Important Issue Regarding Salat al-Taraveeh

Salat al-Taraveeh & most famous Opinions. 

The word “taraveeh” comes from an Arabic root word “raaha” which means to take rest or pause signifying rest after a portion of salah until taraveeh is complete. (Bronner, 2006) Generally it is referred to the voluntary prayers which are offered after Isha during Ramadan. It is also called qiyyam-al-Lail which means spending a portion of night to remember Allah. It is a Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad SAW. Taraveeh salah has many rewards for Muslims and it also gives the lost slaves opportunity to come back to their Lord. It is encouraged for Muslims to offer taraveeh salah in congregation as Prophet Muhammad SAW said “Whoever prays qiyyaam – i.e., Taraweeh with the imam until he finishes, it will be recorded as if he spent the whole night in prayer.” (Jami` at-Tirmidhi 806) Many great scholars still differ in their opinions, regarding the total number of units to be prayed in taraveeh salah.      

The word taraveeh cannot be found in Quran. It was during the time of Caliph Umar Ibn Khattab, He united people to recite Salat-Al Taraveeh. It is mentioned in a hadith that Abdur Rahman bin 'Abdul Qari said, "I went out in the company of 'Umar bin Al-Khattab one night in Ramadan to the mosque and found the people praying in different groups. Some praying alone or praying with a little group behind him. So, 'Umar said, 'In my opinion I would better collect these (people) under the leadership of one Qari (Reciter). So, he made up his mind to congregate them behind Ubai bin Ka'b (Sahih Bukhari 2010). Scholars do agree on the importance and way the to pray salat at-Taraveeh but there exists doubts on the exact number of units to be offered so that is why even till today there is differences in opinions among the scholars.

Different opinions regarding taraveeh salah:

With regards to taraveeh salah there is difference in opinion about the number of rak’ats to be prayed. Opinions of scholars vary from 8, 20 and 36.

1-    Units of Salat at-Taraveeh should be thirty-six:

 A well-known tabi’ee Nafi he spent most of his life in Madinah, he states “I never found any one performing less than thirty-nine rak’ats (three of which were Witr)”. (Asqalani, 1428) Also according to Imam Malik, The taraveeh salah should be of thirty-six rak’ats because the practice of the people of Makkah was to perform tawaf of the Ka’bah after every four rak’ats of taraweeh. During the pause between each four rak’ats of taraweeh, the people of Madinah would offer an extra four rak’ats of prayer in place of the tawaf making total number of thirty-six rak’ats. (Seifeddine, 2010)   

2-    Units of Salat at-Taraveeh should be twenty:

Most prominent of scholars such as Imam Ahmed, Imam Shafi, Imam Abu Hanifa, Sufyan al-Thawri, Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak and Dawud al-Zahiri are of the view that salat at-taraveeh should consist of twenty rak’ats and the reason for that is after Prophet Muhammad SAW, Second Caliph Umar Ibn Khattab united the people who were offering salah separately in small groups, behind one Imam to observe twenty rak’ats in taraveeh salah. This was considered Umar’s ijtihad which was supported by ijma’h (consensus) by many great sahabah like Usman Ibn Affan, Ali Ibn Abi Talib, Abdullah Ibn Masood and Ibn Abbas, who used to perform taraveeh salah in this way and didn’t objected this method. Prophet Muhammad SAW said “You must then follow my sunnah and that of the rightly-guided caliphs.” (Sunan Abi Dawud 4607) This hadith formed the basis for the acceptance of this view by majority of Muslim population.

         3- Units of Salat at-Taraveeh should be eight:

Another one of most famous opinion regarding the salat at-Taraveeh is that eight units and should be offered with three witr. This evidence for this view is found in hadith narrated by Narrated Abu Salma bin `Abdur Rahman in which she asked Aisha (RA), "How is the prayer of Allah's Messenger SAW during the month of Ramadan." She said, "Allah's Messenger SAW never exceeded eleven rak`at in Ramadan or in other months; he used to offer four rak`at, do not ask me about their beauty and length, then four rak`at, do not ask me about their beauty and length, and then three rak`at.

(Sahih Bukhari volume 2: hadith 1147) Based on this hadith some scholars consider any opinion other than eight to be a bidah (Innovation), which causes a bone of contention among Muslim nation.

Most preponderant view regarding salat at-taraveeh

It is explained in hadith that “a man asked him (Prophet SAW) how to offer the night prayers. He replied, 'Pray two rak`at at a time and then two and then two and so on, and if you are afraid of the dawn pray one rak`at and that will be the witr for all the rak`at which you have offered." (Sahih Bukhari volume 1 hadith 472)  from this hadith and hadith mentioned above in Sahih Bukhari volume 2 hadith 1147 the sunnah of Prophet Muhammad is eight as he SAW prayed but also no limit is set, one can pray as many as he wants. However when we are praying in congregation we should complete our salah behind our Imam as Prophet SAW said “…whoever prays during the night in Ramadan sincerely; seeking his reward from Allah, his former sins are forgiven.”(Sahih al-Muslim, Volume 1 Hadith 1815) We should also recite Quran calmly and slowly and not to rush through it in salah as Allah SWT said “Or a little more; and recite the Qur'an in slow, measured rhythmic tones.” (Quran 73:4)

Conclusion:

Ramadan is a month of mercy and blessing. We should try our best to be close to Allah.  We should show mercy and compassion to others. Instead of fighting on matter where there is difference in opinion we should be tolerant towards our brothers and sisters because taraveeh salah is Sunnah but unity among the Muslims is wajib.

Bibliography

Asqalani, I. H. (1428). Fath al-Bari. Cairo: Dar al Fikr Publishing.

Bronner, S. J. (2006). Encyclopedia of American Folklife. New York: M.E. Sharpe.

Seifeddine. (2010, 12 1). The Number Of Rak'ats In Taraweeh. Retrieved 12 28, 2015, from muftisays: http://www.muftisays.com/blog/Seifeddine-M/614_01-12-2010/the-number-of-rak'ats-in-taraweeh.html