The Preference of Completing the Tarawih Prayer with the Imam Until He Concludes

This is a message from Adnan al-Sayyid Saleh, Aden Governorate, People's Democratic Republic of Yemen. In the first part of his message, he asks for the address of the program to which messages are sent quickly. We tell our brother, Adnan al-Sayyid Saleh, and we also tell the dear listeners: The address of the program "Light on the Path" is the Saudi Arabian Broadcasting Corporation, Riyadh.
As for his question, he says: We learned from your program "Light on the Path" that the Tarawih prayer is a recommended practice, but is it obligatory for a Muslim who starts it to complete it, or may he pray as much as he wishes and then leave?
Answer: There is no doubt that it is a recommended practice and a voluntary prayer. Tarawih means the standing prayer of Ramadan, and so is the night prayer, and so is the Duha prayer, and so are the regular voluntary prayers attached to the obligatory ones. They are all recommended practices, all voluntary. If he wishes, he performs them, and if he wishes, he leaves them off. Performing them is better. If he starts Tarawih with the imam and wishes to withdraw before the imam says the takbir, there is no blame on him. However, remaining with the imam until he concludes is better, and he is credited with the standing of the entire night for this, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): So if he remains with the imam until he completes the prayer, he has the virtue of standing the entire night. If he leaves after praying some of the units, there is no blame, no harm in that, because it is a voluntary prayer.