From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is a sub-article of Sunnah salat and Ramadan.

Tarawih (تراويح) is an Arabic phrase referring to extra prayers given by Muslims at night in the Islamic month of Ramadan.

Tarawih prayers are prayed in pairs of two and can be prayed in any even amount of rak'ah, although 8 or 20 raka'ahs are what Muslims usually pray. This prayer is performed after salah of Isha'a. Sunni Muslims believe it is customary to attempt a khatm (complete recitation) of the Qur'an in Ramadan by reciting at least one juz per night in tarawih. If someone does not know how to read Qur'an or cannot read it very well, they may recite Surahs that they know.

Tarawih prayers are offered in Sunni Muslim communities worldwide, and in the diaspora (North America, United Kingdom, etc.) they are important congregational events for both men and women. In Muslim countries where women do not attend mosques regularly, they tend to pray tarawih at home^{[citation needed]}, while in the diaspora it is common for women to attend tarawih prayers at mosques.

Sunni Muslims believe tarawih is a Sunnah salat and may be performed at home if one is unable to attend a mosque. According to this tradition, Muhammad initially prayed the tarawih in congregation during Ramadan but later discontinued this practice out of fear that Muslims would start to believe the prayers to be mandatory, rather than a sunnah.^[1] During the time when Umar ibn al-Khattab was the Caliph, he reinstated the practice when there was no longer any fear of people taking it as something mandatory.^[2]

Shi'a Muslims do not perform tarawih, deeming it a Bid'ah instituted by Umar. Further, Shia claim Muhammad never prayed any 8 to 20 raka'ah ^[3].

• Changes to the Sunnah made by the Rashidun

1. ^ Sahih Muslim, Book #4, Hadith #1,663
2. ^ Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 3, Book #32, Hadith #227
3. ^ http://www.answering-ansar.org/answers/tarawih/en/index.php

• The 1400 Year History of Taraweeh Salaah
• E-book: The Night Prayer in Ramadan, by Shaykh al-Albani (pdf)
• Article: Concerning the Number of Rak'aat of the Taraaweeh Prayer (Q&A), by imam ibn Uthaymeen