Hadees On Taraweeh

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Cary Polachek

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Aug 4, 2024, 2:55:32 PM8/4/24

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AsMuslims, we have to pray fajr, dhuhr, asr, maghrib, and isha. But during Ramadan there is taraweeh prayer. If I skip taraweeh throughout the whole ramadan, is that permissible? Is it ok to skip taraweeh? I heard that taraweeh is optional. (I am a woman.)

Taraweeh is a night prayer (qiyam al-Lail) that is performed after 'Isha' during Ramadan. It is called taraweeh as it refers to tarweehah a (small) pause between sets of raka'at, this is the origin of the name and early Muslims kneew it as a night prayer so its is basically a night prayer with a different label.

It is not a mandatory prayer, but highly recommended nafl or sunnah.One can pray it in congregation in a mosque or at home or alone, as it is an optional prayer and the prophet () recommended to pray optional prayers at home in private.Nevertheless some madhhabs consider praying it in congregation or at home better.

Be aware that basically in Islam women do not need to perform optional prayers and acts of worship, as they might need the permission of their husbands/guardians to do it. I need to add -to avoid misunderstandings- that generally this permission is rather given by mutual agreement and not a big matter as it may sound, but it means if the husband or guardian has any needs he has the right to ask his wife (protegee) to do it instead of for example praying nafl.

All (with some specifications) the prayers except the five daily prayers are optional prayers and fall under the category nafilah (nafl prayer) some have a higher degree of recommendation and maybe called sunnah or sunnah mu'akkadah or raghibah or even wajib (by hanafis), but this sepecific term only tells us that it is highly recommended to perform this prayer, basically if you pray beside the 5 daily prayers the two rak'a of fajr (nafl/Sunna) and at least (a sum of) 3 raka'at witr you've prayed the most recommended ones. And you might have accomplished the absolut minimum of necessary prayers a day. Therefore you may skip taraweeh, but you must be aware that performing it would be better. You don't need to recite for long nor to make more than 4 sets of two raka'as to accomplish this nafl/sunnah.

The irony and contradiction found in the last paragraph astounds me. I'm ROTFL about this. Please note ALL of the following was received by me from a non-shia, and I did not write ANY of it. I did edit it to delete the name at the end, as I do not wish to cause embarrassment for any individual by posting it here.

Narrated Zaid bin Thabit: Allah's Apostle made a small room (with a palm leaf mat). Allah's Apostle came out (of his house) and prayed in it. Some men came and joined him in his prayer. Then again the next night they came for the prayer, but Allah's Apostle delayed and did not come out to them. So they raised their voices and knocked the door with small stones (to draw his attention). He came out to them in a state of anger, saying, "You are still insisting (on your deed, i.e. tarawih prayer in the mosque) that I thought that this prayer (tarawih) might become obligatory on you. So you people, offer this prayer at your homes, for the best prayer of a person is the one which he offers at home, except the compulsory (congregational) prayer." (Book #73, Hadith #134)

Narrated Zaid bin Thabit: The Prophet took a room made of date palm leaves mats in the mosque. Allah's Apostle prayed in it for a few nights till the people gathered (to pray the night prayer (tarawih) (behind him.) Then on the 4th night the people did not hear his voice and they thought he had slept, so some of them started humming in order that he might come out. The Prophet then said, "You continued doing what I saw you doing till I was afraid that this (tarawih prayer) might be enjoined on you, and if it were enjoined on you, you would not continue performing it. Therefore, O people! Perform your prayers at your homes, for the best prayer of a person is what is performed at his home except the compulsory congregational) prayer." (See Hadith No. 229,Vol. 3) (See Hadith No. 134, Vol. 8) (Book #92, Hadith #393)

Today a majority of Muslims perform 20 Rakahs Tarawih in mosques which offcourse is a good deed. The above hadiths do not necessarily mean that one should not perform tarawih regularly but one should not consider it necessary to perform in mosques only. Tarawih is not farz, but it is a 'Wajib' prayer i.e. Sunnat-e-Mokida i.e. Prophet Mohammad (SAW) always performed tarawih prayers in the whole month of ramadan but the number of rakahs and place to be performed was not fixed due to the convenience of Ummah. Jazakallah ! The conclusion is that 'Tarawih' can be performed in homes all well as in mosques and 20 rakahs are not obligatory but if done then it is offcourse rewardful for Almighty Allah as he will not discard our deeds but will reward us more than our expectation.

first of all, this wasn't a shia e-mail, all but the first line was the e-mail I received, I didn't write any of it (I'll edit it and clarify that point). Second, we pray sunnah prayers, but not taravi. This has been detailed elsewhere. I just found this funny that a non-shia would post the hadith against praying taravi in congregation, then turn around and say that's not really what the hadith said, and go on to say that the Prophet pbuh&hp was so inconsistent with them that there really was no fixed place or number of rakat :rolleyes: when was Prophet pbuh&hp EVER so inconsistent that we could not trully discern a sunnah to follow accurately?!

Having cleared this, we have an authentic Hadith tells that the messenger [saw] prayed it at the Mosque for three nights, or stopped at the 3rd night out of fear it becomes mandatory on them and some may not bear it.

By the death of the Messenger [saw] revelation ends, and the Faith is complete. No Muslim in the world disputes the fact that Taraweeh is a Nafl prayer legislated by the act of the Messenger [saw]. If one prays it with a congregation, the Messenger [saw] has done it, and if prayed alone, the Messenger [saw] has done it too.

The fact that the Companions [ra] where parying this Nafl in groups at the Prophet's Mosque, each lead by an Imam is another established fact. Now, if a group of five is praying together, no one would say an additional person joining them would make the Prayer invalid. In like manner, if we keep adding more persons to this group, it would not invalidate the prayer if all present at the mosque prayed behind the said Imam. What Amirul-Mu'mineen Omar [ra] did was no more than that. He gathered them behind Ubay bin Ka'b [ra] whose recitation of Qur'an was the best.

The Shi'a argue that it should not be prayed in Congregation. But if a man can pray the Nafl at home leading his wife and children, what makes it Haram to have his brother join them too? If nothing prevents that, why not a friend who is present also? If this cannot be proven to be Haram, what makes it Haram if prayed at the mosque, knowing that the reward received at the mosque is higher than the home?

The month of Ramadan is a month of Qur'an and Ibadah. Millions of Arabs and non-Arabs unfortunately do not know how to recite Qur'an save few short Suras. It would be a blessing to grab this opportunity to stand behind someone who perfects the recitation of the Words of Allah in a month of wholesale forgiveness and rewards.

[ 37 ] وسألته عن قيام شهر رمضان هل يصلح قال : " لا يصلح إلا بقراءة تبدأ فتقرأ فاتحة الكتاب ثم تنصت لقراءة الامام فإذا أراد الركوع قرأت ( قل هو الله أحد ) وغيرها ثم ركعت أنت إذا ركع فكبر أنت في ركوعك وسجودك كما تفعل إذا صليت وحدك وصلاتك وحدك أفضل " .

# 37: And I also asked him about The Night Prayer of Ramadan, is it good? He said it is not good without a recitation. You should begin by the Fatiha of the Book, then listen to the Imam's recitation. Whenever he attempts Rukoo', then you recite (Qul Huwallahu Ahad) or another. You will then make Rukoo' if he did, and make Takbeer for your Rukoo' and Sujood just as you do when you pray alone. (However) Your prayer alone is better.

wow Aliya thank u for sharing this information with us. But i believe the Sunnis already know that it is not compulsory. But if u Mecca praying tarawih it is another experience. The kirat is so nice it make wanna listen to the whole Quran for the month of Ramadan. Anyway thanks for the hadith and may Allah guide u.

and we shias dont necessary offer taraweeh but we have our nawafils as welll as narrated in mafatihil jinnan well some nights there are six rakats and some times more then six rakats prayed by our imams (as)

Third, al-Syedia, Shias do not pray taravi, neither in congregation or individually. We pray TRUE sunnah prayers of the Prophet pbuh&hp. A lot of information about taravi and why shias avoid them can be found here: -islam.org/nutshell/files/tarawih.doc It sums up by saying:

Sunnis have this rules which they call pillar of religion. And one of the pillar is Salat. Daily Prayers which they consider wajib(obbligatory). And like other Muslims, the Sunni Imams/Scholars deem obligatory prayers to be permissible to be prayed alone or in jammah(gathering).