ibn Ka'b RA 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 RA 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.

We find that there is a lot of confusion regarding the number of raka'aths to be prayed. We find that the prophet prayed eleven raka'ath including witr from the ahadith. It is also true that during the time of 'Umar, 'Uthman, and 'Ali RA the people prayed twenty raka'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 RA 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." We have been told by the Prophet that his companions are like stars and if follow any one of them we would be guided in the right path. This should put a fullstop to the confusion.

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.'"

May Allah give us the blessing of performing the taraweeh prayers during the holy month of ramadhan and forgive all our sins.

Ramadan and its blessings
Fasting in Ramadan

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