He was asked about increasing beyond eleven rak'ahs in the tarawih prayer.

The questioner : Regarding the tarawih prayer in Ramadan, we know that its number is eleven rak'ahs, and that is the correct practice. However, we see, for example, in the Prophet's Mosque and the Sacred Mosque, that they pray twenty-three rak'ahs. If we were to assume, for the sake of argument, that they are mistaken, are there any people who would correct them? Are there scholars there who would explain to them that it is obligatory to pray eleven rak'ahs? Because most Muslims follow their lead.

The Shaykh : Yes, this question, my brother, is certainly raised by some people. But do you not believe that in the same country, in Makkah and Madinah, there are mosques that pray according to the Sunnah?

The questioner : There are.

The Shaykh : Good. Do you not believe that the country you are in now has what that country has?

The questioner: Yes, it is.

The Shaykh : Good. If someone were to ask you the same question regarding this country and say to you, "Are there no scholars 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 corrects them.

The Shaykh : It is the same answer, the same answer. In your admission, those who are praying according to the Sunnah—what made them pray according to the Sunnah? The scholars. If 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 causes them to be blamed; and there are people who have scholarly cowardice—they know the truth but do not dare to state it. If left to himself and his Lord, he would not pray as the people pray in the Sacred Mosque and the Prophet's Mosque, but would pray according to the Sunnah. And some of them say to you, "The Sunnah is better, but this is permissible." Why? Because the night prayer is purely voluntary. From this angle, they broaden the issue and tell you there is no limit, even though the schools of jurisprudence have set limits. As far as I know, no school of jurisprudence leaves the issue open. The Hanafi school, for example, says to you that the Sunnah in the tarawih prayer is twenty rak'ahs. The Maliki school says to you twenty-six or twenty-seven or more, and I have forgotten. The Shafi'i school is like the Hanafi school. This openness is also held by Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him), and some scholars and people of virtue hold to it for the sake of making things easy for people. But, by Allah, I believe that making things easy is holding fast to the Sunnah, without doubt or hesitation. Why? The issue is like a mathematical problem: for a person, whether he is very capable and intelligent, or on the contrary, dull and forgetful, is it easier for him to count eleven rak'ahs or twenty-three rak'ahs? Without doubt, eleven. This is where the ease comes from. In an hour of sixty minutes, or if they want to pray twenty or thirty rak'ahs or so, who makes 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 as if someone were chasing him with a stick? There is no problem at all. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) told the truth; what can I say after his words? But, subhan Allah, some people have become accustomed to the idea of "make things easy and do not make them difficult, make things easy and do not make them difficult," and they took this principle in its absolute form as well. And this is one of the problems of this time.