The
Virtue of Taraweeh
In this belated day and age, every morning heralds a new fitna,
a fitna that strikes at the very root of our Imaan and amal.
For the past fourteen hundred years the Ummah has been performing
twenty rakaats of taraweeh without question. However "a
sect" now claims that taraweeh is ONLY eight rakaats,
which implies that for fourteen hundred years the Ummah had
deviated from the sunnah of Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam
and had performed twenty rakaats without any shari proof.
The
Virtue
Abdullah Bin Ammar radhiallahu anhu states that Nabi sallallahu
alayhi wasallam said: "The fast and the Quraan will both
plead on behalf of the bondsmen who keeps fast in the day
and recites or listens attentively to the recitation of the
Quraan at night standing in the presence of Allah (in taraweeh).
The fast will say "O my Lord, I had held him back from
food, drink and sexual gratification, accept my intercession
for him today and treat him with mercy and forgiveness. The
Quraan will say, "I had held him back from taking rest
and sleep at night, O’ my Lord, accept my intercession
for him today and treat him with mercy and forgiveness".
The intercession of both the fast and Quraan will be accepted
and he will be treated with exceptionl kindness". (Baihaqi).
Sayyidina
Abu Sa’eed Al-Khudree radhiallahu anhu narrates that
Sayyidina Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam said: "When
the first night of Ramadhaan dawns (comes), the doors of the
skies are opened, and none of its doors are then closed until
the last night of Ramadhaan.
No
mu’min servant (of Allah) performs salaah during its
night (any night of Ramadhaan), but Allah will record for
him one thousand five hundred hasanah (rewards) for every
sajdah that he makes. And Allah will build a home for him
in Jannah made out of red ruby, which will have sixty thousand
doors, each of its doors having (interlinked to, leading to)
a palace made out of gold, ornamented (beautified and decorated)
with rubies.
Thus,
when he (the mu’min) fasts on the first day of Ramadhaan,
all his past sins are pardoned, and seventy thousand malaaikah
make istighfaar for him, daily, from the time of the fajr
salaah, until the sun sets.
And
for every sajdah that he makes during Ramadhaan, either by
day or by night, there will be for him a tree, (in Jannah,
so huge that) a person on horseback will ride in its shade
for five hundred years." (Baihaqi, Targheeb)
Salmaan
radhiallahu anhu reports: "On the last day of Sha'baan
the Messenger of Allah addressed us and said: ‘O people,
there comes over you now a great month, a most blessed month
in which lies a night more greater in virtue than one thousand
months. It is a month in which Allah has made compulsory that
the days shoud be observed by fasting. And he has made sunnah
the Taraweeh by night. Whosoever intends drawing nearer to
Allah by performing any virtuous deed, for him shall be the
reward like him who had performed a fardh in any other time.
And whoever performs a fardh, for him shall be the reward
of seventy faraa'idh in any other time. This is indeed the
month of patience, and the reward for true patience is Jannah
(paradise). It is the month of sympathy with one’s fellow
men. It is the month wherein a true believer’s rizq
is increased. Whosoever feeds another who fasted, in order
to break the fast (at sunset), for him there shall be forgiveness
for his sins and emancipation from the fire of Jahannam (hell),
and for him shall be the same reward as him (whom he fed)
without that person’s reward being decreased in the
least….". From this hadeeth it is noted that the
command for taraweeh prayers too comes from Allah Himself.
All the authorities of the Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamm’ah
are agreed upon the fact that taraweeh is sunnah. Taraweeh
During the Era of Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam and the
Sahabah radhiallahu anhu Ibn Abbass radhiallahu anhu states
that during the month of Ramadhaan, Nabi sallallahu alayhi
wasallam performed twenty rakaats (taraweeh) and thereafter
performed the witr salaat. (Baihaqi and Musannaf Ibn Abie
Shaiba). Ubay bin Ka’ab radhiallahu anhu led the taraweeh
prayers and offered 20 rakaats and three rakaats waajib salaat.
Umar radhiallahu anhu commanded the Imaam to perform twenty
rakaats Taraweeh salaat for the congregation.
Views
of the Scholars
Imaan Qurtubi radhiallahu anhu states: "Twenty rakaats
taraweeh and three rakaats witr is the most authentic narration."
Imaam Nawawi radhiallahu anhu states: "Taraweeh is a
unanimously accepted sunnah of the Muslims. It is twenty rakaats".
"The pandemonium that the Ghair Muqallideen (people who
do not follow any Mazhab) had started for the past hundred
years was never heared of in the Islamic world before………
Similarly from the time of Umar radhiallahu anhu upto the
emergence of this sect there was no masjid in the world where
eight rakaats of Taraweeh was performed……".
(Moulana Habib ur Rahmaan Azmi).
A
Grave Misconception
The proponents of eight rakaats taraweeh quote the following
hadeeth of Ayesha radhiallahu anha as stated in Bukhari Shareef.
Ayesha radhiallahu anha was asked about the salaat of Nabi
sallallahu alayhi wasallam. She replied by saying that Nabi
sallallahu alayhi wasallam did not exceed eleven rakaats in
Ramadhaan nor in any other month…". This hadeeth
apparently indicates that Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam
performed eight rakaats taraweeh and three rakaats witr. However
the words ‘nor in any other month’ clearly indicates
that this was with reference to tahajjud salaat and not taraweeh
salaat. The fact that Imaam Bukhari (R.A.) himself has not
mentioned this hadeeth under the caption of Taraweeh salaat
is clear proof that the salaat in question refers to witr
and not taraweeh salaat. Hazrat Umar radhiallahu anhu during
his khilaafat had directed that taraweeh salaat be performed
collectively in the masaajid, lest the practice gradually
dissipates from the Ummah. He did not introduce the number
of rakaats on his own accord. To believe that the twenty rakaats
is an innovation of Umar radhiallahu anhu is to undermine
the integrity of Umar radhiallahu anhu and all the Sahabah
who were present at that time! |