Mohammed (s.a.w) never prayed any prayer called Taraweeh prayer, nor did he pray any prayer after the Isha prayer except the usual nawafil prayers which for us is the Sunnah prayers (two rakayats). But Rasool (s.a.w) always prayed Tahjut prayers consisting of eight Rakayats and three rakayat witr. Tahjut prayer was Farl for Rasool (s.a.w) and for us it is sunnah, The below hadees very clearly states that Rasool (s.a.w) never prayed any special prayers in Ramadan.
Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith
Hadith 4.769 Narrated by
Abu Salama bin Abdur Rahman
That he asked 'Aisha "How was the prayer of Allah's Apostle in the month of Ramadan?" She replied, "He used not to pray more than eleven Rakat whether in Ramadan or in any other month. He used to offer four Rakat, let alone their beauty and length, and then four Rakat, let alone their beauty and length. Afterwards he would offer three Rakat. I said, 'O Allah's Apostle! Do you go to bed before offering the Witr prayer?' He said, 'My eyes sleep, but my heart does not sleep.' "
Since Tahjut was farl for Rasool (s.a.w) he prayed it as four rakayats, but we cannot pray it as four rakayats, we can pray it as only 2 + 2 and so on. And it would be sunnah for us. At this juncture we should remember that Mohammed (s.a.w) though he did not pray any extra prayer in Ramadan he advised us to pray as much prayer as possible each night to the extent that if anyone wants to pray the whole night it is permissible only in Ramadan. And Allah is ready to pour forth his Blessing on that person. So the question does not at all arise whether one should pray eight rakayats or twenty rakayats, one can pray as many rakayats as is possible for him. As to how this prayer i.e the special night prayer in Ramadan was innovated the hadees below clearly explains it:
Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith
Hadith 3.227 Narrated by
Abu Huraira
Allah's Apostle said, "Whoever prayed at night the whole month of Ramadan out of sincere Faith and hoping for a reward from Allah, then all his previous sins will be forgiven." Ibn Shihab (a sub-narrator) said, "Allah's Apostle died and the people continued observing that (i.e. Nawafil offered individually, not in congregation), and it remained as it was during the Caliphate of Abu Bakr and in the early days of 'Umar's Caliphate." 'Abdur Rahman bin 'Abdul Qari said, "I went out in the company of 'Umar bin Al-Khattab one night in Ramadan to the mosque and found the people praying in different groups. A man praying alone or a man praying with a little group behind him. So, 'Umar said, 'In my opinion I would better collect these (people) under the leadership of one qari (reciter) (i.e. let them pray in congregation!)'. So, he made up his mind to congregate them behind Ubai bin Ka'b. Then on another night I went again in his company and the people were praying behind their reciter. On that, 'Umar remarked, 'What an excellent Bid'a (i.e. innovation in religion) this is; but the prayer which they do not perform, but sleep at its time is better than the one they are offering.' He meant the prayer in the last part of the night (Tahjut prayer). (In those days) people used to pray in the early part of the night."
Here we should note that though Omar (r.a.) innovated this practice he also said that it would be much better to sleep in this time i.e. at the time when they pray the Ramadan special night congregational prayer, and pray the Tahjut prayer during which the people usually sleep. And we should also note that Omar (r.a.) did not join in the congregational prayer. For he knew it would be best to emulate the Prophet who prayed only Tahjut prayers. But if one is to pray the whole night also it is permissible as Rasool (s.a.w) has permitted to do so.
In the below hadees it is clearly understood that during the time of Ramadan for a few days Rasool (s.a.w) conducted this Tahjut prayer in the Mosque and in congregation. But he did not make a practice of the same.
Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith
Hadith 2.229 Narrated by
Aisha, the mother of the faithful believers
One night Allah's Apostle offered the prayer in the Mosque and the people followed him. The next night he also offered the prayer and too many people gathered. On the third and the fourth nights more people gathered, but Allah's Apostle did not come out to them. In the morning he said, "I saw what you were doing and nothing but the fear that it (i.e. the prayer) might be enjoined on you, stopped me from coming to you." And that happened in the month of Ramadan.
We know that the congregation conducted by Rasool (s.a.w) was during the time of Tahjut prayer as in another hadees the Sahabas say Rasool (s.a.w) conducted the congregational prayer and recited long suras to the extent they feared that the suhr meals time (pre-dawn meals in Ramadan) would be over.
To conclude; pray as much as you can in Ramadan, but do not miss the Tahjut prayers. For Tahjut prayer is the most pleasing to Allah.
The Excellence of Optional (Tawawih) Prayer during Ramadan
Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) used to urge (the people) to perform (optional Tarawih) prayer at night during the month of Ramadan. He did not order them or make it obligatory on them. He (PBUH) said, "Whosoever performs (optional Tarawih) prayers at night during the month of Ramadan, with Faith and in the hope of receiving Allahs reward, will have his past sins forgiven." [Muslim].
This Hadith highlights the following points :
1. Qiyam in the month of Ramadan is a much-stressed act and has great importance from the viewpoint of reward and award.
2. The sins which are pardoned through it are minor sins because major sins are not forgiven unless one makes sincere repentance and compensates those whom he has wronged.
3. That Qiyam during the month of Ramadan was the practice of the Prophet (PBUH). During the course of a Ramadan, he made Qiyam for three nights consecutively, that is, he performed this Nafl Salat in congregation with his Companions. On the fourth night, when his Companions gathered for this purpose he said to them, "I am afraid it will be made obligatory for you." So, in spite of their desire to join him in this prayer, he did not lead the Salat that night. How many Rak`ah did he perform in congregation in these three nights is a pertinent question here. According to Ahadith their total comes to eleven; eight Rak`ah and three Witr. Thus the Masnun number of Rak`ah of Qiyam Ramadan is eleven.
4. This Nafl Salat has been interpreted in Ahadith as Qiyam Ramadan. Later on they were named Tarawih. Tarawih is the plural of Tarwihah. Since the Companions of the Prophet (PBUH) and the successors to the Companions used to make a lengthy Qiyam in them and they would take rest after performing every four Rak`ah. This is how these came to be named Tarawih (Rest prayer). (Four Rak`ah are called Tarwihah).
5. Tarawih are in fact Tahajjud prayers. For the sake of convenience and benefit of the maximum number of people, it is performed in the month of Ramadan soon after `Isha' prayer, along with the latter, which is the early time for Tahajjud prayers.
6. That the Tarawih were performed in congregation is established from the conduct of the Prophet (PBUH). He led this Salat on 23rd, 25th and 27th of Ramadan. During his caliphate, `Umar (May Allah be pleased with him) started it again and ordered Ubayy bin K`ab and Tamim Ad-Dari to perform them in congregation. He enjoined them to perform eight Rak`ah Tarawih and three Rak`ah Witr. This practice has been going on ever since.
7. Some people say that performing Tarawih in congregation is a Bid`ah (innovation in religion) because it was introduced in the reign of `Umar (May Allah be pleased with him). But this is not correct because it is established that the Prophet (PBUH) did not continue it out of fear that it will be made obligatory; otherwise he would have carried on with it. When the fear that this practice be made obligatory was over, `Umar (May Allah be pleased with him) gave it the form of a Nafl prayer and revived the mode of performing it collectively, and thus fulfilled the desire of the Prophet (PBUH). In spite of all these facts, it is still permissible for one to perform Tarawih individually in the late hours of the night.
Since ordinary people are not capable of performing it individually, the step taken by `Umar (May Allah be pleased with him) is perfectly correct. If this had not been done, the majority of the people will have remained deprived of the blessings and reward of Qiyam-ul-Lail, which would have been a great deprivation indeed.
8. Twenty Rak`ah Tarawih is not confirmed from any authentic Hadith, nor its ascription to `Umar i(May Allah be pleased with him)is proved from any reliable Muttasil (connected) Hadith. A claim has been made in a Munqati` (disconnected) narration that in the days of `Umar (May Allah be pleased with him) people used to perform twenty, thirty-six and forty Rak`ah of Tarawih out of which one can at best infer the justification for more than eight Rak`ah Nafl prayer. Even then the Masnun Tarawih will be eight Rak`ah only, and more or less than that will be Ghair-Masnun.
9. In Tarawih, that is Qiyam Ramadan, lengthy Qiyam is Masnun, but it must be borne in mind that the Qur'an must be recited according to the principles of `Ilm-ut-Tajwid with clear and distinct voice at a slow pace. Many of the Qurra recite so fast that it is hard for one to understand, let alone concentrate on what is being recited. Such recitation is a means of retribution rather than reward.
A new system is now in vogue: According to this fashion, the whole Qur'an is finished within a few days and eight to ten parts of it are recited daily in Tarawih. There are hundreds of thousands people in the audience. After listening the Qur'an for a few days, these people console themselves that they have heard the entire Qur'an in Tarawih and are now free to pay full attention to their business to make the best of the `Eid season. They do not care to know whether the Qari is reciting the Qur'an or something else.
