The ruling on increasing beyond two in tarawih and night prayer

Question:
If one stands in the tarawih prayer up to that point (a third after the second)?

Answer:
He should be reminded, sit down, and perform the prostration for forgetfulness.
Q: What if he completed it?
The Shaykh: No, the preferred course is as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . It is the recommended practice for him to sit and perform the prostration for forgetfulness, based on his (peace and blessings be upon him) statement: as found in the two Sahihs.
Q: Is it obligatory or is this the preferred course?
The Shaykh: By Allah, the safest course is this. Many scholars say: it is permissible for him to pray four, and some say: he completes four. However, the apparent Sunnah is this; the apparent Sunnah is that he prays, sits, and performs the prostration for forgetfulness, because this is what is prescribed for him. As for the permissibility of praying four, this is a matter of scholarly disagreement.
Q: Is there disagreement regarding the night?
The Shaykh: There is disagreement.
Q: Even in the night?
The Shaykh: In the night and the day, yes, but the disagreement is easier regarding the day.
Q: Did not the descriptions of the night prayer from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) vary, sometimes five, and sometimes more than that?
The Shaykh: The witr is in the night. In the day, he does not pray except in pairs. In the day, in pairs. When the witr was missed in the night, he prayed in the day in pairs, peace and blessings be upon him.
Q: Tarawih, may Allah reward you?
The Shaykh: This is in the night.
The student: Yes, in the night.
The Shaykh: If he wishes, he prays eleven, and if he wishes, he prays thirteen, and if he wishes, he prays thirty-three, or forty-three, or one hundred and one. The matter is broad. The night prayer is in pairs, but the preferred course is eleven and thirteen, due to his (peace and blessings be upon him) action.
Q: Does he mean the rak'ahs with one taslim?
The Shaykh: This is specific to the witr, not for the four-rak'ah prayer. The witr is five, seven. As for praying six all together, or four all together, there is no evidence for it, and the Sunnah contradicts it. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . An exception to this is if he performs witr with five, or three, or seven; there is no harm.
Q: The matter occurred with Muslim in some wordings of the hadith of Ibn Umar?
The Shaykh: Yes.
The student: In some wordings of the hadith of Ibn Umar with Muslim: Pray in pairs, in pairs.
The Shaykh: Likewise, this is the meaning of . The witr is an exception to this; because the Messenger is the one who commanded pairs, and yet he performed witr with five, and with three, and with seven, so there is no harm. But he does not pray four all together, or six all together, or eight all together, unless he sits in the first tashahhud as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did. For in some narrations, when he prayed seven, he sat in the first tashahhud in the sixth, and sat in the first tashahhud in the eighth, then he came to the last one. As for leaving the four in pairs, or the six in pairs, or the eight in pairs: this is contrary to the Sunnah, especially in the night.