Those who do not pray Tarawih with the imam in the Haram
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The questioner:
I say, may Allah bless you, we have found in the Haram many people who do not pray with the Muslims, claiming that they have already prayed eleven rak'ahs, while the imam prays more than that, so they do not pray with the Muslims. They separate themselves and sit in the Haram like this.
The Shaykh:
The matter is that it is a voluntary prayer. If it is obligatory for someone to pray and he has not prayed, that is different. But for the voluntary prayer, whoever wishes may pray, and whoever wishes may leave it. It is not an obligation. So it is a voluntary prayer. If he prays eleven with the imam, there is no harm. If he prays two, there is no harm. If he prays ten, there is no harm. If he does not pray, there is no harm. Nothing is forbidden except his own soul. This is a favor, a voluntary prayer. If he prays with the imam, that is better for him. If he goes to his house, there is no harm. Praise be to Allah. All of this is the same. The voluntary prayer at night is a voluntary prayer. The five obligatory prayers are Zuhr, 'Asr, Maghrib, 'Isha', and Fajr. These are the obligations. As for Tarawih and the early morning prayer in Ramadan, they are all voluntary. Praise be to Allah. Whoever does them gets the reward, and whoever leaves them has no blame on him.
The questioner:
The worshippers are leaving off from the improvement.
The Shaykh:
Yes. This is a mistake. I say it is a mistake. If he stands with the imam until he finishes, that is better for him. If he prays with the imam until he finishes, that is better for him. Even if he prays twenty-three, and the imam prays eleven, there is no harm. If he prays thirteen, there is no harm. Eleven is better. But if he prays twenty-three, there is no harm, just as they did in the time of 'Umar. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: If he prays a hundred and then prays one as witr, there is no harm.
I say, may Allah bless you, we have found in the Haram many people who do not pray with the Muslims, claiming that they have already prayed eleven rak'ahs, while the imam prays more than that, so they do not pray with the Muslims. They separate themselves and sit in the Haram like this.
The Shaykh:
The matter is that it is a voluntary prayer. If it is obligatory for someone to pray and he has not prayed, that is different. But for the voluntary prayer, whoever wishes may pray, and whoever wishes may leave it. It is not an obligation. So it is a voluntary prayer. If he prays eleven with the imam, there is no harm. If he prays two, there is no harm. If he prays ten, there is no harm. If he does not pray, there is no harm. Nothing is forbidden except his own soul. This is a favor, a voluntary prayer. If he prays with the imam, that is better for him. If he goes to his house, there is no harm. Praise be to Allah. All of this is the same. The voluntary prayer at night is a voluntary prayer. The five obligatory prayers are Zuhr, 'Asr, Maghrib, 'Isha', and Fajr. These are the obligations. As for Tarawih and the early morning prayer in Ramadan, they are all voluntary. Praise be to Allah. Whoever does them gets the reward, and whoever leaves them has no blame on him.
The questioner:
The worshippers are leaving off from the improvement.
The Shaykh:
Yes. This is a mistake. I say it is a mistake. If he stands with the imam until he finishes, that is better for him. If he prays with the imam until he finishes, that is better for him. Even if he prays twenty-three, and the imam prays eleven, there is no harm. If he prays thirteen, there is no harm. Eleven is better. But if he prays twenty-three, there is no harm, just as they did in the time of 'Umar. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
The night prayer for which we did not die and did not specify a number. If he prays a hundred, he did not specify the night prayer. We did not die. So when he fears the dawn, he prays one rak'ah.
صلاة الليل التي ما ماتنا ولم يحدد عددا لو صلى مئة ما حدد صلاة الليل ما ماتنا فإذا خشى الصبح صلى ركعة واحدة،
Source
التعليق على بعض أحاديث موطأ مالك، من أول باب: النَّظَرِ فِي الصَّلاَةِ إِلَى مَا يَشْغَلُكَ عَنْهَا، إلى باب: مَا جَاءَ فِي صَلاَةِ اللَّيْلِ — islamhouse.com (1:15:07)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.