Tarawih In English
Dorthea Seate
Tarawih (Arabic: تَّرَاوِيح, romanized: tarāwīḥ) are special Sunnah prayers involving reading long portions of the Quran, and performing up to 20 rakahs (cycles of prostrations required in Islamic prayer), which are performed only in the Islamic month of Ramadan. The entire Quran is recited in the Tarawih prayers at a mosque, typically at the rate of one Juz' per night.
Tarawih prayers begin from the first Moon-sighted evening (start of Ramadan) to second moon-sighted evening (last day of Ramadan). This prayer is performed in congregation during Ramadan of the Islamic calendar, after Isha (and before Witr, which is also prayed following the imam who leads the prayer aloud in one or three rakats unlike how it is done in other eleven months).
Tarawih prayers are prayed in pairs. According to the Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi' and Hanbali schools of Sunni Islam, the standard number of rakats is twenty referring it to a narration in Muwatta' Imam Malik which said that "In the time of Umar, the people used to offer 20 raka'āt". But it is clearly mentioned in the Muwatta' before the said narration that when Umar assigned duty to Ubay ibn Ka'b and Tamim al-Dari to lead the Tarawih, he ordered them to offer 11 raka'āt (8 of tarawih and 3 of witr). Sunni Muslims believe it is customary to attempt a takmil ("complete recitation" of the Quran) as one of the religious observances of Ramadan, by reciting at least one juz' per night in tarawih.
Tarawih prayers are considered Sunnah, or in other words, not obligatory. However, it is believed that the reward for them is great, as it is the Sunnah of Muhammad, being reported in multiple authentic Hadiths.
Muhammad, according to Abu Hurairah said, "Whoever stands with the imam (in Taraweeh prayer) until he finishes, it is equivalent to spending the whole night in prayer." This hadith was used as a proof by Imam Ahmad.[1][2]
The Sunni prayer Tarawih has been mentioned in traditions as Qiyam al-Layl min Ramadan ("Standing of night in Ramadan") and Qiyam al-Ramadan ("Standing of Ramadan"). Some Sunni Muslims regard the Tarawih prayers as confirmed traditional prayer (sunnat al-mu'akkadah). Other Sunni Muslims believe Tarawih is an optional prayer (nafl) that may be performed at home. According to this tradition Muhammad initially and briefly prayed the Tarawih in congregation during Ramadan, but discontinued this practice out of concern it would be mandated (fard), yet he never forbade it.[3] During the time when Umar was the caliph, he reinstated the praying of Tarawih in congregation.[4]
On 2 April 2022, hundreds of Muslims gathered in Times Square to perform the first Tarawih prayers of Ramadhan. Over 1,500 meals were handed out to the people, before the prayers, to break their fast; known as iftar. This event marked the first Tarawih prayers held in Times Square publicly.[10]
If someone observed tayammum and then he finds water, then he should observe wudu as well. If someone observed tarawihand then he wakes up early, then he should observe tahajjud as well. Huduraba said:
If someone has water, then it is not more righteous for him to observe both tayammum and wudu. Similarly, if someone wakes up regularly for tahajjud, then it is not more righteous for him to observe tarawih along with tahajjud. The most righteous practice is to observe only tahajjud individually. This was the regular practice of the Holy Prophet sas, the Promised Messiah as, the Khulafa-e-Rashidin, and Khulafa-e-Ahmadiyya. This is the regular practice of our present Khalifahaba, they are the best model for us.
If someone observes both tarawih and tahajjud, we should not try to stop him because we do not know his intention. The Promised Messiah as narrates that once someone was observing Salat at the wrong time and someone asked Hadrat Ali ra why he did not stop him. Hadrat Ali r said:
But because of the pandemic, mosques worldwide have for weeks taken a series of measures to curb its spread by closing their doors and banning congregations for Friday sermons and the five daily prayers.
As the global death toll from COVID-19 exceeded 170,000 and infections reached 2.5 million cases just days before the start of the holy month, Muslim scholars have reiterated the need to prioritise safety and protection over the need for spiritual and community connection, by avoiding public congregational prayers during Ramadan this year.
The announcements reflected the general consensus among Muslim scholars and authorities across the world on guidelines they agreed to follow, according to Amanullah De Sondy, a senior lecturer in contemporary Islam at University College of Cork.
Others, including Akram Nadawi, an internationally renowned Muslim scholar and dean of Cambridge Islamic College (CIC), issued a statement to reassure people who might be worried that praying tarawih from home would not be the same.
For several weeks since the start of the pandemic, many mosques have kept their communities engaged despite closing their doors through the use of livestreams to broadcast Friday sermons and weekly lectures and classes.
Stating that the permissibility of the matter involved a difference of opinion, the Islamic Centre of Ireland (ICI) issued a fatwa (legal ruling) in favour of holding online congregational tarawih and Friday prayers as long as the current situation remained in place.
If one owes prayers from previous years, can they still pray tarawih prayers in Ramadan? I realize that fard prayers take priority over sunnahs, but my local masjid brings in a hafidh from Libya whose recitation I adore and which uplifts me and gives me Himma to pray 20 rakat even after a day of fasting.
It is not valid to perform makeups behind the imam, because it is a condition for the validity of the prayer that one be praying the same prayer (e.g. the current performance of Asr) or a lesser prayer (such a supererogatory prayer behind an imam praying the obligatory prayer). It is not valid to pray a similar prayer (e.g. a makeup of Asr behind an imam praying the current performance of Asr or even a different makeup of Asr). It is also not valid to pray a stronger prayer (such as praying an obligatory prayer behind one praying a sunna, such as tarawih). [cf: Radd al-Muhtar by Ibn Abidin]
This answer was indexed from Qibla.com, which used to have a repository of Islamic Q&A answered by various scholars. The website is no longer in existence. It has now been transformed into a learning portal with paid Islamic course offering under the brand of Kiflayn.
Tarawih is a recommended prayer performed in Shahr Ramadan by a large majority of Muslims, but there are some differences of opinions on this prayer. We explore these using evidence from reliable narrations.
Tarawih is a recommended prayer and no Muslim argues against performing a recommended prayer, as they are an avenue to earn the pleasure of God with the Prophet Muhammad also having prayed many recommended prayers throughout his life. The difference of opinion on tarawih arises between Sunnis and Shias on the way in which it should be prayed with the former group being of the belief tarawih, in the way it is practised today is perfectly OK and the latter arguing that with tarawih being a recommended prayer, it cannot be performed in congregation and in the way it is today.
Putting the smaller differences of opinions aside (such as how many rakah tarawih should be), the overall stance of Sunni Muslims is tarawih can be performed alone at home or in the mosque as a congregation, with the latter method being recommended because it brings forth greater rewards.
Nevertheless, recommended prayers in the holy month of Ramadan were highly emphasised as is indicated by the following hadith which is found in the two books of hadith considered the strongest by Sunni Muslims, al-Bukhari and Muslim, narrated by Abu Hurairah:
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