Abu Bakr Zoud – Taraweeh Prayers During Ramadan

			Bismillahirrahmanirrahim. Brothers and sisters in Islam, I want to talk to you about Salat
		

			Al-Tarawih. Al-Tarawih prayers is a special prayer that is only to be prayed in the nights
		

			of Ramadan and it is not prayed in any other month of the year. And this is a sunnah that
		

			the Messenger ﷺ established during his lifetime. He ﷺ prayed Al-Tarawih for a few nights
		

			in congregation and then he stopped and he abandoned that in congregation because he
		

			feared that it might become obligatory upon Ummatul Nabi ﷺ and perhaps they will not
		

			be able to commit to it. Nonetheless, the companions ﷺ continued to pray Al-Tarawih
		

			individually throughout the lifetime of the Messenger ﷺ and after his death during the
		

			Khilafa of Abu Bakr ﷺ and then during the Khilafa of Umar ﷺ. In the first part, they
		

			still prayed it individually until the second half of the Khilafa of Umar ﷺ. He gathered
		

			the people because he saw them, everyone praying by himself in the Masjid and it didn't seem
		

			to be like a good sight. Everyone was raising his voice and it became loud in the Masjid.
		

			So Umar ﷺ re-established this sunnah in his time and he gathered all the people under
		

			one Imam, Ubay' ibn Ka'b ﷺ. And the believers have been praying Salat Al-Tarawih during
		

			Ramadan ever since that time up until this day. Salat Al-Tarawih is considered a part
		

			of Qiyamul-Layl. So it is from the night prayers and it is highly recommended especially
		

			in Ramadan. When Nabi ﷺ mentioned something great and grand about its virtue, he said
		

			Maqama Ramadana Imanan wa Hatisaban, ghufir alahu maa taqdama min thambih. And Nabi
		

			ﷺ says, anyone who prays the nights of Ramadan, meaning Al-Tarawih, anyone who prays
		

			the nights of Ramadan out of faith, believing in this Salat and seeking the reward from
		

			Allah ﷺ, all his past sins will be forgiven, Allahu Akbar. This is a huge grand gift that
		

			Allah ﷺ gives the believers. Brothers and sisters in Islam concerning where to pray
		

			this Salat in the Masjid or at home, really it is a sunnah and it is up to you. If you
		

			find that you are lazy, you haven't memorized much Quran and you will not be motivated to
		

			pray it at home and you might skip it and miss it, then for you it is best to pray it
		

			in the Masjid. Go to your local Masjid and pray behind the Imam whatever he prays and
		

			finish with the Imam. Whoever prays with the Imam until the Imam finishes the Salat
		

			also with al-Watar, then he earns the reward of praying the entire night, Allahu Akbar,
		

			even though he will not be praying the entire night. So you will be sleeping for the rest
		

			of that night and Allah will be recording for you as though you are standing up and
		

			praying. And if you find energy in yourself and strengthen yourself and you have memorized
		

			a lot of Quran and you want to pray it at home, then that is also good for you and you
		

			are able to pray it at home. The main thing is don't miss it and pray it every single
		

			night and the same thing goes for the woman. If a woman feels like praying it in the Masjid
		

			will strengthen her iman among sisters and develops a lot more khushu'ah in the Masjid
		

			behind the Imam listening to the recitation, then that is best for her to do so. And if
		

			a woman wants to feel more khushu'ah in her house and she is able to pray at home and
		

			not become lazy from the Salat, then it is better for her to pray in her house and there
		

			is no issue concerning this matter. The main thing is that we pray this prayer in the nights
		

			of Ramadan and not miss out on a single night. And whoever has an excuse such as a woman
		

			that has her cycle, her monthly cycle and so on, then there is no need to worry. Allah
		

			Azza wa Jalla will record for her the reward of establishing the night prayer in Ramadan
		

			because this is a situation that she did not bring upon herself, rather this came to her
		

			naturally. So we ask Allah Azza wa Jalla to reward us all. There is of course always
		

			a debate, is it 8 prayers, 8 rak'aat, is it 20 rak'aat, is it more than that, is it
		

			less than this? Brothers and sisters in Islam, there is no need for this entire discussion.
		

			If we looked into the lifetime of Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, then Aisha radi
		

			allahu anha told us that the Nabi sallallahu alaihi wa sallam did not pray more than 11
		

			rak'aat a night. And so this was the night prayer of Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam.
		

			And that doesn't mean that a person cannot pray more than that because the Nabi sallallahu
		

			alaihi wa sallam himself, when he made the guideline for the night prayer, he said Salatu
		

			Laili mathna mathna. He said the night prayer is to be prayed in 2s, 2x2x2x2 and you can
		

			pray as much as you want. Umar radi allahu anhu prayed 20 rak'aat and those that came
		

			after him prayed even more up to 38, 40 rak'aat and so on. There is no issue concerning this.
		

			As long as you just spend some of the night in Salat, that's the main matter. When Nabi
		

			sallallahu alaihi wa sallam prayed 11, meaning he prayed 4, then 4, then 3 and that was
		

			al-watar. So ulama rahimahum allah they say, you can pray it 4. You can pray it 4. Just
		

			like we pray Salat al-abbuhar or Salat al-asr, you will pray 4 rak'aat, meaning when you
		

			do 2, you make attahiyat, then you get up for another 2 and then you make taslim. And there
		

			are other opinions as well that 4 means 2, 2 and then 2 and then 2. That's 8 rak'aat all together
		

			and that would be the better way to perform Salat al-layl, perform this Salat al-tarawih.
		

			After you've finished 8 rak'aat, you get up and you pray 3 al-watar and this watar you pray it
		

			2 rak'aat and you conclude that and then you get up and you pray 1 rak'aat and you conclude that
		

			or you could pray 3 rak'aat all together with no tashahud until the end. So you pray 1 rak'aat,
		

			2 rak'aat, then the third rak'aat and then you make tashahud and you conclude
		

			al-salat and that is your watar. And those who pray 20 rak'aat, then 20 rak'aat would be
		

			al-tarawih, would be the night prayer and then 1 rak'aat after this would be al-watar. This is
		

			according to some of our scholars. Brothers and sisters in Islam Salat al-layl or this prayer
		

			Salat al-watar, one of the main matters and one of the purposes of this prayer is the recitation
		

			of the Qur'an. That's one of the grand purposes of why al-watar was legislated so that the heart
		

			can connect with the word of Allah in the best position. The best position you will ever be
		

			in life is when you are standing praying. That's the best position. And from there you are reading
		

			the best of word and that is the word of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So Salat al-tarawih, the main
		

			purpose of it is to engage with the Qur'an and so open your ears and listen to what the Imam is
		

			reciting of the Qur'an. And also of course I know in these contemporary times, this day and age
		

			that we live many of our youth are far away from the Qur'an and the meanings of the Qur'an. So the
		

			question is, is it allowed to carry a translation of the Qur'an while the Imam is reciting and
		

			following in that? Brothers and sisters in Islam al-Ulamā' r-Rahmahum Allah, they mentioned that
		

			it is fine to do so, so long as you do not move your tongue and read. Say, if you're holding a
		

			translation of the Qur'an, don't move your tongue and read the translation. If you do this in Salat,
		

			your Salat is invalid because you recited other than the Qur'an and this is a problem.
		

			In Imam al-Nawawi al-Rahmahum Allah mentioned this matter. With Sheikh ibn Baz al-Rahmahum Allah,
		

			he also mentioned this matter. So what that means is if you're holding a translation from the phone,
		

			you can hold your phone, you can hold the Qur'an translation, you just look at it. You look and
		

			you ponder. Don't move your tongue and read what you are seeing. If that's the case, then it is fine
		

			to carry that translation of the Qur'an and follow through with the Imam so that your heart can connect
		

			with the meanings of this word of Allah Subh'anaHu wa Ta'ala. And at the end of Salat al-Witr, there is
		

			of course al-Qunut. We make this Qunut with the Imam. We say Ameen when he makes the dua or if you're
		

			praying at home, make a simple dua for yourself. You can make this dua if you know the Arabic
		

			language, then you only do it in the Arabic language. If you don't, you can make dua in the
		

			English language or in your language until you learn the Arabic language. That's it. That's
		

			something very brief about Salat al-Tarawih, brothers and sisters in Islam commit to this prayer,
		

			pray it every night.