Tarawih Prayer in Congregation in the Mosque

The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta

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Fatwa No. ( 4167 )
Q: What is the Prophetic Sunnah regarding the Tarawih prayer in congregation in the mosque with a single imam?
A: The Tarawih prayer in Ramadan with a single imam in the mosque is a Sunnah established by our Prophet Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah (peace and blessings be upon him); for 'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed in the mosque, and people prayed with his prayer, then he prayed the second night and the people increased, then they gathered on the third or fourth night, but the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not come out to them. When morning came, he said:

I saw what you were doing, but I desisted to come to you (and lead the prayer) for I feared that this prayer might become obligatory for you.

رأيت الذي صنعتم فلم يمنعني من الخروج إليكم إلا أني خشيت أن تفرض عليكم

Sahih Muslim 761a

This was in Ramadan, and it is agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim. And what was narrated by
'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Abd al-Qari , who said:

I went out one night to the mosque with ‘Umar b. al-Khattab and we saw the people in sections separate from one another, one man praying by himself, and another followed by a group; so ‘Umar said, “If I collected these people behind one reciter it would be better." He then made up his mind and collected them with Ubayy b. Ka‘b as imam . Afterwards I went out with him another night when the people were following the prayer of their reciter, and ‘Umar said, “This is a good innovation, but what you miss through sleeping is more excellent than what you are getting up for, meaning at the end of the night, for the people were getting up during the early part of the night.

خرجت مع عمر بن الخطاب في رمضان إلى المسجد فإذا الناس أوزاع متفرقون يصلي الرجل لنفسه ويصلي الرجل فيصلي بصلاته الرهط، فقال عمر : إني أرى لو جمعت هؤلاء على قارئ واحد لكان أمثل، ثم عزم فجمعهم على أبي بن كعب، ثم خرجت معـه ليلة أخرى والناس يصلون بصلاة قارئهم، فقال عمر : (نعمت البدعة هذه)، والتي ينامون عنها أفضل من التي يقومون، يعني آخر الليل، وكان الناس يقومون أوله

Mishkat al-Masabih 1301

It was narrated by al-Bukhari . From what has preceded, it is clear that the Tarawih prayer was prayed in congregation in the mosque during his time (peace and blessings be upon him), then during the time of 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), and the practice of the Muslims continued on this basis until today. As for the statement of 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him): "What a good innovation this is," his intention (may Allah be pleased with him) was that it is an innovation in terms of language; because it was not prayed in congregation in a continuous manner during his time (peace and blessings be upon him). Rather, he (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed with them in congregation for three or four nights and then left it off, fearing that it would become obligatory upon them. So when he (peace and blessings be upon him) passed away, they were safe from it becoming obligatory upon them, and 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) ordered it. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.

Source www.alifta.gov.sa

The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.

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