Studying Islam

Post Reply

Username

Invalid Username or Password

Password

Format

Message Icon

Message

- Forum Code is ON
- HTML is OFF

Smilies

[quote]Moiz sahib has neatly expounded this issue. Below is a sampling of  his explanations.

(1)
Taraweeh is not an obligatory prayer. The number of rak`ah of the Taraweeh prayer is also not fixed. Actually, the Prophet (pbuh) himself did not ever offer the Taraweeh prayer, as is now a regular practice among Muslims. The Prophet (pbuh) only offered the Tahajjud prayer. However, because the Prophet (pbuh) allowed those who could not wake up in the middle of the night for their Tahajjud prayer to offer this prayer after the `Ishaa prayer, therefore it is not incorrect to offer any number of rak`ah after the `Ishaa prayer, as is now a practice among Muslims, especially during the month of Ramadan. There is thus, no harm in offering fewer or more number of rak`ah in the Taraweeh prayer. The Prophet (pbuh) did not fix any particular number of rak`ah of the Tahajjud prayer and therefore, this number cannot be fixed by any one else either.

(2)
It is generally believed that it is essential to complete the Qur'an from the beginning to end in the Taraweeh prayer. This is not correct. Taraweeh is actually a substitute of the Tahajjud prayer, allowed for those people who have difficulty in waking up in the middle of the night - the prescribed time for the Tahajjud prayer. The Prophet (pbuh) offered his Tahajjud prayer with a longer qiyaam [standing position] than was the case in other prayers. This obviously meant that in Tahajjud prayer the Prophet recited a larger portion of the Qur'an as compared to that in other prayers. It seems that this factor later prompted the Muslims to make a tradition of reciting the whole of the Qur'an in Taraweeh prayer during the month of Ramadhan.

It should be clear in view of the above explanation that:

Taraweeh prayer is not an obligatory prayer;

It is not essential to offer the Taraweeh or Tahajjud prayer in congregation;

If no one in the community is a Hafiz[2] or remembers a large portion of the Qur'an, yet people want to offer this prayer in congregation, the person leading the prayer may read out aloud from the Qur'an - as there is nothing that prohibits such an act in supererogatory prayers;

The best and the most desirable way of offering this prayer is to offer it alone at the time prescribed for the Tahajjud prayers.

(3)
The Prophet (pbuh) never offered the Taraweeh prayer. However, one night the Prophet came out of his room (at the time of the Tahajjud prayer) and offered his prayers in the mosque. People gathered behind and joined him in his prayer. The same thing happened on the night that followed, with a greater number of people joining the Prophet (pbuh). On the third or the fourth night, people gathered in anticipation of joining the Prophet (pbuh) in his prayer again, but the Prophet did not come out. In the morning, the Prophet (pbuh) told the Muslims that he had not come out of his chamber to offer his Tahajjud with the Muslims due to the fear that the Muslims may consider this to be an obligatory prayer.

The first time that the night prayer was organized at a mass congregational level, was during the days of the caliphate of Omar (ra). One night, when Omar (ra) came into the mosque after the `Ishaa prayers, he saw that people had gathered in a number of various groups and were offering their prayers behind various imams (leaders of prayers). This situation was creating a chaotic scene. The recitation of one imam could not be clearly distinguished from that of another. After observing this scene, Omar (ra) suggested that those who want to offer their night prayer in congregation should all join behind one imam, so that the Qur'an is clearly audible. He also appointed Ubayee ibn Ka`b as the leader of this prayer, because of his good style of recitation. The next day, when Omar (ra) came to the mosque, he was satisfied with the development in the situation. However, Omar himself never joined this congregational prayer and is reported to have commented that the prayer being substituted is far superior to its substitute.

Omar (ra) directed Ubayee ibn Ka`b to offer the prayer in eleven rak'ats. The qiyaam (standing posture during the prayer) of these rak'ats was so long that some people had to recline on their staffs to keep themselves standing. It seems that this was the reason that later on the rak'ats were increased to twenty-three (including witr prayers) as is reported in some other narratives of the Mua'tta.

[/quote]

Mode

Check here to be notified by email whenever someone replies to your topic

Show Preview