Taraweeh

Taraweeh
                                                                                                                      

Taraweeh is one of the major features of Ramadhan. The Holy Prophet ﺻﻟﻰﺍﷲ ﻋﻟﻳﻪ ﻮﺍﻟﺳﻠﻡ has indicated that whosoever stands in the nights of Ramadhan, for reward and to please Allah, will have his sins forgiven.

Taraweeh is the twenty rak‘at Sunnat-e-Muakkedah prayed in Ramadhan. Sunnat-e-Muakkedah is the emphasised one, so anyone who misses it without a reason will have to account for it and the one who makes a habit of missing it will be a major sinner.

The time for Taraweeh is from after the Fardh of ‘Isha until the break of dawn.

To pray with the congregation (Jama‘at) is Sunnat-e-Kifaayah, meaning if everyone prays at home, all will be committing a sin, but if some individuals pray at home with some praying with the Jama‘at at the Mosque, then it is okay.

Just like men, it is equally important for women to pray Taraweeh, but of course, they should pray at home.

The twenty rak‘ats should be prayed in pairs, that is two rak‘ats ten times.  It is Mustahab to sit for a little while after every four rak‘ats. This period of resting is called Tarwiyyah.

One can either sit quietly or do some Zikr during Tarwiyyah.

One who has not yet prayed the Fardh of ‘Isha cannot pray Taraweeh.

One who has prayed the Fardh of ‘Isha separately, meaning not with congregation, should also pray the Witr separately.

If some rak‘ats of Taraweeh were not prayed with the congregation for any reason, then when the congregation for Witr takes place, one should join this congregation and pray the remaining Taraweeh later on.

One can pray Taraweeh twice in two different Mosques if he wishes, but ‘Isha and Witr can only be prayed once.

 It is Sunnat-e-Muakkedah to complete the recitation of the Holy Qur‘an once in Taraweeh during the course of the whole month.

When praying separately at home, one can pray whatever he remembers from the Holy Qur‘an. But the order of Surahs and Ayahs should not be altered.