| Qur’an and Sunnah does not mean Qur’an and Hadith as a significant number of people today wrongfully believe.
Base Your Deen on Quran & Sunnah |
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The hadith of Hazrat Aishara about tarawih contradicts the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, Prophet Muhammad ﷺ مُحَمَّد and Sahaba Radi Allahu Anhu (رضي الله عنهم).
And ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab said;
By Allah Almighty, I will make it difficult for a man who
relates a hadith different from it (the ‘amal (ie sunnah))
Also, Hazrat Aishara is asked the question by another female Sahabiat (lady companion) (رضي الله عنها – may Allah be pleased with her). And the answer that Hazrat Aishara gave was about what the Messenger of Allah, Prophet Muhammad ﷺ مُحَمَّد read at home. Tarawih is read in the Masjid (not at home), and Tahajjud is read in the home (not the masjid). The answer of Hazrat Aishara of 11 or 13 rakats relates to Tahajjud and not Tarawih.
What the Messenger of Allah, Prophet Muhammad ﷺ مُحَمَّد read in the masjid, outside of the home, is not something that Hazrat Aishara would be aware of, as Hazrat Aishara did not attend the masjid with Muhammad ﷺ مُحَمَّد , but Hazrat Umar and the Sahaba Radi Allahu Anhu (رضي الله عنهم) would know how many rakats Muhammad ﷺ مُحَمَّد prayed in the masjid as they were in attendance with Muhammad ﷺ مُحَمَّد in the masjid in Makkah & Madina.
Firstly, this Salafi scholar supports the idea of 8 Rakat tarawih, yet in his explanation, he ultimately proves that 20 Rakat is sunnah.
Let’s break it down.
The question is, ‘The scholarly consensus is that tarawih is 20?’ So why do the 20th-century Salafis differ?
The 4 greatest scholars in Islam are Imam Abu Hanifa, Imam Malik, Imam Shafi & Imam Hanbal. There are, of course, many others, but these are widely accepted as the 4 greatest.
- Imam Abu Hanifa said tarawih is 20 rak’aa’t.
- Imam Shafi said tarawih is 20 raka’at.
- Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal said tarawih is 20 rak’aa’t.
- Imam Mali said tarawih is 36 rak’aahs (20 rak’aahs sunnah and 16 nawafl (to compensate for the fact that people of Madina cannot do tawaf in each of the 4 rest periods after 4, 8, 12, and 16 rak’ats)).
So, among the 4 greatest Imams above, the majority view is 20 raka’at.
So the consensus is 20; it’s the majority VIEW.
But the 20th-century Salafi scholar, Assim al-Hakeem, still differs.
| Imam Malik’s Position is Tarawih is 20 |
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Imam Malik, of the Madina way, believed that Tarawih is 36 rakats + 3 witr = 39 rakats.
In actuality, Malikis recite 20 rakahs of Sunnah Tarawih in Jamaa’ah, behind an Imam in the Masjid, and read individually 4 Nafls (nawafil) between rest periods. 16 nafls = 4 rest periods.
In Jamaa’ah = 20 rakahs Sunnah Tarawih
Individual = 16
What is the 36-rakat based on?
| Sunnah of Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam) & Noble Sahaba Radi Allahu Anhu |
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Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam) completed twenty rak’ahs in tarawih, according to a narration. [see below]
This narration’s chain is weak. Nonetheless, it is a well-established principle in the disciplines of Hadith and Fiqh that a Hadith will be regarded as authentic if it has a weak chain but is backed by the Ummah’s general practice during the time of the Companions (Noble Sahaba Radi Allahu Anhu (رضي الله عنهم)) and the Followers (Tabi’in) – (Imam Abu Hanifa, Imam Malik, Imam Shafi & Imam Hanbal).
It is related from Sayyidina Ibn Abbas : ‘The Prophet would pray 20 Rakats and then 3 witr in the month of Ramadhan.’ (Musnad ibn Abi Shaybah vol 2, p294/ Sunan Baihaqi vol 2, p496/ Tibraani Kabir vol 11, p393/ Musnad ibn Hameed p218)
According to Moulana Habib al-Rahman Al-A’zimiy, the following arguments support the above hadith, despite its weakness:
(1) The fact that Muslims followed it at the time of Sayyiduna ‘Umar (radiyallahu ‘anhu), and
(2) This continued to be the case even throughout the time of Sayyiduna ‘Aliy (radiyallahu ‘anhu),
(3) It is agreed upon by all four madhabs (Imam Abu Hanifa, Imam Malik, Imam Shafi & Imam Hanbal); and
(4) The Ummah has continued to practice it to this day.
These are adequate justifications for elevating this narration to a realistic level.
| Hadith vs Sunnah |
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Every Hadith is not a Sunnah, but Generally every Sunnah is also a Hadith …. therefore we should only follow hadiths, that have the stamp of approval from either the
Messenger of Allah, Prophet Muhammad ﷺ مُحَمَّد , Sahaba Radi Allahu Anhu (رضي الله عنهم), ijma (scholarly consensus) or ALL the above
The majority view is that tarawih is 20. because it ticks all the above 3 points, as well as
- It is related from Sayyidina Ibn Abbas: ‘The Prophet would pray 20 Rakats and then witr in the month of Ramadhan.’ (Musnad ibn Abi Shaybah vol 2, p294/Sunan Baihaqi vol 2, p496/ Tibraani Kabir vol 11, p393/ Musnad ibn Hameed p218)
- Trustworthy Narrator: Sayyiduna Sa’ib ibn Yazid reports that “the people would perform twenty rak’ahs in Ramadan during the era of Sayyiduna ‘Umar (radiyallahu ‘anhu).
The Ijma of the Sahabah & the Scholars is that tarawih is 20.
- The issue of the tarawih consisting of twenty rak’ahs is one that the Companions (Sahabah) agreed upon by ijma’ (consensus). Hafiz Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr stated, “The Companions had no dispute regarding this.”
- ‘Allamah Ibn Qudamah said, “The Companions made ijma’ upon this in the era of Sayyiduna ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him)”
- Hafiz Abu Zur’ah Al-’Iraqiy stated, “They (the ‘ulama) have considered the approval of the Companions [when Sayyiduna ‘Umar did so] as ijma’.”
- Mulla ‘Aliy al-Qari stated that the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) have made ijma’ on the practice of twenty rak’ahs.
| NO scholar says that the Sahabah, Companions (may Allah be pleased with them), made ijma on 8 rakaat tarawih. |
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Every text, scripture from the actual Salaf period, points to the fact that Ijma (consensus) is on 20 rak’ahs of tarawih.
| Not Limiting the Number of Rakats |
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The notion that we must not limit ourselves to a fixed number of rak’ahs of tarawih is also a diversionary attempt by these Salafis to stop us from performing the 20 Tarawih prayers according to the Messenger of Allah, Prophet Muhammad, ﷺ مُحَمَّد and Sahaba Radi Allahu Anhu (رضي الله عنهم).
The Salafis say don’t fix your tarawih to a one particular number, so how many Salafis pray 15, 16, 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 ,22 etc
The answer is none; they all pray 8, but want the majority of Ahle Sunnah Wal Jamaah people to stop 20 Tarawih.
It’s all deception and trickery by the Salafis to deceive the Ahle Sunnah Wal Jamaah.
Stick to your 20 Rakats.
And lastly, when any Salafi Shaykh says, and in this case it’s Assim al-Hakeem, we should not waste time arguing about how many rakats are in tarawih. You know that he knows that Tarawih is 20 rakats, but he is too stubborn and arrogant to admit it.
