Tarawih: Night Prayers In The Month of Ramadan
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Ramadan
Ramadan Explorer
Mufti Taqi Usmani
Another important feature of the month of Ramadan is Tarawih. It is a special
salah (prayer) consisting of 20 rak'at which is performed immediately after
the 'Ishaa prayer. This salah is Sunnah mu'akkadah (repeatedly emphasized),
and should not be missed. The Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) said,
"Allah has made fating in Ramadan obligatory, and I have made the special
prayer of Ramadan (i.e. the Tarawih) a Sunnah"
It is a Sunnah mu'akkadah 'alal-kifayah to perform Tarawih in jama'ah. It
means that it is a Sunnah mu'akkadah for the people of every masjid to arrange
for the jama'at of the Tarawih. If a person after being sure that the jama'ah
of Tarawih is being held in his masjid, performs the Tarawih in his home
without jama'ah, the Sunnah of the Tarawih is discharged, but he will be
deprived of the great thawab (reward) of praying with jama'ah. So, one should
perform the Tarawih in the masjid as far as possible.
It is also a Sunnah to complete the recitation of the whole Qur'an in Tarawih
in Ramadan. It is thus advisable to request a hafidh (one who has memorized
the Holy Qur'an by heart) to lead the prayer of Tarawih. However, paying any
fee to the hafidh for this purpose is not allowed. If no such hafidh is
available, the Tarawih should be led by any Imam, and he can recite in it
whatever surahs of the Holy Qur'an he remembers.
As a general practice, the Holy Qur'an is completed in most of the masjids a
few days before the end of Ramadan, on the 27th night or even earlier. In such
a case, Tarawih should be continued till the last night of Ramadan with
recitation of different surahs. Those who leave Tarawih after completion of
the Holy Qur'an are not correct, because Sunnah of the Tarawih remains
unchanged unto the last night.
The time of Tarawih begins after the performance of the obligatory (Fard)
prayer of 'Ishaa. Therefore, the one who has not performed the Fard prayer of
'Ishaa cannot join the prayer of Tarawih. He should perform the Fard of 'Ishaa
first, then join the Tarawih. If he missed some rak'at of Tarawih, he can
complete it after the witr. For example, a person came to the masjid when the
Imam has performed four rak'at of Tarawih. He should perform the Fard of 'Ishaa
first, then join the jama'ah for Tarawih. If he has missed 4 or 6 rak'at of
Tarawih, he should also perform the witr prayer with the Imam, then pray the
four or six rak'at he has missed on his own, individually.
Source: The Month of Ramadan
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