What is the Sunnah regarding the number of rak'ahs in the Tarawih prayer?

The questioner : But we see, for example, in the Sacred Mosque and the Prophet's Mosque, that they pray and do not perform twenty.

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner : So, if we were to assume for the sake of argument that they are mistaken, are there no people who would correct them—for example, scholars there who would explain to them that it is obligatory to pray eleven rak'ahs or something like that? Because most people follow them; all Muslims follow them.

The Shaykh : Yes, may Allah reward you.

The questioner : My Shaykh, regarding...

The Shaykh : This question, my brother, undoubtedly comes from some people. But do you not believe that in your own country, in Makkah and Madinah, there are mosques that pray according to the Sunnah?

The questioner : There is.

The Shaykh : In... well; do you not believe that the country you are in now has what that country has?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : Well; if someone asked you the same question regarding this country and said to you: "Are there no people of knowledge in this country who would remind these people that this is the Sunnah?" What would your answer be?

The questioner : There are scholars, but no one rebuts them!

The Shaykh : Well; it is the same answer. But these people who are praying according to the Sunnah, by your admission, what made them pray according to the Sunnah? Scholars. So there are scholars, but scholars are of two types: there are scholars who advise people and are bold in the truth, and no one in Allah's sake makes them feel blamed. There are people who have scholarly cowardice; they know the truth but do not dare to state it. If left alone with his Lord, he would not pray as people pray in the Sacred Mosque and the Prophet's Mosque, but would pray according to the Sunnah. And some of them tell you: "The best is the Sunnah, but this is permissible." Why? Because night prayer is purely voluntary. From this angle, they broaden the issue and tell you: "There is no specific limit." Even though the schools of jurisprudence specify it. As far as I know, no school leaves the issue open. The Hanafi school, for example, tells you: The Sunnah in Tarawih prayer is twenty rak'ahs. The Maliki school tells you: six and three, seven, thirty, or more, and I have forgotten. The Shafi'i school is like the Hanafi school. This openness is held by Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) as well, and some people of knowledge and virtue hold to it for the sake of making things easy for people. But, by Allah, I believe that making things easy is holding to the Sunnah, without doubt or hesitation. Why?
The issue is like a mathematical problem: that a person, no matter how clever and smart he is, and conversely, no matter how dull and forgetful he is, it is easier for him to count eleven rak'ahs or to count twenty-three rak'ahs? Without doubt, eleven. From here comes what? Making things easy. Then they want to pray eleven rak'ahs in an hour, sixty minutes, or they want to pray twenty or thirty, and so on. Who finds it easier to pray eleven rak'ahs in that hour, with some good recitation, reflection, contemplation, calmness, tranquility, and humility, or to rush through it like that, as if someone is chasing them with a stick? There is absolutely no doubt. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is truthful. What does a person want to say after he says: ? But—glory to Allah!—some people are accustomed to making things easy and not difficult, and they took this principle in its absolute sense as well. And this is one of the problems of this time. We are praying the Fajr prayer in a mosque. Who is here praying with us? What is the name of the mosque?

The questioner : Al-Husayn Mosque.

The Shaykh : In the street, what is its name? Hadadi. We pray Fajr there. One day, while we were praying the Sunnah, we heard the voice of one of the people sitting in the first row turning toward the imam who had finished the greeting or the Sunnah and sat down. He was talking to him, talking to him, and started to raise his voice, and then he said to him: "It is haram, O Shaykh, fear Allah. You are making things difficult for people and being severe. And the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: and so on." We understood at that point why the uprising was. This imam truly had a good recitation according to the principles of recitation and tajwid, and he lengthened the recitation, humility, bowing, and so on. We prayed behind this imam and left the mosque. I said to some of our brothers: "What do you think about speaking to this man?" They said: "By Allah, this is a good thing." -- Welcome -- Our brother Abu 'Abdullah came out, and they saw him coming. He said to him:The Shaykh : He wanted you to... The man came, and we started a long discussion with him. He was arguing with this hadith. And naturally, what should I call him for you? An opponent; meaning, an arguer, but without knowledge. And it is very natural that at the end of the discussion, he would be defeated by me; because he was an arguer, and I was arguing with him more, but I would overcome him in the end with knowledge. Finally, we agreed that the next day we would hold a session on the issue in the mosque; because the man had made a claim against this imam, telling you: "The tashahhud takes four minutes, something unbelievable!! The tashahhud alone takes four minutes." We agreed that the next morning.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Yes?

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : ...It is a strange thing, by Allah. We prayed Fajr the next day. I acted as if I knew nothing. The man was present, and I did not actually see him, and I left. A man came, and it became clear to me later that he was a man of good manners and apparently eager for knowledge; because later, he would stand in front of me from among the group while I was reciting the ten takbirs and ask a question. Before this eagerness for knowledge showed itself, he said to me: "If you could give us a word about the issue." I said to him: "The issue has become a forgotten matter, and we spoke with the man, and the man did not respond to me. I will continue on my way." I opened the car door to pass, and the man was coming. He said to me: "Where is the promise?" I said to myself: "By Allah, this is good. We have never been tested with someone so eager for knowledge." I said to him: "By Allah, I am with the promise, but I did not see you. Are you ready?" He said: "Yes." I returned to the mosque and prayed two rak'ahs again as the greeting of the sitting; meaning, I wanted to sit after I had left. Then I started to speak. We spoke as Allah (Mighty and Majestic) made easy. But the summary I said to him—his name is Abu Safwan, is that right? Abu Safwan—I said to him: "O Abu Safwan, the saying of the Messenger (peace be upon him): is not up to us. The Messenger set limits and set specifications so that the issue does not become chaos. Perhaps a man will come and say: 'My brother, if we recite al-Fatihah, the prayer is valid.' And I tell you: The prayer is valid, but where is the Sunnah? This is first. Second, this easing was reported to us by the Companions from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) in the following wording: 'The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) used to order us to ease, and he used to lead us with the Saffat (the ranks) in the Fajr prayer.' I said to him: 'What is the meaning of this hadith?' It means that the recitation of the Messenger with the Saffat among the people is not outside of easing. This is easing. So easing is not up to us. And I explained to him how the five prayers differ in recitation, one longer than the other, and the longest is the Fajr prayer. Therefore, we do not have to blame an imam. I do not tell you that he prays according to the Sunnah. No, the Sunnah is longer than what he does. So it is only our duty regarding the Messenger, as the poet said:
So imitate them, if you are not like them *** For imitating the noble is success
We try to imitate the prayer of the Messenger, but where are we and where is the prayer of the Messenger? We brought him evidence of his lengthening of the night prayer, and how Hudhayfah, when he followed him and he opened with Surat al-Baqarah, I imagine his heart sank. Al-Baqarah! But he reasoned to himself that now he would reach the hundredth verse and bow. He said: 'So he continued.' He stopped saying 'now at the second hundred' until he finished what? All of al-Baqarah. And he started with what? Al-Imran. Then he went to al-Ma'idah. Then he returned to what? Al-Nisa. Four surahs from the longest surahs in the Qur'an from the mushaf, with what? In one rak'ah. Yes?

Another questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : In "Sahih Muslim".

Another questioner : This indicates that from 'Isha to Zuhr he had not finished!

The Shaykh : Yes, that is what you say. The point is, I brought up the story of that noble Companion, Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, about whom the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) testified with his words: . This noble man said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) stood up one night and lengthened the recitation until I was on the verge of doing something bad. They asked him: What were you on the verge of doing? He said: I was on the verge of leaving him and sitting down. It was something unbearable and impossible to endure.

Another questioner : Pardon me, I mean, does he not pray, or does he sit instead of standing, my Shaykh?

The Shaykh : I mean instead of sitting. And this reminded me; we told Abu Safwan, "My brother, you are arguing that the one with you has urinary incontinence, has this or that, and so on. My brother, pray sitting down. Allah said: Pray standing, and if you cannot, then sitting, and if you cannot, then on your side. This religion is ease, but the ease is not according to our whims. The Messenger of Allah used to lead the people in the *Saffat* (long prostration) in a row. The problem now is that the texts are interpreted according to desires. As for adhering to the Sunnah in understanding them, that is more precious than red sulfur!"

The questioner : And some of the scholars, my Shaykh, indicated that the original principle is ease, so they opposed the Sunnah in the name of ease.

The Shaykh : [30] He must say: We need the *Saffat*.

Another questioner : He has to say: We want al-Saffat.

Another questioner : Shaykh, does easing things mean the *Shatir* (a type of prayer)?

The Shaykh : Yes, that is what they think!

Another questioner : He said, "My Shaykh, I wish you would bring the *Saffat* and similar things and..."

The Shaykh: Allah is the Greatest!

Another questioner : And he does not know how many of them there are.

The Shaykh : Yes, by Allah!
-- ... ... ... --

The Shaykh : If it has become half the night, let us pray 'Isha'.

Another questioner : Not yet, my Shaykh.

The Shaykh : That is what our friend is saying.
... ... ...