The Refutation of Those Who Cite the Statement of 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) Regarding the Tarawih Prayer: "What a good innovation this is," to Praise Innovations.

The Shaykh : Among the examples they also cite is the order of 'Umar ibn al-Khattab to Ubayy ibn Ka'b to lead the people in congregational Tarawih prayer during Ramadan.
They say that this is also an innovation, and we say: Far be it from 'Umar and the Companions to agree upon something called an innovation in the religion, while the Messenger said: ! But the truth is that 'Umar's position in this incident was the same as his position, and the position of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq and Zayd ibn Thabit, in the incident of collecting the Qur'an, and his position in this incident was the same as his position in the incident of expelling the Jews from the Arabian Peninsula. He did not bring forth anything from himself that he found pleasing by his intellect, but rather he implemented a legal ruling that was established during the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). The explanation of this is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), as we all know, used to pray the night prayer (Qiyam) in all the nights of the year; he did not single out Ramadan for night prayer while excluding the other nights. This is one thing. A second thing is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) prayed for three nights in Ramadan at the end of his life (peace and blessings be upon him); he prayed with the people in congregation. That is to say: the night prayer, which was his custom (peace and blessings be upon him) to perform alone, he performed in this Ramadan—meaning the last Ramadan of his noble life—with the congregation for three nights. When they gathered and prayed behind him (peace and blessings be upon him), he did not object to it; rather, he approved their gathering. And so it was on the second night, and so it was on the third night. The mosque was so crowded that no other people could pray in it. They gathered on the fourth night and waited for the Messenger (peace be upon him), as is reported in "Sahih al-Bukhari." When they grew tired of the long wait, some of those who had no patience began to throw pebbles at the door of the Messenger (peace be upon him). So the Messenger (peace be upon him) came out angry and said: .
So we find in this hadith that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), after approving their prayer behind him on those three nights, refrained from coming out on the fourth night to pray with them and for them, and he explained the reason to them, saying: . Here, the cause (illah) is what prevented the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) from continuing and persisting in praying Tarawih in congregation. He feared (peace and blessings be upon him) that if they saw the Messenger continuing to keep the night alive in congregation, it would be implanted in their hearts that this is a mandatory, binding obligation. So, to avert this fear, he left it and did not pray.
And all the scholars of knowledge believe that the religion was completed and perfected with the death of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), so it does not accept addition or subtraction. Therefore, we found that 'Umar ibn al-Khattab returned to reviving that Sunnah which the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) had revived by his aforementioned action, and then by his following statement. He revived that Sunnah because the fear had been removed. And from the principles of jurisprudence and usul al-fiqh is: "The ruling revolves with the cause in its existence and absence." So the ruling of refraining was based on the fear. When the fear was removed, the ruling of refraining was removed, and it returned to its prescribed origin, which was prescribed by his action for three nights. And this legitimacy was confirmed by his statement (peace be upon him) which I referred to; it is what Abu Dawud and others narrated with a sound chain from Abu Dharr that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) prayed with them in Ramadan for three nights, or he said four, then he said: . This is a statement from the Messenger (peace be upon him) encouraging two things:
The first thing: which is known, and it is the obligatory congregational prayer with the imam.
And the other thing: the encouragement of the Messenger (peace be upon him) for the worshippers of the 'Isha' congregation to also pray the night prayer (Qiyam) with the imam. And that whoever combines the two congregations—the congregation of the obligatory prayer for 'Isha' and the congregation of the Sunnah for Tarawih—Allah will record for him the reward of standing the night, the reward of standing the night in its entirety and completeness.
This is a statement issued by the Messenger (peace be upon him) confirming the legitimacy of combining in the Tarawih prayer in Ramadan, contrary to those who think that the best in the Tarawih prayer in Ramadan is to pray it in his home with his family. No, this contradicts the practical Sunnah of the Messenger which he left for the cause of fear, and it contradicts his general statement directed as a general legislation to his Ummah; which is his encouragement (peace and blessings be upon him) to pray 'Isha' in congregation and the night prayer in congregation, so that he would have the reward of standing the night in its entirety. So what did 'Umar do? He revived a Sunnah from his action (peace be upon him) confirmed by his statement. How can it be said: that 'Umar innovated an innovation in Islam, but this is a good innovation?!
And they have here a doubt stronger than what was previously mentioned about them, but it is also a refuted doubt. That is because it came in the story of 'Umar ibn al-Khattab's revival of this Sunnah that he came out the next day and found the people praying in congregation behind one imam, Ubayy ibn Ka'b (may Allah be pleased with them both), so he said: "What a good innovation this is, and the one in which they sleep is better." The hasty ones in citing this incident held fast to 'Umar's word: "What a good innovation this is," and they said: Look, there is an innovation in Islam that is praised. So we remind them that we agreed with you, for the sake of argument, that the statement of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family): does not mean innovation. But we said to you, for the sake of argument, if you insist on interpreting it as one who innovated a good innovation in Islam, we accept from you the good innovation. And what good innovation is better than this combining that 'Umar did, following the Messenger's prayer for three nights with his Companions, and following the Messenger's statement (peace be upon him) in his encouragement of combining?! So he did not bring forth anything in the religion. If he had, why did they call it an innovation? It is an innovation in consideration of what happened of the people not gathering in the Tarawih prayer during the caliphate of 'Umar, during the caliphate of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, and part of the caliphate of 'Umar.
... and the caliphate of 'Umar, and after the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), the people were praying in groups and individually. So when he said: "What a good innovation this is," he means, with respect to what was between the Messenger's (peace be upon him) prayer of Tarawih in congregation and 'Umar's revival of this prayer, they called it an innovation. So it is a linguistic, relative innovation with respect to this short period, but it is not a legal innovation; because the evidence has been established for its goodness; that is, legally, the evidence has been established for its goodness legally. So whoever comes to us with a new matter that was not in the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) nor in the time of the righteous Salaf, and brings to us the legal evidence obligating us to adopt it—this innovation—then we say at that time: We draw near to Allah with this which you call an innovation, but we differ with you in this naming; because Islam has condemned innovation in the religion with a general condemnation. So if something is found for which the evidence has been established for its goodness and its legitimacy, it is not an innovation; because Islam has commanded it. This hadith ...
And the story of 'Umar ibn al-Khattab in his revival of these two is among the strongest doubts that the masses hold fast to in approving some innovations in the religion. And it has become clear to us—and praise be to Allah—clearly that they have no hold in any of that.