Facts About The Origin Of Taraweeh Salah

Taraweeh prayers are performed by all Muslims at night in the month of Ramadan. Contrary to this belief, they are not at all compulsory and many Muslims pray these in evening. It is also said by some scholars that it is not fard nor it is Sunnah, instead it is Tahajjud prayer which is shifted for praying after the Isha. These prayers are prayed in the pair of two and can also be prayed into 20 rakaat as said by the Shafii and Hanafis of Sunni Islam. Just like the Taraweeh prayers, Quran Recitation Online can help you a lot in the recitation of Quran by sitting at your home. However, talking about broader spectrum, these prayers are performed in a much wider scope and there are different opinions about it. Studying the history provides with different answers and these prayers were offered in a various patterns during different times.

Fasts are among the special Ibadah of month of Ramadan and Taraweeh Salah. According to Hadith from Sahaba, it was derived that Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) once performed Salah in the Nabawi mosque, and then Sahabah followed him. Later on a large congregation also followed while Sahaba followed the Salaah. Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) did not come to offer Salah Taraweeh on the third and fourth night.

Here Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) said to Sahabah: “I noticed your fervour and did not come to the Masjid to perform the Salaah fearing that this Taraweeh salaah should become compulsory for you.”

It is therefore clear that Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) performed prayed all regularly in all these nights but stopped this practice in between because of the fear that it would be made Fradh instead of Sunnah. A research done on Ahadeeth Allama Showkaani reveals the truth that Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) never mentioned rakaahs for the Taraweeh.

Taraweeh Salah During the period of Hazrat Umar:

During the Khilafaah, Hazrat Umar Farooq combined the small congregations into a single one because there was no possibility of existence of Taraweeh Salah. Alongwith the approval of Sahabahs, there were almost twenty Rakaahs Taraweeh Salah that need to be performed at every night of Ramadan. These are followed by the three Rakahs of Salaah Witr. Many people today perform the Taraweeh Salah today with Jamaah in the whole Ramadan as it carried out in the time of Hazrat Umar. There is objection of people on the Rakaahs, however, if they continue to follow the Hadith in their mind, this objection can be removed very easily.

In a Hadith, Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) emphasized on his Ummah that it is necessary for all of them to follow the practices of Khulafaa Raashideen. The life of Hazrat Umar is a practical representation of this hadith. Third Khalifa Hazrat Uthman(RA) continued practicing the twenty Rakaahs in congregation which were later on followed by three Rakahs of Witr. This pattern was followed mostly at the time of Hazrat Umar.

Taraweeh Prayers in Masjid Haraam:

According to most scholars, number of Rakaahs in the Salah of Taraweeh is twenty. This is also the opinion of Hazrat Sufyan and Hazrat Abdullah, as Hazrat Imaam Shafi said: “I have seen the learned scholars of Makkah perform twenty Rakaahs of Taraweeh salaah.”

The historian of Makkah, Ishaaq said that during Ramadan, people of Makkah offered all the periods of Taraweeh. This shows that they are performing the old pattern of Salaah. The Rakaahs of Taraweeh were performed in the Makkah in Mosque Haraam for many centuries.

Taraweeh Salah in Nabawi Mosque:

The famous Saudi scholar and traveler Sheikh Salim was a lecturer in the Nabawi mosque wrote a book that has the title of “The history of the Taraweeh salaah in the Masjidun Nabawi for more than a thousand years.”