The Special Prayer (Namaz) of Taraweeh is offered between Isha and Fajr during the Holy month of Ramdhan. It consists of twenty Rak’ahs and has the status of Sunnah (compulsory) both for men and women believers. The Messenger of Allah observed this prayer and this practice was continued by his companions or Shaba’s (RA) after him also.  This prayer can be observed even by those who do not observe fast on valid reasons which have been set down by the Holy Quran and the Prophet (SAW). The Prophet (SAW) is reported to have said once on the last day of the month of Sha’ban,   
         “There is a night in this month (Ramdhan) which is exalted and greater in excellence than a thousand months; Allah has enjoined an extra prayer to be offered in the nights of this month. If a person performs a voluntary good act out of his own free will during this month, he will be entitled to receive the reward of an imperative act performed in the other months…”    (Mishkat)    
         In another Hadith, he regards Taraweeh prayer as a means of forgiveness of sins, He (SAW) says,
           “The one, who observes the Taraweeh prayer at night during Ramdhan with complete faith and devotion only for the sake of recompense of the Hereafter, will have all his previous sins forgiven by Allah.” 
             The Holy Prophet (SAW) led the Taraweeh prayer in congregation on the 23rd, 25th and 27th of Ramdhan and when he observed the devotion and intense keenness of his Companions for the prayer, he decided to stay back in his abode. The Companions visited his dwelling and enquired about the reason. The Prophet said,   
                   “May Allah enhance your fervor and bless you; I have deliberately stayed back from the prayer lest it should be made incumbent upon you and then you may not be able to observe it regularly as a prescribed prayer; so you should offer it privately in your houses, because offering a voluntary prayer in the house carries much more rewards than offering in the mosque” (Muslim)
      This Hadith or tradition makes one understand that Taraweeh can be offered in congregation during three nights. Since the time of the Holy Prophet (SAW) till the early days of Hazrat Umar (RA), there was no organized system of offering the Taraweeh prayer in one congregation. The people either offered the prayer privately in their houses, or in the mosques in small scattered groups. During his Caliphate, Hazrat Umar (RA) decided to remove the discrepancy and established the system of holding one congregation for the purpose. He argued that Prophet (SAW) did not offer congregational Taraweeh on the reason that it may become compulsory for his Ummah. According   to Maulana Madoodi this inspiring move by Hazrat Umar (RA) was significant in the sense that it preserved the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, provided them a chance to win Allah’s blessings and strengthened the fraternity of Islam. He says, “As a matter of fact, this is indeed one of the best instances of Hazrat Umar’s (RA) deep insight into religion and his understanding of the Law-giver’s intention, on the basis of which he enforced a good practice” This practice was endorsed and continued by the other Caliphs also and ultimately the Scholars gave a verdict for congregational prayer of Taraweeh as a compulsory Sunnah having the Kifayah status. According to the consensus of the Companions of Prophet (SAW), Taraweeh Prayer consists of twenty Rak’ahs which are to be offered two at a time with one salutation, and after every four Rak’ahs a short pause of rest is to be observed for the ease of worshippers. However, the Ah al – Hadith hold the view that Taraweeh prayer consists of eight and not twenty rak’ahs. They justify their view on the basis of the Hadith reported by Hadrat Abdullah bin Abbas which mentions that twenty rak’ahs is not as authentic as those supporting eight rak’ahs. Maulana Madoodi says that” In the time of Hazrat Umer (RA) when the system of offering  Taraweeh prayer was introduced , the Companions observed twenty rak’ahs only . The same practice continued in the times of Hadrat Usman (RA) and   Hazrat Ali (KW). The consensus of three Caliphs shows that people were used to offering twenty rak’ahs only since the time of Prophet (SAW). And hence Imam Abu Hanifah, Shaf’i and Ahmad bin Hanbal and even Imam Malik (RA) supported the same number. The introduction of thirty six rak’ahs by Umer bin Abdul Aziz and Iban bin Uthman did not mean that they held a different opinion from that of rightly- guided Caliphs. Their aim was that people living outside Mecca may also get the same reward as those living in Mecca, whose practice was to  complete one circumambulation  of the Ka’ bah after  every four rak’ahs and so these righteous men introduced four additional rak’ahs in lieu of each circumambulation  and this practice was adopted by the people of Maddinah.” Now the Taraweeh prayer is offered by every Muslim in the month of Ramdhan and the practice of offering twenty rak’ahs is and has been adhered to by the whole Ummah since the times of rightly guided Caliphs. We now find that Taraweeh has become an established practice for the majority of the Muslims in the world.
   It is a Sunnah of the Prophet (SAW) to complete the whole Quran, from beginning to the end during the month of Ramdhan. It has been reported that Prophet (SAW) used to recite the whole Quran and emphasized upon his Ummah to follow the same for eliminating their sins and earning the reward of Janat. Hazrat Umar (RA) would make special arrangements for offering the Taraweeh prayer collectively and recital of the Quran during Ramdhan. Almost everywhere, the recital of Quran during Taraweeh is done in the month of Ramdhan. The offering of Taraweeh prayer in the month of Ramdhan has undergone a huge and welcome transition during the last two decades particularly in Kashmir. Before twenty years the Imams leading the Taraweeh prayers used to recite different Surahs of the Quran. Mostly, the short Surahs would be recited in the twenty Rak’ahs and the prayer would be completed within half an hour. However, after late 80’s, things started undergoing a change  mainly due to courtesy of the pass outs of different Islamic seminaries in India where they are prepared to  memorize and learn Quran by minds and hearts who are afterwards called as Hafiz or Huffaz. It were these Huffaz who introduced the tradition of completing the whole Quran during the month of Ramdhan in the Taraweeh prayers which had and has been practiced in Makkah and Madina and in other Gulf countries since a long time.  With the establishment of different schools of the Quran or Dar –ul – Ulooms and Madaaris in Kashmir, the tendency of offering Qur’an Taraweeh has got strengthened and instituted with much dedication and devotion.
      During Qur’an Taraweeh, one and a half Pa ‘ra or section is recited in every Taraweeh so that by the end of Ramdhan, the entire Qur’an is recited by the Imam and listened by the Nimazis. The Scholars of Islam find it a positive and welcome change because it speaks of the people’s devotion and love towards their religion of Islam and their Prophet (SAW). They feel that the Muslim society ought to be grateful to the Dar-ul- Alooms and Islamic Madaaris where hundreds of youth are trained to memorize the Qur’an every year and who render services in the mosques for people during Ramdhan. There was no conception of Qur’an Taraweeh in the city some decades ago. In 1970’s, there was only one Imam in Haji Masjid, Maisuma who used to offer Qur’an Taraweeh during the month of Ramdhan and the people from suburbs and other adjoining areas used to come to offer prayers in that Masjid and listen to the entire Qur’an recited beautifully by the Imam.  However, later on, it was also offered in the Miwaiz Manzil also. The other Imams of the mosques were not able to offer Qur’an Taraweeh and even they could not recite the Qur’an beautifully as is now done by the young generation of Huffaz.  The Dar-ul- Uloom Raheemiya, Dar-ul- Uloom Bilaliya, Dar-ul- Uloom Qasimya and other Dar-ul-Ulooms and Madaaris of the valley have put a different show now and these have pioneered the system of Qur’an Taraweeh in the valley. The people knowing their capability and recitation articulacy and persuasiveness offer Taraweeh prayer more devotedly and enthusiastically in the mosques. These Dar-ul- Ulooms have played a vital role in stopping import of Imams from other parts of India while exploiting the talent of our local youth for the pious service. The people offering Qur’an Taraweeh express great satisfaction over the listening of the entire Qur’an during the month of Ramdhan.

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Lastupdate on : Mon, 8 Aug 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Mon, 8 Aug 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Tue, 9 Aug 2011 00:00:00 IST