TARAWEEH, SO HOW MANY RAKATS IS IT?
Praise be to
Allaah.
We do not think that the
Muslims should be so sensitive with regard to issues that are the matter of
scholarly differences or make them the cause of division and fitnah among the
Muslims.
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen
(may Allaah have mercy on him) said, when speaking about the matter of one who
prays ten rak’ahs with the imam, then sits down and waits for Witr and does not
complete the Taraaweeh prayers with the imam: It grieves us
deeply that we find in the Muslim ummah a group which differs concerning
matters in which differences of opinion are acceptable, and they take these
differences as a means to cause division. Differences within the ummah existed
at the time of the Sahaabah, yet they remained united. The youth in particular
and to all those who are committed to Islam must remain united, because they
have enemies who are laying in wait.
Al-Sharh al-Mumti’,
4/225 Two groups have gone to extremes with regard to this matter. The
first group denounced everyone who prays more than eleven rak’ahs and said that
doing so was bid’ah. The second group denounced those who do only eleven
rak’ahs and said that they are going against scholarly consensus (ijmaa’).
Let us listen to what
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah 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 SAWS (peace and blessings of
Allaah 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 Allaah be upon him) so that we might say that he knew what
happened inside his house. Since the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah 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 Allaah 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
Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah 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. Allaah 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!” [al-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 With regard to the evidence quoted by those who say that it is
not permissible to do more than eight rak’ahs in Taraaweeh, they quote the
hadeeth of Abu Salamah ibn ‘Abd al-Rahmaan, who asked ‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be
pleased with her), “How did the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) pray during Ramadaan?” She said: “He did not pray
more than eleven rak’ahs in Ramadaan or at other times. He would pray four, and
do not ask how beautiful and long they were, then he would pray four, and do
not ask how beautiful and long they were, then he would pray three. I said, ‘O
Messenger of Allaah, will you sleep before you pray Witr?’ He said, ‘O
‘Aa’ishah, my eyes sleep but my heart does not.’” Narrated by
al-Bukhaari, 1909; Muslim, 738
They said: This hadeeth
indicates that the Messenger of Allaah was consistent in his prayers at night
in Ramadaan and at other times. The scholars refuted this use of the
hadeeth as evidence by saying that this is what the Messenger of Allaah (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did, but the fact that he did something
does not imply that it is obligatory. The evidence that there is no set
number for prayers at night – which include Taraaweeh – is the hadeeth of Ibn
‘Umar according to which a man asked the Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) about prayer at night. The Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Prayers at night are to be
offered two by two (two rak’ahs at a time). If any of you fears that the time
of dawn is approaching then let him pray one rak’ah as Witr.” (Narrated
by al-Bukhaari, 846; Muslim, 749)
If we look at what the
scholars of the prominent schools of thought said, you will clearly see that
this matter is broad in scope and that there is nothing wrong with doing more
than eleven rak’ahs. Al-Sarkhasi, who is one of the imams of the Hanafi school,
said: It is twenty rak’ahs, apart from Witr, in our view. Al-Mabsoot,
2/145 Ibn Qudaamah said: The favoured view according to Abu
‘Abd-Allaah (i.e., Imam Ahmad, may Allaah have mercy on him), is that it is
twenty rak’ahs. This was the view of al-Thawri, Abu Hanfeefah and al-Shaafa’i.
Maalik said it is thirty-six. Al-Mughni, 1/457 Al-Nawawi
said: Taraaweeh prayer is Sunnah according to scholarly
consensus. Our view is that it is twenty rak’ahs with ten tasleems, and it is
permissible to pray it individually or in congregation. Al-Majmoo’,
4/31
These are the views of
the four imams concerning the number of rak’ahs of Taraaweeh prayer. All of
them said something more than eleven rak’ahs. Perhaps the reasons why they said
something more than eleven rak’ahs include the following:
1-
They thought that the
hadeeth of ‘Aa’ishah did not mean that this was the specific number.
2-
A greater number was
narrated from many of the salaf. See
al-Mughni, 2/604; al-Majmoo’, 4/32
3-
The Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to pray eleven rak’ahs and make them very
lengthy, so much so that it used to take him most of the night. Indeed, one
night in which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) led his
companions in praying Taraaweeh, he did not end his prayer until just before
dawn, and the Sahaabah feared that they would miss suhoor. The Sahaabah (may
Allaah be pleased with them) loved to pray behind the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) and they did not feel that it was too long.
The scholars thought that if the imam made the prayer so long, this would be
too difficult for the members of the congregation and that might put them off.
So they thought that the imam should make the recitation shorter and increase the
number of rak’ahs. The point is that the one who prays eleven rak’ahs in
the manner narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) is doing well and is following the Sunnah. Whoever makes the recitation
shorter and increases the number of rak’ahs is also doing well. A person who
does either of these two things is not to be denounced. Shaykh al-Islam Ibn
Taymiyah said:
If a person prays
Taraaweeh according to the madhhabs of Abu Haneefah, al-Shaafa’i and Ahmad,
with twenty rak’ahs, or according to the madhhab of Maalik, with thirty-six
rak’ahs, or with thirteen or eleven rak’ahs, he has done well, as Imam Ahmad
said, because there is nothing to specify the number. So the greater or lesser
number of rak’ahs depends on how long or short the qiyaam (standing in the
prayer) is.
Al-Ikhtiyaaraat, p.
64 Al-Suyooti said: What is narrated in the saheeh and hasan
ahaadeeth is the command to observe night prayers during Ramadaan, which is
encouraged without specifying a particular number. It is not proven that the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) prayed twenty rak’ahs of
Taraaweeh, rather that he prayed at night, with an unspecified number of
rak’ahs. Then he delayed it on the fourth night lest it become obligatory for
them and they might not be able to do it. Ibn Hajar al-Haythami said:There
is no saheeh report that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) prayed twenty rak’ahs of Taraaweeh. The narration which suggests that he
“used to pray twenty rak’ahs” is extremely weak (da’eef). Al-Mawsoo’ah
al-Fiqhiyyah, 27/142-145
So you should not be
surprised that people pray Taraaweeh as twenty rak’ahs. There have been
generation after generation of those imams (who used to pray twenty rak’ahs),
and all of them are good. And Allaah Knows Best
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