This is a refutation of some points raised in an article posted in AA.org site titled: “Tarawih; a parody of prayers”.
AA.org states:
What Rasool (saww) offered for 3 nights, was only and only TAHAJJUD Prayer (which starts after Midnight).
For proof, see the following hadith, where it is particularly mentioned that Rasool (saww) came for prayer only after the “Middle of Night”.
Narrated 'Urwa:
That he was informed by 'Aisha, "Allah's Apostle went out in the MIDDLE OF NIGHT(i.e. For Tahajjud) and prayed in the mosque and some men prayed behind him. In the morning, the people spoke about it and then a large number of them gathered and prayed behind him (on the second night). In the next morning the people again talked about it and on the third night the mosque was full with a large number of people. Allah's Apostle came out and the people prayed behind him. On the fourth night the Mosque was overwhelmed with people and could not accommodate them, but the Prophet came out (only) for the Morning Prayer.
Sahih Bukhari, Volume 3, Book 32, Number 229
Therefore, people must stop lying upon Rasool that he prayed such 8 or 20 Rakah Salah after Isha Prayer and thus it is his Sunnah.
1st challenge
Those who claim such absurdities may prove to us that the present day Tarawih (i.e. Praying 8 or 20 Rakah Salat after Isha Prayer) was ever practiced by Rasool Allah (saww).
Note: Some blind ignorant people (including Mufties of Saudia) have nowadays started claiming that “Qiyamul Lail قیام الیل “(i.e. Tahajjud) and Tarawih after Isha Prayer are the same thing. We will deal with this later on. Insha-Allah.
It is very amusing to see blind and ignorant people about the Sunnah of the Prophet -SAW- calling others blind and ignorant. Any person familiar and knowledgeable with the Sunnah of the Prophet -SAW- would know that Tarawih prayer was performed and approved by the Prophet -SAW-.
As for the hadith of Aisha -r.a- then it is a proof against the Shia and not for them, for in the narration of Abu Salama from Aisha -r.a-, reported in Musnad Ahmad, she said: “The Messenger of Allah -SAW- ordered me to place a haseer (straw carpet) on the door of my room, so I did and the Messenger of Allah -SAW- came out to (pray on it) after he had prayed Isha’ prayer and people who were in the Masjid gathered to him and the Messenger of Allah -SAW- lead them in prayer for a long (part of the) night and then the Messenger of Allah -SAW- left them and came in and left the haseer as it is. When morning came, people talked about the prayer of the Messenger of Allah -SAW- with those who were with him that night. So when the night came, the masjid was full of people, so the Prophet -SAW- lead them in Isha’ prayer and then left to his home and the people remained. So the Messenger of Allah -SAW- said to me: What is the matter with the people O Aisha? I said: O Messenger of Allah! The people heard about your prayer last night with those who were with you in the masjid, so they gathered so that you would lead them in prayer. He said: Roll up your haseer from us.”
It is evident that the Prophet -SAW- lead them in night prayer after Isha’ prayer in the first night, and in the other night people waited for him after Isha’ prayer. This does not contradict the wording of Bukhari that this occurred in the middle of the night (jawf al-layl) because what is meant is the period that extends between the first third of the night and the last third of the night, so if one assumes by today’s standards that the sun sets at 5:00 p.m and rises at 5:00 a.m this would be the period between 10:00 pm and 2:00 a.m, and not exactly 12:00 a.m as we understand it today. It is also known that the Prophet -SAW- sometimes delayed Isha’ prayer till people waiting for prayer used to nod their heads in the masjid out of drowsiness.
Furthermore, what Aisha -r.a- reported is one incident were the Prophet -SAW- prayed in the middle of the night period. There are other incidents reported by other companions were the Prophet -SAW- did indeed pray the night prayer early, after Isha’ prayer:
Abu Dawuud , Number 1370:
Narrated AbuDharr:
We fasted with the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) during Ramadan, but he did not lead us in night prayer at any time during the month till seven nights remained; then he lead us in prayer till a third of the night had passed. When the sixth remaining night came, he did not lead us in night prayer. When the fifth remaining night came, he lead us in night prayer till a half of the night had gone.
So I said: Apostle of Allah, I wish you had led us in supererogatory prayers during the whole of tonight.
He said: When a man prays with an imam till he (finishes and) leaves he is reckoned as having spent a whole night in prayer. On the fourth remaining night he did not lead us in night prayer. When the third remaining night came, he gathered his family, his wives, and the people and prayed with us till we were afraid we should miss the falah (success).
I said: What is falah? He said: The meal before daybreak. Then he did not lead us in night prayer during the remainder of the month.
It is evident from this narration that in that in one night the Prophet -SAW- prayed in congregation till one-third of the night passed, and in the next odd night he prayed till half of the night passed and Abu Dhar requested that the Prophet -SAW- would continue the rest of the night. This is only possible if the Prophet -SAW- started the prayer early, otherwise if he started after midnight as AA.org stated, and continued till half the night passed, then there is nothing left of the night to continue the prayer, because the second half of the night ends with Fajr!!
That the Prophet -SAW- prayed after the Isha’ prayer is mentioned explicitly in Ahmed’s narration of the hadith: “When the Prophet -SAW- prayed Asr on the 22nd day he said: “ We are going to pray night prayer tonight Insha’Allah, so whoever wishes to pray then let him pray”, which is the night of the 23rd. So the Prophet -SAW- prayed it in congregation after Isha’ until one third of the night passed and then he left”.
In another narration my Ahmad Abu Dhar said: “We prayed with the Messenger of Allah -SAW- the night of the 23rd of Ramadan upto the first one-third of the night”. Obviously, one who starts Qiyam after midnight would have missed the first one-third of the night!!
Another companion who reported this incident is Al-Numan Ibn Basheer. His narration is in Musnad Ahmad: ““We prayed with the Messenger of Allah -SAW- the night of the 23rd of Ramadan upto the first one-third of the night”.
Al-Nasai in his Sunan and Al-Hakim in his Mustadrak also narrated this hadith. Al-Hakim said: “This contains the evident proof that praying Tarawih in the Masjids of Muslim is a Sunnah of the (Prophet SAW), and Ali Ibn Abi Talib used to encourage Umar (RA) to revive this Sunnah until he revived it.”
AA.org states:
Narrated Zaid bin Thabit:
Allah's Apostle made a small room (with a palm leaf mat). Allah's Apostle came out (of his house) and prayed in it. Some men came and joined him in his prayer. Then again the next night they came for the prayer, but Allah's Apostle delayed and did not come out to them. So they raised their voices and knocked the door with small stones (to draw his attention). He came out to them in a state of ANGER, saying, "You are still insisting (on your deed, i.e. Tarawih prayer in the mosque) that I thought that this prayer (Tarawih) might become obligatory on you. So you people, offer this prayer (i.e. Tahajjud or the so called Tarawih) at your homes, for the best prayer of a person is the one which he offers at home, except the compulsory (congregational) prayer."
Sahih Bukhari, Volume 8, Book 73, Number 134
Thus Rasool particularly/specifically referred to this Tahajjud (or the so called Tarawih) Prayer, and told:
1.Offer this Tahajjud (or so called Tarawih) prayer at your homes.
2.And at homes too, pray them individually (i.e. don’t start making Jamah (i.e. Congregation) at homes.
3.Offering these Nawafil individually at homes is better than Mosque till Qiyammah (and is irrelative of Rasool (saww) being alive or dead)
The deductions made from the hadith are erroneous, because it is the same Prophet -SAW- who lead them in prayer for congregation during the previous nights. In Abu Dhar’s narration it was the Prophet -SAW- who announced for the people on Asr prayer that they will be praying congregation prayer later on, it is the same Prophet -SAW- who upon seeing Ubai Ibn Kaab lead a group of Muslims in Tarawih prayer in Ramadan said: “ They have done something right, and indeed how good is what they did” [Narrated by Abu Dawuud from the way of Abu Huraira (r.aa) and Al-Bayhaqi from the way of Thalaba Al-Qurathi and declared authentic by Shiekh Albani]
It is the same Prophet -SAW- who encouraged Muslims to pray Tarawih in congregation by saying “When a man prays with an imam till he (finishes and) leaves he is reckoned as having spent a whole night in prayer.”
So if the deduction was true, then he would have advised the people to pray at home since day one and not lead them in prayer and encourage them to do so.
Rather the statement that the Prophet -SAW- made about praying at home was only made after the Prophet -SAW- explained to them that praying in congregation is no longer possible (due to fear that prayer become obligatory on them). And now since they cannot pray in congregation, the Prophet -SAW- guided them to pray at home, for it is better for a person praying individually to pray at home. The hadith is comparing praying tarawih at home individually with praying tarawih in the mosque individually, it is not comparing praying tarawih at home individually with praying tarawih in congregation at masjid.
AA.org states:
3rd Challenge
This is an ample proof of Tarawih to be among one of Evil Misguided Innovations, otherwise it is a challenge to prove otherwise.
This is an ample proof to the ignorance of the author of this article. The author of the article already quoted narrations showing that the Prophet -SAW- himself lead Muslims in prayer in Tarawih. The differentiation between the timing being early or late at night is a non-issue, because we have already reported narrations showing that the Prophet -SAW- prayed it early.
AA.org states:
4th Challenge: How come Wahabies pray Tarawih for 30 Nights of Ramadhan in congregation?
1. Rasool offered Tahajjud (or so called Tarawih) in Congregation for only and only 3 Nights of Ramadhan. How come you extended this Sunnah of 3 nights to whole 30 nights of Ramadhan?
2. Moreover, tell us the reason why have you extended it only to 30 nights of Ramadhan, and why not you to 365 days of whole year? (i.e. Did Rasool ever tell you that this Congregational Tarawih prayer is allowed only in Ramadhan and Haram in remaining months?)
Note: This extension to 30 days has nothing to do with Rasool , but Umar Ibn Khattab did it according to his “Qiyyas”, and Salafies are only following this “Qiyyas” today.
Rather it has to do with the Prophet -SAW- not specifying these particular nights in Ramadan, for in one incident he prayed three consecutive nights, in another incident he prayed odd numbered nights, showing us that praying in congregation is not limited to 3 nights of Ramadan. Had the Prophet prayed in congregation outside Ramadan then we can extend this to the 365 days of the whole year.
This understanding is not limited to Umar (r.a.a) but also relates to other famous companions of the Prophet -SAW-, including Ali (r.a.a), who according to Al-Hakim was the one who encouraged Umar to perform Tarawih in congregation in the first place.
Al-Athram narrated from Abu Abdul Rahman Al-Sulami that Ali -r.a.- lead them in prayer in Ramadan, and from the way of Ismail Ibn Ziyad he said: " Ali passed by masjids while lamps were lit in the month of Ramadan and said: " May Allah make the grave of Umar shine with light, as he has made our masjids shine. In Ibn Shaheen's narration: "made the masjids of Allah shine with Quran" as reported in Kanz Al-Umal.
During his caliphate, Ali Ibn Abi Talib (r.a.a) was reported to have assigned Imams for Tarawih in Kufa, one for the women and one for the men:
Marwan Ibn Muawiya and Muhammad Ibn Amara’ narrated from Abu Umayya Al-Thaqafi from Arfaja that Ali used to order people to pray the night prayer in Ramadan, and he used to assign an Imam for men and another Imam for women. He (i.e Arfaja) said: “He ordered me to lead the women (in prayer)” [Ref: Musnaf Ibn Abi Shaiba and Musanaf Abdul Razaq]
AA.org states:
5th Challenge: Salafi Sunnah of Completing Whole Qur'an during "Tarawih"
Another very important question for Salafies(Wahabies), which they never answer.
Please show us that:
1. Rasool (saww) ever completed whole Quran in this form of Congregational Prayer during 30 nights of Ramadhan.
2. If not, then prove to us that Rasool (saww) ever ordered us to do so (in congregational form) after his death.
These Salafies are the same people who cry out loudly that we (Shia) have made it a regular practice (i.e. Biddah) to say Darood before Adhan. But when they themselves made a regular practice of completing Quran during Congregational Tarawih, then it is fine. Double Standards?
Note: Neither Allah, nor Rasool (saww) ever ordered (or recommended) to recite whole Quran during Congregational prayers during 30 nights of Ramadhan. Contrary to this, Allah (swt) recommended to read so much Quran as it is easy.
[Shakir 73:20] Surely your Lord knows that you pass in prayer nearly two-thirds of the night, and (sometimes) half of it, and (sometimes) a third of it, and (also) a party of those with you; and Allah measures the night and the day. He knows that you are not able to do it, so He has turned to you (mercifully),therefore read what is easy of the Quran. He knows that there must be among you sick, and others who travel in the land seeking of the bounty of Allah, and others who fight in Allah's way, therefore read as much of it as is easy (to you),
Therefore, completing one Quran during 30 nights of Ramadhan is only and only a Bidah of Umar Ibn Khattab, and Salafies are following him in his innovation, instead of following Quran and Sunnah.
And my challenge to you is: prove that Umar -r.a.a- ordered the completion of Quran during 30 nights (or 29 nights) of Ramadan!!
Shiekh Ibn Uthaymeen -rha- said: “I do not know in completing Quran in night prayer in the month of Ramadan a sunnah from the Prophet -SAW- nor from the companions either”
Rather it is possible that the companions -r.a.a- completed the Quran several times in night prayer during Ramadan because they prayed for much longer periods than we pray today, it is reported that they used ropes and sticks as supports because they prayed from Isha’ to Fajr.
This being said, Bukhari narrated the following:
Volume 6, Book 61, Number 519:
Narrated Ibn 'Abbas:
The Prophet was the most generous person, and he used to become more so (generous) particularly in the month of Ramadan because Gabriel used to meet him every night of the month of Ramadan till it elapsed. Allah's Apostle used to recite the Qur'an for him. When Gabriel met him, he used to become more generous than the fast wind in doing good.
Volume 6, Book 61, Number 520:
Narrated Abu-Huraira: Gabriel used to repeat the recitation of the Qur'an with the Prophet once a year, but he repeated it twice with him in the year he died.
Thus we see that the Prophet -SAW- used to recite the whole of Qur’an to somebody else (in this case Gabriel (a.s) )during Ramadan, and this is what some Imams are doing in Ramadan, they are reciting the whole of the Quran over the 29 nights of Ramadan to the people in prayer, yet this does not necessarily contradict reading what is easy of Quran for this varies from one person to the other: the Prophet -SAW- once lead Huthaifa in nigh prayer and recited Al-Baqara , Al-Imran and Al-Nisa’ in one rakaa’!!
