The ruling on dividing the Tarawih prayer between the beginning and the end of the night
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Question:
The questioner says: We have young men who are in charge of the mosque. When the last ten nights enter, they pray four rak'ahs of Tarawih at the beginning of the night, then they leave and complete their prayer at the end of the night. There are also some of the worshippers who want to complete the prayer of eight rak'ahs at the beginning of the night. So what is your guidance?
Answer:
These people are messing with the prayer. Tarawih is not divided. Tarawih is prayed at the beginning of the night with its full number; it is prayed in full at the beginning of the night. And at the end of the night, the prayer of Tahajjud is added to it in the last ten nights. This was the practice of the righteous Salaf, and this is how the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to pray at the beginning of the month and then sleep, meaning he indicated that he would sleep after his prayer at the beginning of the night. As for the last ten nights, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would stay awake for most of the night praying, increasing his prayer in the last ten nights. And these lazy people say, "We do not add to the Tarawih prayer, but we divide it between the beginning and the end of the night." This is playing with the prayer and ignorance, and it is not permissible for them.
To disturb the worshippers behind the imam, to deprive them of Tahajjud in the last ten nights, and to scatter the Tarawih prayer between the beginning and the end of the night. It is not permissible for them to do that. If they are imams of mosques, they must fear Allah and maintain the Tarawih prayer in its time, in full, and the Tahajjud prayer in its time. They must not engage in this kind of messing around. They deprive the people of Tahajjud in the last ten nights and of the Tarawih prayer at the beginning of the night. If they do not adhere to the role of imam, let them avoid it, because it is a trust. They do not bear the trust, yet they take the imamate of the mosque while they do not fulfill it. They must fear Allah. Either they perform the prayer as is the Sunnah, at the beginning of the night and at the end of it in the last ten nights, or they leave the imamate to others. Yes.
The questioner says: We have young men who are in charge of the mosque. When the last ten nights enter, they pray four rak'ahs of Tarawih at the beginning of the night, then they leave and complete their prayer at the end of the night. There are also some of the worshippers who want to complete the prayer of eight rak'ahs at the beginning of the night. So what is your guidance?
Answer:
These people are messing with the prayer. Tarawih is not divided. Tarawih is prayed at the beginning of the night with its full number; it is prayed in full at the beginning of the night. And at the end of the night, the prayer of Tahajjud is added to it in the last ten nights. This was the practice of the righteous Salaf, and this is how the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to pray at the beginning of the month and then sleep, meaning he indicated that he would sleep after his prayer at the beginning of the night. As for the last ten nights, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would stay awake for most of the night praying, increasing his prayer in the last ten nights. And these lazy people say, "We do not add to the Tarawih prayer, but we divide it between the beginning and the end of the night." This is playing with the prayer and ignorance, and it is not permissible for them.
To disturb the worshippers behind the imam, to deprive them of Tahajjud in the last ten nights, and to scatter the Tarawih prayer between the beginning and the end of the night. It is not permissible for them to do that. If they are imams of mosques, they must fear Allah and maintain the Tarawih prayer in its time, in full, and the Tahajjud prayer in its time. They must not engage in this kind of messing around. They deprive the people of Tahajjud in the last ten nights and of the Tarawih prayer at the beginning of the night. If they do not adhere to the role of imam, let them avoid it, because it is a trust. They do not bear the trust, yet they take the imamate of the mosque while they do not fulfill it. They must fear Allah. Either they perform the prayer as is the Sunnah, at the beginning of the night and at the end of it in the last ten nights, or they leave the imamate to others. Yes.
Source
مجالس رمضان 1431هـ - 07 — alfawzan.live (33:05)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.