Salaat al-Tarawih During The Lifetime Of Rasulullah (صلي الله عليه وسلم)

It is narrated that one night during Ramadhaan Rasulullah (صلي الله عليه وسلم) performed salaat al-tarawih in the masjid. A group of Sahaabah (رضي الله عنهم أجمعين) joined him during his salaah. The following night the same happened as the previous night except that the number of followers had increased considerably. Hence on the third (or fourth) night Rasulullah (صلي الله عليه وسلم) did not come out to the masjid to perform salaat al-tarawih with the people. The following morning he said to them: "Indeed I had seen your eagerness (to perform the tarawih behind me), but for the fear that this salaah will be made fardh (compulsory) upon you during Ramadhaan, I did not come out to join you in the tarawih." [Muslim, Hadith no.761]

Salaat al-Tarawih During the Period of the Rightly-Guided Khulafa (رضي الله عنهم أجمعين) (TWENTY RAKAATS)

Hazrat Yazeed Ibn Ruman (رضي الله عنه) narrates that during the khilaafah of Hazrat Umar (رضي الله عنه) the Sahaabah (رضي الله عنهم أجمعين) used to perform twenty rakaats tarawih and three rakaats witr salaah (with jamaat). [Muwwatta Imaam Maalik, chapter concerning standing in salaah during Ramadhaan]

During the khilafah of Abu Bakr (رضي الله عنه) tarawih with jamaat was not in vogue. The practice of performing twenty rakaats with jamaat in every night of Ramadhaan and the completion of the entire Quraan began only during the the khilaafat of Hazrat Umar (رضي الله عنه). All the Sahaabah (رضي الله عنهم أجمعين) present had agreed upon this practice. From then onwards including the Khilafah of both Hazrat Uthmaan (رضي الله عنه) and Hazrat Ali (كرم الله وجهه) upto this day the Muslim Ummah (at large) has followed this practice.

Twenty rakaats tarawih is also performed in both the Masjids of Makkah and Madinah upto the present time. However, it is tragic that in recent times a group of people have conflicted with the consensus of the Sahaabah (رضي الله عنهم أجمعين) and the rest of the Ummah with regards to the number of rakaats in Tarawih salaah!

See: The Number of Rak'ats in Taraweeh: http://www.muftisays.com/blog/Seifeddine-M/614_01-12-2010/the-number-of-rak%27ats-in-taraweeh.html

Taraweeh - Proof for 20 Rak'ats: http://www.muftisays.com/blog/Seifeddine-M/390_16-08-2010/tarawih.html

The Truth About The Number Of Rak'ats In Taraweeh: http://www.muftisays.com/blog/Seifeddine-M/586_20-11-2010/the-truth-about-the-number-of-rak%27ats-in-taraweeh.html

Taraweeh 8 or 20 Rakat by Shaykh ul Hadeeth Riyadh Ul Haq: http://www.muftisays.com/videos/video/mw99jkZboPA/taraweeh-8-or-20-rakat-by-shaykh-riyadh-ul-haq/

The Takbeers Of Salaat al-Eid

Hazrat Abu Musa Ash’ari (رضي الله عنه) was asked regarding the number of takbeers that Rasulullah (صلي الله عليه وسلم) used to say in both the Eid salaahs. He replied: "He (صلي الله عليه وسلم) used to say four takbeers (in every rakaat), in the same way as he used to say the takbeers in the salaat al-Janaaza." Hazrat Hudhaifa (رضي الله عنه) also confirmed this practice of Rasulullah (صلي الله عليه وسلم). [Abu Dawud, Hadith no. 1153]

Imaam Tirmidhi (رحمه الله) has also recorded several narrations of similar meaning from Abdullah Ibn Mas'ud and other Sahaabah-e-Kiraam (رضي الله عنهم أجمعين).

Distance Of Shar’i Safar (Travel in the Shariah)

It is narrated that Hazrat Abdullah Ibn Umar (رضي الله عنهما) and Abdullah Ibn Abbas (رضي الله عنهما) would perform Qasr salaah and that they would also make iftaar (i.e. they would not fast) whenever they travelled the distance of four burud. Four burud is sixteen farsakh i.e. 48 miles. [Bukhari, chapter regarding the distance upon which one will perform Qasr salaah].

It is mentioned in Fataawa Thunaiyya that the majority of the Muhadditheen say that 48 miles is the correct distance of Shar’i travel (safar). Nine miles is incorrect. (vol.1, pg.482)

The Duration Of Time Pertaining To Qasr

Hazrat Abdullah Ibn Umar (رضي الله عنهما) stated that whoever intends to stopover at any place along his journey for fifteen days (or more), he should perform his salaah fully (i.e. he should not perform Qasr salaah.) [Tirmidhi, Hadith no. 548]

Manner of standing in the saff (rows of the jamaah)

It is established from several ahadith that the saff (row) should be absolutely straight and no gaps should be left between the musallis (worshippers). However, some people insist on spreading their feet and standing in such a manner that their ankles touch the ankles of their neighbour. What is the reality of standing in this fashion?

Those who stand in this way base their practice upon a hadith narrated by Nu’maan bin Basheer (رضي الله عنه). He says: "Once Rasulullah (صلي الله عليه وسلم) faced us and said: "Straighten your rows." He repeated this thrice. He then said: "By Allah, you must most certainly straighten your rows or else Allah Ta’ala will disunite your hearts." Hazrat Nu’maan bin Basheer (رضي الله عنه) says: "I then saw the people joining together their shoulders and ankles." [Abu Dawood, Sahih ibn Khuzaima]

The concluding statement of Hazrat Nu’maan (رضي الله عنه) is also reported in Sahih Bukhari.

However, upon analysing this hadith, several points come to light: Firstly, Rasulullah (صلي الله عليه وسلم) never commanded the joining of the ankles. No hadith has yet been found wherein Rasulullah (صلي الله عليه وسلم) himself instructed the Sahaaba (رضي الله عنهم أجمعين) to join their ankles. The Sahaaba (رضي الله عنهم أجمعين) had themselves adopted this manner in order to fulfil the command of straightening the saff. Secondly, this hadith clearly mentions that Nu’maan bin Basheer (رضي الله عنه) saw the Sahaaba (رضي الله عنهم أجمعين) doing this PRIOR to the commencement of the salaah. There is no mention of this position being maintained even after the salaah had commenced. Therefore we find that great muhadditheen such as Hafiz ibn Hajar (رحمه الله) and Allama Shawkani (رحمه الله) have regarded this as an extreme measure which was occasionally adopted by the Sahaaba (رضي الله عنهم أجمعين) to ensure that the saff is straight.

In fact, a hadith of Hazrat Anas (رضي الله عنه) makes it absolutely clear that this practice was merely a measure adopted BEFORE the salaah to ensure the straightening of the saff. He says: "If I had to do that (join the ankles) with anyone of them (the taabi’een) today, they would run like wild mules." [Fath al-Bari, vol.2, pg.176]

This simply means that the taabi’een (رضي الله عنهم أجمعين) severely disliked that anybody should join their ankles with them. Several points are understood from this: Firstly, Hazrat Anas (رضي الله عنه) had stopped doing this completely. Had this been a sunnah and not just a manner of ensuring that the saff was straight, it is impossible that Hazrat Anas (رضي الله عنه) would have left it out merely upon somebody disliking it.

Secondly, the taabi’een (رضي الله عنهم أجمعين) would never have disliked it if they had observed many of the Sahaaba (رضي الله عنهم أجمعين) continuously practicing upon this. It was only due to the fact that they had not generally observed the Sahaaba (رضي الله عنهم أجمعين) adopting this procedure that they disliked it. Hence this makes it crystal clear that the Sahaaba (رضي الله عنهم أجمعين) had only occasionally adopted this practice to ensure the straightening of the saff. It was not a sunnah in itself, otherwise they would never have left it out.

It has already been made clear that Rasulullah (صلي الله عليه وسلم) never himself instructed the joining of the ankles, nor is there any mention of the Sahaaba (رضي الله عنهم أجمعين) having maintained this position even IN salaah. However, if for a moment we do accept that this position must be adopted during the course of the salaah as well, the question is: In which posture of salaah must this position be maintained? Must it be maintained during qiyaam, ruku, sajdah and qa’dah or in only some of these postures? If one says that the ankles should be joined only in the qiyaam posture, on what basis were the other postures excluded? If it is argued that it is difficult to do so in ruku and sajdah, the same could be said for qiyaam, since to stand with one’s feet spread apart is naturally awkward and hence it presents a certain amount of difficulty and uneasiness for many people.

In short, this practice is not established as a sunnah of salaah. It was merely adopted initially by the Sahaaba (رضي الله عنهم أجمعين) BEFORE the commencement of salaah to ensure that the rows are straight.

See: The Distance of the Feet in Salah: http://www.muftisays.com/blog/Seifeddine-M/440_11-10-2010/the-distance-of-the-feet-in-salah-%28prayer%29.html

Distance of the Feet in Salah: The Salafi Error: http://www.muftisays.com/blog/Seifeddine-M/1043_24-01-2011/distance-of-the-feet-in-salah%3A-the-salafi-error.html

And Allah Ta’ala Knows Best

(Sifatus Salaah: The Method of Salaah in the Light of Authentic Ahadith, Shaykh Muhammad Ilyas Faisal)

» Posted by Seifeddine-M on 14th March 2011

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