Is it established that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not exceed eleven rak'ahs in the tarawih prayer?

The Shaykh : The second question: Is it disliked to send blessings upon the Messenger of Allah after the adhan? Is it established that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not exceed eleven; that is, praying eleven rak'ahs in the tarawih prayer?
So... the question, repeating the first question.
We say: It is not established from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) that he prayed in Ramadan or otherwise more than eleven rak'ahs, and this is what the Lady Aisha explicitly stated in "the two Sahihs." She said: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) did not exceed eleven rak'ahs in Ramadan or otherwise," to the end of the hadith.
We believe that if all the texts said: he used to pray 11, he used to pray 11, we would consider this a commitment by the Messenger (peace be upon him) to this number; so how is it when the negation of exceeding it came, as you heard from the Lady Aisha: "He did not exceed eleven rak'ahs in Ramadan or otherwise"?! This is a negation from the side of increasing, and an affirmation of the 11, which does not accept argumentation and does not accept the possibility that the Messenger (peace be upon him) used to exceed this number.
Yes, there are some narrations; first: they are not in Ramadan, but rather in standing in night prayer in general, and second: these narrations say he used to pray 13; so the scholars went different ways in reconciling the number resulting from the increase over the 11 and this affirmed number; so they answered that the 13 intended is the 11 plus two light rak'ahs with which the Messenger (may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him) would open the night prayer, this is one opinion.
There is another opinion: that the two rak'ahs are the post-'Isha' sunnah, this sunnah which I told you at the beginning of our gathering here that if you intend to keep the last third of the night awake, pray the obligatory prayer in the mosque with the congregation, then pray the post-'Isha' sunnah at home, and that is better, otherwise in the mosque; so the 13 are not standing in night prayer, but include the addition of two rak'ahs, either he is opening the night prayer with them, or they are the post-'Isha' sunnah.
And finally I say: whoever has established that the Messenger (peace be upon him) prayed 13... the post-'Isha' sunnah, and... two rak'ahs in opening the night prayer; the important thing is that the Muslim adheres to what is established for him from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family); therefore we say to everyone who asks that question, is the one who prays twenty rak'ahs of tarawih contrary to the Sunnah? We tell him: know the Sunnah and adhere to it, if it is established for you that the Messenger (peace be upon him) prayed twenty rak'ahs, then hold onto it firmly.
As for saying: this is how we found our fathers; this is what I do not want for our brothers, so we want for them what we want for ourselves by the saying of our Prophet: , it is certainly established 11 rak'ahs, and the increase of two rak'ahs until the number became 13 in some narrations... that what is intended by them is either the post-'Isha' sunnah, or two light rak'ahs before the 11 rak'ahs, so if you do the first matter, this is what no one argues with; because the post-'Isha' sunnah is established in many hadiths, and if you do the second matter; that is: you pray two rak'ahs at the time of opening the night prayer, light ones, then this - also - is established, it is possible that these two rak'ahs are from the 11 and it is possible they are an addition to the 11; the important thing is for you to follow the Sunnah, so adhere to it so that the previous hadith is true in you: .
Then I want to draw attention on this occasion: that the people today, especially those who lead people, and more specifically those who issue fatwas to people; the eagerness of all these to maintain the twenty rak'ahs of tarawih prayer; that is: their eagerness for the number, which is quantity without quality, is very strange, if their eagerness to hold onto the number of twenty is on the claim that it is established in the Sunnah, and it is not established at all, and on another claim that it is established that it was done in the time of 'Umar, and it is - also - not established; so what is the matter with these people holding onto the number they claim was established in the time of 'Umar, and then not holding onto the manner in which they used to pray the claimed twenty rak'ahs in the time of 'Umar?!
It has come in "Muwatta' Imam Malik": that the Companions and those of the Tabi'un who met them, when they prayed the standing prayer, the tarawih prayer, due to the length of the recitation in it, they would lean on sticks.
= -- Sit down, bring closer what you can, fill the empty spaces... -- =
So they would recite in the rak'ah tens of verses, and even hundreds, so why do we strive for the number, the number of rak'ahs, to make it twenty rak'ahs, and do not strive to lengthen the recitation? While the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) it is authentic from him in "Sahih Muslim" that when he was asked about the best prayer, he said: ; that is: length of standing.
So I say in response to those who say: yes, it is authentic that the Messenger prayed 11, but 'Umar or someone else made an equation, 11 rak'ahs the Messenger (peace be upon him) used to pray as a long prayer, as is his constant habit and state always and forever, so when the standing became long for the prayeers, they increased in the rak'ahs to lighten the recitations, I hardly think it enters my mind that a Muslim with some Islamic culture... 'Umar ibn al-Khattab to whom it is attributed that he came to the Sunnah which the Messenger (peace be upon him) was constant in, 11 rak'ahs, and changed in it; increased in the number and decreased in the recitation!!
Why this change? I would understand this change if it was necessary for a person to pray 11 rak'ahs, and it was necessary to pray in them the same length that the Messenger (peace be upon him) lengthened, and Allah, most people are unable to do it; because among the best of people is one who prayed behind him, like 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, one night he stood to pray, the Messenger (peace be upon him) stood to pray one night, so 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud stood and followed behind him, he said: so he lengthened the recitation and lengthened until I was about to do something. They said to him: what were you about to do? He said: I was about to leave him and sit. Something that cannot be endured... the fighting, heroic Companions, so if the matter was that it is necessary to have 11 rak'ahs, less is not permissible, nine is not permissible, up to one rak'ah is not permissible; and the Messenger says: ; but we say: by Allah, what a good equation, 11 with this length we cannot do, but the Messenger read in these 11 rak'ahs four hours for example, 11 rak'ahs they endured four hours, we cannot endure four hours with 11 rak'ahs; so what would we do? We would increase rak'ahs and decrease recitation; we would lighten for ourselves, if the matter was like this, meaning the prayeers must do 11 in four hours, then this adjustment would be very reasonable; because there is lightening for the people, but the Messenger (peace be upon him) was among what he taught us, so he said: , so the standing in night prayer which the Messenger (peace be upon him) was constant in in Ramadan and other than Ramadan, 11 rak'ahs, is a voluntary prayer, not an obligatory one, so you can pray one rak'ah up to three, five, seven, nine, eleven; so why do we restrict ourselves from one side, and expand for ourselves from another side? This expansion is not prescribed!!
We have eleven rak'ahs. Do you see the person who prays eleven rak'ahs in the time when people pray, or when people pray twenty rak'ahs, and then they pray twenty rak'ahs in half an hour? Do you not think it is better, by text and by reason, that we pray eleven rak'ahs in half an hour? Who can say: "It is necessary that this is better, and the Messenger says: ?" So the length of the qunut in the prayer of eleven rak'ahs in half an hour... is it more or less than in the prayer of twenty rak'ahs in half an hour? It is a very clear calculation, . Add to that that many of the imams of mosques today who pray twenty and are keen to do so; their example is like the old saying that... he repeated it to me many times: "Like the one who builds a palace and demolishes a city." You want to pray twenty, the Sunnah of 'Umar as you claim, but you have lost the Sunnah of the Messenger from its root, rather you have lost the obligatory, rather you have lost the pillar; because the Messenger (peace be upon him) said: . So most people today, you see them standing, sitting, going back and forth to the end, you do not feel anything of the pleasure of the prayer or the humility in it at all. So the prayer of tarawih of twenty rak'ahs has become a routine, mechanical matter; it does not have the purpose for which the prayer of standing in Ramadan was legislated!
I prefer that you pray three rak'ahs of witr, you pray them... in the span of half an hour, rather than you pray twenty-three rak'ahs in half an hour; because what is the recitation? A recitation you can hardly understand, and if you understand it, it is not easy for you to reflect upon it. So this prayer has become distant, because of the many rak'ahs introduced into it, from the purpose for which it was legislated; besides the fact that it contradicts the correct, established Sunnah from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).
It is very strange how people cling to traditions. If a Muslim did not pray anything after the obligatory 'Isha' prayer in Ramadan, no one can say to him... he committed... But if he prays two rak'ahs of the Sunnah and one rak'ah after that, which is the rak'ah of witr, no one can say anything to him. If he increases and increases until he reaches eleven rak'ahs, no one can say anything. But if he increases beyond eleven... the Sunnah is before him, do you do good or do the action of the Messenger (peace be upon him)? No one can say anything but the action of the Messenger, because we always say... he says: . Yes, but we cannot lengthen it as he did! My brother, neither we nor anyone in the world can... he (peace be upon him), but mercy upon you, some... is easier than some... Pray eleven rak'ahs in it, it is better than praying twenty in it.
In any case, as time passes, we increase in faith, from the scientific aspect, that it is not established from the Messenger (peace be upon him) at all, nor from 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, any increase beyond eleven rak'ahs. And as time passes, it is revealed to us that the practical aspect does not support applying the prayer of twenty rak'ahs with tranquility and reciting the Qur'an with deliberation and...; therefore we continue to adhere to the Sunnah and try to establish it as much as we can, and .