Discussion of what pertains to the night prayer of Ramadan.

The Shaykh : As for the night prayer, the night prayer of Ramadan is prescribed as a recommended practice (sunnah), established by the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). It is prescribed that the night prayer of Ramadan be performed in congregation, because the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his companions) led the people in congregation for three nights, then he delayed and said: So the people continued after that, with two men, three men, or one man praying alone, each on his own. During the caliphate of 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), he went out one day and found the people scattered, some praying alone, two men on their own, and three men on their own. He (may Allah be pleased with him) thought it best to gather the people behind a single imam, so he gathered them behind Tamim al-Dari and Ubayy ibn Ka'b; one would lead at times and the other at times. He ordered them to lead the people in eleven rak'ahs, as is established in the Muwatta of Imam Malik (may Allah have mercy on him), that they should lead the people in eleven rak'ahs, just as the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not exceed eleven rak'ahs in Ramadan or otherwise. This is the most perfect and best number, so eleven is better than twenty. However, the eleven should not be performed with the speed customary among many imams, where you find no tranquility, no supplication, and no glorification of Allah; the most they do is perform the obligatory parts. Even in the tashahhud, most of the time, when we reach "I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger," they say, "Peace be upon you." Wait, send blessings upon the Prophet, seek refuge in Allah from the punishment of the Hellfire and the punishment of the grave. Let the people supplicate to Allah (Mighty and Majestic). No, let us just walk quickly so that we are the first to leave the mosque. If we are the first to leave, many people will come to us, but this is a mistake. We say, be tranquil, my brother. When does a person get Ramadan? When does it happen? Let the people be tranquil, let them supplicate to Allah (Mighty and Majestic). Instead of leaving in one hour, leave in an hour and a half; that is the difference. And what we should do is pray with the imam until he concludes, in order to obtain the reward of the entire night, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his companions): So staying with the imam until he concludes is better than leaving before he finishes and then standing in prayer at the end of the night. As long as Allah has made it easy for you to pray with the imam for a full night, thank Allah for this blessing, and stand with the imam until he concludes. But if a person says, "I want to perform tahajjud at the end of the night because it is my custom, or I desire to converse with Allah at the end of the night," we say there is no harm in that. But if the imam has performed his witr and concluded his prayer, then stand and perform one rak'ah so that your witr becomes even, and your witr will be at the end of the night, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his companions): And he said: , . If someone asks, "How do I differ from the imam? The imam prayed one rak'ah and I prayed two?" The answer is that this is permissible. Is it not the case that if a resident man prays behind a traveling imam and the traveler concludes, what does he do? He completes by performing two rak'ahs after his imam's salam, adding to his imam. This is what the Shari'ah brought. This man added to his imam because he has no witr; he intended to pray an even number so that his witr would be at the end of the night. The important thing here is that we offer two pieces of advice: the first for the imams, and the second for the rest of the people. As for the imams, we advise them to fear Allah (Mighty and Majestic), to be gentle with those behind them, and to give those behind them time to remember Allah, glorify Him, and supplicate to Him. If they restrict themselves to eleven rak'ahs with length, it is better than twenty-three with excessive speed. One whom I trust told me that a man entered the mosque in Ramadan while they were praying the tarawih prayer, the tarawih according to the old custom. He stood and prayed with them, but at first they hurried with great haste. Once, when he left the night, he saw in a dream that he entered this mosque and found the congregation praising and dancing. Praise here means one lifts his body and lowers it like this, and they are dancing, indicating that this prayer is play, with no tranquility and no ability to supplicate. But now, praise be to Allah, the matter has eased; many imams now are tranquil in the recitation, tranquil in the bowing, tranquil in standing after the bowing, tranquil in the prostration, and tranquil in sitting between the two prostrations, so much good is achieved. As for the second piece of advice, it is for the general public to strive for these tarawih and to stand with the imam until he concludes. As for what some people do, especially in the past, praying two rak'ahs in this mosque, two in the second mosque, and two in the third, this is a waste, a waste. We say, if you have prayed 'Isha' with the imam, sit in the mosque until the tarawih are completed. I ask Allah to complete His blessing upon us and to make us among those who fast Ramadan and stand in prayer out of faith and seeking reward. Indeed, He is Generous and Bountiful.