The Number of Rak'ahs in Tarawih and the Imam's Lightening of the Prayer

Question:
The questioner, Abdul Majid, says: Shaykh, there is insistence by some of the ma'mum (congregation) in the mosque on certain imams from some of the worshippers in Ramadan regarding the number of rak'ahs in tarawih and the amount of recitation. We find disagreement among them, so what is the guidance, Shaykh?

Answer:
The imam does not submit to the desires of the ma'mum, but rather he acts according to the Sunnah reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding the prayer of tarawih. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) or thirteen rak'ahs, but he would lengthen the standing, and lengthen the bowing and prostration. So whoever prays like the prayer of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) should limit himself to eleven or thirteen rak'ahs. And whoever lightens it for the ma'mum, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded: "Whoever leads the people, let him lighten the prayer," he prays twenty-three rak'ahs, as the Companions used to pray it in the mosque of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) after his passing, and in the caliphate of al-Siddiq, and the caliphate of 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, and 'Uthman, and the Rightly Guided Caliphs, they would pray it twenty-three rak'ahs because they would lighten the recitation, bowing, and prostration with a lightening that does not invalidate the prayer, out of kindness to the ma'mum, and they would complete the Qur'an at the end of the month, meaning they would finish reading the Qur'an at the end of the month. This is the Sunnah for the imams: whoever lengthens the recitation, this is if he is praying alone. He said (peace and blessings be upon him): So they lighten it for the ma'mum with a lightening that does not invalidate the prayer of tarawih, and they pray it twenty-three rak'ahs as the Companions used to do that after the death of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), because they lighten it for the ma'mum and complete one recitation of the Qur'an at the end of the month. So the imam distributes the Qur'an over the nights of Ramadan so that he completes it at the end of the month, meaning he finishes reading the Qur'an at the end of the month. This is the Sunnah. And the imam does not forbid the ma'mum or submit to the desires of some of them due to laziness, but rather he acts according to the Sunnah and lightens it for the ma'mum, combining both matters, and he completes the Qur'an as well, and this is a third matter. It is obligatory for the ma'mum to be aware of that. Yes.