Note: The following transcript was generated using AI and may contain inaccuracies.
Alhamdulillahi Rabbil Alameen, wassalatu wassalamu ala abdullahi wa rasoolihi, nabiyyina muhammad wa ala alihi wa ashabihi ajma'een.
Ustad Abdur Rahman Hassan, khafidhaka Allah, assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. Wa alaikumussalam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. How are you doing today? I am really good, Allahumma barakatuhu.
MashaAllah, jazakallah khair once again for joining me on the hot seat podcast. Jazakallah for having me, Allah bless you. We of course find ourselves in the month of Ramadan.
And we therefore have a Ramadan related topic that we are going to be discussing today inshaAllah. And that is the issue of salat al taraweeh. How many raqaat should it be? Should it be 8? Should it be 20? Are they both allowed? If they are both allowed, then is there one that is better than the other? This is the kind of topic that we are going to be discussing today.
And we are going to be presenting both sides of the argument inshaAllah as we often do on the hot seat. Before we start, we are going to have some opening questions. That are going to be talking about things like the manners of praying qiyam ul-layl.
The etiquettes and the virtues of praying qiyam ul-layl. And the reason we are going to be doing this is because seeking Islamic knowledge, as people are watching this podcast right now, is a mighty act of worship. And it is not an academic activity, it is a spiritual one.
And therefore before we get into the detailed academic discussion, we should be actually bringing our hearts close to Allah and asking Him to purify it for us. And that is why we are going to start with these kind of topics that might soften the heart. The first question I am going to ask is actually these different terms that we hear in the Quran and the sunnah.
Qiyam ul-layl, tahajjud, salat ul-layl, taraweeh. What is the difference or is there a difference between these different kinds of terminology? JazakAllah khayran for having me on the show. May Allah reward you.
MashaAllah you put a lot of work and effort in organising this and preparing it. May Allah reward you. And may Allah also reward the brothers who are working from behind the scenes, who are putting all of this together, allowing you and I to share what we have with the people.
May Allah reward them and bestow His mercy onto them. And also may Allah make this Ramadan for us a Ramadan where He accepts our righteous deeds, our prayers, our dua, our supplication. Going into the question that you asked, the names that have come regarding qiyam ul-layl or even taraweeh is many.
From those names is number one, qiyam ul-layl. And that is a narration found in Musnad al-Imam Ahmad, al-Tirmidhi, al-Hakim, al-Bayhaqi, al-Shaykh al-Bani authenticated in Hadith Abu Dardar that the Prophet said, Upon you is qiyam ul-layl. Come with qiyam ul-layl.
Why? Because qiyam ul-layl is the deeds and the action of the righteous people before you. It's a means to get closer to Allah SWT. It's a way to expiate our sins for us.
And it is what prevents a person from committing sins. So that's the first name. Because the hadith mentioned in the beginning, Qiyam ul-layl was used there.
Another term that was used was salat ul-layl. Salat ul-layl is another name or another term that's used. And that is based on the hadith of Imam al-Bukhari and Muslim.
Both are narrated in hadith Ibn Umar. A man came to the Prophet and he asked him, The Prophet said, Salat ul-layl is to, to. The Prophet told him.
If one of you is scared of the fajr prayer, is worried that the fajr has ended, the Prophet said, He would just pray one raka'ah or he would pray his witr, which would conclude for him what he's already prayed. So this hadith, the beginning, And the Prophet then said to him, Salat ul-layl mathna mathna. So the word that is used here is salat ul-layl.
This is the second name that's being used. Then we have the third name, which is al-witr. So now the word al-witr is a term that many people are not acquainted with.
Or they don't understand or they don't know. They know it to have one meaning. Or they have another understanding of it.
First of all, al-witr is something that the sharia encouraged. And Imam Abi Dawood narrated, first of all, that the hadith of Buraidah. Buraidah said, I heard the Prophet saying, The Prophet said this three times.
So the witr is a right of Allah, and the person who doesn't do it is not from amongst us. So this is a strong emphasis in regards to it. Al-witr has two meanings.
The first meaning is what you and I and many of us are acquainted with, and a lot of the people watching already know it as, which is the odd numbers that are prayed at the ending. Correct, yeah. And that is based on the hadith.
I mentioned already in Sahih Hayri, And the Prophet ﷺ said to him, This one shows that the witr is what? It's the last odd numbers that you pray. Also al-Imam al-Nasaiyyu wa ibn Majah, and Shaykh al-Bani created it in Sahih, in Sahih ibn Majah, Ubay ibn Ka'bin mentioned, that the Prophet ﷺ used to do witr with three surahs. His witr, the three raka'a of his witr, they used to be these three surahs.
The first one is, the second one is, and the third is, Again, this is the first meaning I'm talking about. Also al-Imam Muslim narrated it in Sahih, Aisha said, So he would do five witr, she said. He would not sit in that five until the ending.
So there would be no tashahud all the way up until the last raka'a. And the last raka'a. Okay.
Five. So this hadith mentions that the Prophet ﷺ She said, So khams is witr. So that's the meaning we know.
There are many other narrations. So you're saying there's another meaning to the word witr as well. Another meaning that has witr is a hadith, You can find it in Jami' al-Tirmidhi, you can find it in Sunan Abu Dawood, and Shaykh al-Nasir authenticated in Sahih al-Tirmidhi, and Shaykh ibn Ubaid, he has a hashiyah on bulughul maram, and he graded it to be hasan.
He said, This narration mentions that Allah ﷻ, the Prophet ﷺ saying to the companions, Allah has bestowed upon you a prayer. Allah has given you, gifted you a prayer. It is better for you than a red camel.
The best of this dunya, anything in this dunya. The best. Then the Prophet ﷺ said, Between those two prayers.
Between when? Salat al-Isha and? Until fajr. So how does that exclude it from the first meaning of witr? It's the same meaning, right? No, now it means the prayer that's prayed between, all of the prayers that are prayed from Isha until fajr, the Prophet ﷺ said. Because the witr that we know, as in commonly, which was the first meaning, that also is prayed between those two times.
Another hadith would emphasize my meaning even more, and I'm going to give you the understanding of the great scholars. For example, al-Imam al-Tirmidhi in his Jami' and Shaykh al-Nasir authenticated it, also al-Nasai from Hadith of Umm Salama. Umm Salama is saying this, So she mentioned that the Prophet ﷺ used to pray this much, 13.
And then when he became old, and he became weak ﷺ, she said he only did nine. And she called the whole prayer witr. And that's what al-Imam al-Tirmidhi in his Jami' al-Tirmidhi in his Jami' That's what he mentions.
He says, And al-Imam al-Tirmidhi mentions in his Jami' that Ishaq ibn Ibrahim mentioned that the Hadith of Umm Salama that I just mentioned right now, What it means is, that he used to pray 13 rak'ah with al-Witr in the night, so the night prayer was attributed to al-Witr. when it's in Ramadan. It's not known for this name, or this name is not a name for it, outside the month of Ramadan.
It's restricted to the month of Ramadan. And this name al-Fuyumi in his Kitab Misbahul Munir, he mentions, he says that the word Taraweeh comes from the word which means It's to remove distress and hardship and burden. Then he said, And Salat al-Taraweeh was derived from that meaning.
It was extracted from that meaning. After four rak'ah, the person will relax. Once you pray four, relax, and the next four, you relax, and then you pray al-Witr.
Okay. So that's why it's called. So it's 11, yeah? So 11 it is, but not just 11.
So that answers the question of the names. There's also another name, which is al-Tahajjud. Tahajjud is in the Quran.
So again, it's Tahajjud. So all of those are names which are synonyms. Okay, they all mean the night prayer, basically.
The prayer in between Salat al-Isha and Salat al-Fajr. They are all synonymous. They all mean the same.
Okay, the next question I had on the list, which I think you've asked and answered it already in the Salat al-Witr hadith that you mentioned, is when is the time that it's allowed to pray the night prayer? Okay, so this is a good question. I think more than just mentioning what time it is, there's another point I also want to discuss, which is, before I go to that, let me mention the time to elaborate. I mentioned, you're right, the hadith of Kharija bin Hudafa and Imam al-Tirmidhi and Abu Dawood.
I mentioned Sheikh al-Bani al-Authenticator, rahimahullah ta'ala, and also Ibn Baz Hassanahu fi hashiyatihi ala bulugh al-Muram. That the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, he said, inna allaha amaddakum bisalatin hiya khayru lakum min humrun na'am. al-Witru ja'alahu allahu ma bayna fima bayna salat al-Isha'i wa salat al-Fajri.
amma ila yatlu al-Fajri. Between those two prayers. So this hadith clearly and categorically tells us that the Salat al-Witr, which is Qiyam al-Layl, is between what? Fima bayna salat al-Isha'i ila an yatlu al-Fajr.
Until Fajr. So that is the time where we pray our prayers. Also the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, had told us in a hadith, man adrak al-subha wa lam yutir fala witra lahum.
Anyone who the Fajr comes and they haven't done their Witr, and the Witr is the last thing that you do for your prayer, your night prayer, the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, said that person has no Witr. Al-Imam Ibn Hibban narrated this in his Sahih. Al-Ibn Khuzayma, al-Abdul Razaq in his Musannaf, and al-Hakim al-Bayhaqi authenticated it, narrated it as well.
Sorry, min hadith Abu Sa'id al-Khudri. Hakim authenticated it. Dahabi also agreed with him on this authentication.
And also al-Albani, rahimahullah wa ta'ala, mentions the authentication of it in his Kitab al-Irwai al-Ghalil. Now there is, and also another hadith the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, said, Before Fajr comes, do your Witr. So all of those Ahadith, they suggest, sorry, go on, you want to carry on? All of those Ahadith suggest that the end time to pray Witr is the start of Fajr, when the Fajr comes in.
And this is the view of a great large number of scholars now. You might think to yourself, is this a view when the Prophet said something? Yeah, there is a dispute whether you can even pray the Witr after Fajr. After the Adhan, after the Salah, what are we saying, what do you mean by after Fajr? So once Fajr enters, the time of Fajr enters, are you allowed to pray Witr or your time is gone? It's expired.
Based on the Zahir of these Ahadith, Before Fajr comes, a Hadith from Muslim, a Hadith from Abu Sa'ud al-Khudri, the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, is saying in a Hadith of Kharija ibn Hudhafa, the Witr between Salat al-Isha' until Fajr comes, a Hadith of whoever realizes the morning and does not pray, then there is no Witr for him. So all those narrations, some scholars, they took the Zahir of it and they took the apparent meaning of it. And so they said that you are not allowed to.
And so Imam al-Tirmidhi says in his Jamia, وَهُوَ قَوْلُ غَيْرِ وَاحِدِ مِنْ أَهْلِ الْعِلْمِ وَبِهِ يَقُولُ الشَّافِعِيُّ وَأَحْمَدُ وَإِسْحَاكُ لَا يَرَوْنَ الْوِتْرَ بَعْدُ صَلَاةُ الصُّبْحِ They do not see the rights of anyone praying Salat al-Witr after Subhah But then there's other scholars who permit it. So what do they base their opinion on? For example, Ziyad mentions that Aba Nahik told him that Aba Darda'in used to address people without Witr to those who reached Subhah. So men from the believers went to Aisha and told her and she said that the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم يُصْبِحُ فَيُوتِرُ وَأَحْمَدُ وَالطَّبَرَانِ وَالْبَيْهَقِيُونَ They base it on this narration.
Abu Darda' gave a khutbah a sermon and in that khutbah he told the people اللَّا وِتْرَ لِمَنْ أَدْرَكَ الصُّبْحَةِ Witr comes there's no Fajr comes in there's no Witr for you anymore. He was given and he said that in his khutbah. فَانطَلَقَ رِجَالٌ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ إِلَىٰ عَائِشَةٍ A group of the sahabas or a group of men they went to Aisha whether they're sahabas or not I don't know but the group of men went to Aisha رضي الله تعالى عنها فَأَخْبَرُوهَا They told her what Abu Darda' said.
She said, كَانَ رَسُولُ اللهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يُصْبِحُ فَيُوتِرُ (The Prophet ﷺ would pray the Witr prayer in the morning). The Fajr would come in, and the Prophet ﷺ would pray with her. Also, similarly, Abdullah ibn Abbas رضي الله تعالى عنه. By the way, why did they go to Aisha? Is there any specific reason? Aisha was, as we're going to see, when it comes to the Prophet’s personal affairs like this, night prayers, it involves a private affair where you would have to stay the night with the Prophet ﷺ. Aisha رضي الله تعالى عنها had knowledge of it, and as we're going to see, she was one of the most knowledgeable when it came to, if not the most knowledgeable.
I want you to underline that point and remember it. It's very important. There's no debate about that. Okay? Also, Abdullah ibn Abbas رضي الله تعالى عنه, رَقَدَ ثُمَّ اسْتَيْقَضَ (he slept and then woke up). فَقَالَ لِخَادِمِهِ (He said to his servant), أُنظُرْ مَا صَلَى عَن نَاسُهُ (Go and look at what the people have done), وَهُوَ يَوْمَئِذٍ قَدْ ذَهَبَ بَصَرُهُ (From what we see from the narration, at this time it seems like he lost his eyesight).
Abdullah ibn Abbas رضي الله تعالى عنه said, فَقَالَ فَذَهَبَ الْقَادِيمُ ثُمَّ رَجَعَ (The servant went and checked and saw that the people had returned). He said, قَدْ انصَرَفَ النَّاسُ مِنَ الصُّبْحِ (The people have prayed the Subh prayer). فَقَامَ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بِنَ عَبَّاسٍ فَأَوْتَرَ ثُمَّ صَلَّى الصُّبْحَ (Then Abdullah ibn Abbas got up and prayed the Witr, followed by the Fajr prayer). رَوَاهُ مَالِكُ فِي الْمُوَطَّةِ (This was narrated by Malik in his Muwatta).
So, this is now not even after the Adhan of Fajr. It’s after the prayer has actually been prayed. A group of people prayed, but he hadn't prayed his Fajr. Malik also said: أَنَّهُ بَلَغَهُ أَنَّ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بِنَ عَبَّاسٍ وَعُبَادَةَ بِنَ صَامِتٍ وَالْقَاسِمِ بِنَ مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَبْدِ اللَّهِ بِنَ عَامِرِ بِنِ الرَّبِيعَةَ قَدْ أَوْتَرُوا بَعْدَ الْفَجْرِ (This is a report from Malik, stating that Abdullah ibn Abbas, Ubadah ibn Samit, Al-Qasim ibn Muhammad, and Abdullah ibn Amir ibn Rabi'a all prayed the Witr after Fajr).
This is from the reports of Malik (Ma'laqat Malik). Abdullah ibn Amir ibn Rabi'a said that Ubadah ibn Samit was leading a group of people in prayer. كَانَ عُبَادَةَ بِنُ الصَّامِتٍ يَأُمُّ قَوْمًا (Ubadah ibn Samit was leading a group of people in prayer). فَخَرَجَ يَوْمًا إِلَى الصُّبْحِ (He came out one morning for the Fajr prayer).
فَقَامَ الْمُؤَذِّنُ صَلَاةَ الصُّبْحِ فَأَسْكَتَهُ عُبَادَةَ حَتَّى قَال (The Mu'adhdhin started to call the Adhan for Fajr, but Ubadah ibn Samit silenced him). فَأَسْكَتَهُ عُبَادَةَ بِنُ الصَّامِتٍ (He told him to be quiet and not to do the Adhan).
Then, أَوْتَرَ ثُمَّ صَلَّى بِهِمُ الصُّبْحَ (Then he prayed the Witr and led them in the Fajr prayer).
What does all this show?
It shows that there are scholars on this side and there are scholars on that side. So when we have actions of the companions (رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ) and narrations from the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) himself praying witr after Salat al-Fajr has entered - how do we reconcile these?
This is important - it's a tariqah (methodology) and it's a manhaj (approach) that we need to really look into as Muslims. When we look at an ayah from the Quran or a hadith from the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم), we have to look at it through the lens of the sahabah and how they saw it. We can't just pull out a verse or an ayah without looking at the understanding of the companions and how they understood it - and then after that, the تابعين (successors) and الأتباع (their followers).
Sufyan al-Thawri has a very famous statement that he says:Arabic:إِنِ اسْتَطَعْتَ أَنْ لَا تَحُكَّ رَأْسَكَ إِلَّا بِأَثَرٍ فَافْعَلْTranslation:"If you can avoid scratching your head except with an evidence (from the Salaf), then do so."
Al-Sakhawi mentions this in his book "فتح المغيث" when he talks about the آداب طالب الحديث (the manners required from a scholar of hadith) - that to even find evidence to scratch your head, do so.
And Imam Ahmad has a very famous statement:Arabic:إِيَّاكَ أَنْ تَتَكَلَّمَ فِي مَسْأَلَةٍ لَيْسَ لَكَ فِيهَا إِمَامٌTranslation:"Beware of speaking about a matter in which you have no Imam (predecessor from the Salaf)."
Someone preceded you - basically, نعم (yes).
So all these issues - how do we...? Ibn Abd al-Barr talks about it. He says:Arabic:رُوِيَ هَذَا الْقَوْلُ عَنْ مَسْعُودٍTranslation:"This view (of praying after Fajr) has been narrated from Ibn Mas'ud..."
All these views that I mentioned right now of praying after Fajr - and then they clear a hadith that on the dhahir (apparent meaning) seems that you can't pray when Fajr comes in. So he said:
This view of praying after Fajr has been narrated from:
- Ibn Mas'ud
- Ibn Abbas
- Ubadah ibn Samit
- Abu Darda
- Hudhaifa
- Aisha
- Malik
- Al-Shafi'i
- Ahmad ibn Hanbal
- Abu Thawr
- Ishaq
- Jama'at
And it's the same with Ibn Abd al-Barr - that's the strongest to me. He says:Arabic:لِأَنِّي لَا أَعْلَمُ لَهَا أُولَئِكَ الصَّحَابَةِ مُخَالِفًا مِنَ الصَّحَابَةِTranslation:"Because I do not know of any companions who opposed those companions."
Arabic:فَدَلَّ إِجْمَاعُهُمْ عَلَى أَنَّ مَعْنَى الْحَدِيثِTranslation:"Thus, their consensus indicates that the meaning of the hadith..."
And so now he mentions the meaning of the hadith now, which is what the hadith means:Arabic:أَنْ يَكُونَ ذَلِكَ لِمَنْ قَصَدَهُ وَأَعْتَمَدَهُTranslation:"That this refers to one who deliberately does it..."
He's talking about a person who deliberately does it - then that person has no witr:
- Deliberately intends not to pray witr
- They're awake at night
- They say: "I'm gonna go to sleep - I haven't prayed witr, but I'm just not gonna pray tonight"
- Then they wake up and say: "I'm gonna pray - I've changed my mind"
- Or they watch the time go and say: "Yeah, let me just... I'll do it later"
- They just let it go because of their negligence
They are the ones that are being referred to here - which is that the person who doesn't do witr before Fajr has no witr. That's the people he's talking about - not allowed to pray after Fajr.
But all these evidences that we brought from the sahabah - it was because they had reasons to do it. So that's how to reconcile between all of those narrations.
So that's the fact that... then again, so someone who:
- Goes to sleep accidentally
- Intends to pray witr but they fall asleep (tiredness overcomes them)
- They wake up at the start of Fajr time
- They hear the adhan
For that person, they can actually pray witr even after the salah of Fajr - correct? MashaAllah.
Another point I want to mention, I know you haven't asked me, but I think it's worth mentioning here, which is the most virtuous time to pray. He said it’s between Isha and Fajr. Now, what’s the best time to pray? Jabir ibn Abdillah, رضي الله عنه, mentions that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said: "Anyone who's scared that he will not wake up for the last part of the night, should do it at the beginning, the first portion of the night." If you're scared and worried, and you think, "I may not wake up," okay, do it at the beginning. If past experience has told you that you're not good at waking up, then pray earlier. But anyone who hopes, insha'Allah, they can stand up at the last part of the night, should do it at the last part because praying late is the best. It is "mashhoodatan," which means it is witnessed—the angels are present. So, the person should try their hardest and put effort into making sure they pray at the last part of the night.
The end of the hadith, just mentioned in English, is categorically saying that it is better. So there’s no discussion with that—it’s better to pray in the last part of the night. Also, that’s how the Sahabah understood it. Al-Imam al-Bukhari narrated that Abdul-Rahman ibn Abdul-Qari said: "This was the time when Umar ibn al-Khattab was bringing the people together." He said Abdul-Rahman ibn Abdul-Qari narrated: "Ni‘ma al-bid‘atu hadhihi," and what they are doing now—what they are doing now is better than what they used to do. "Afdalu min allati yaqoomuna," which means praying at the beginning of the night is better than praying in the first portion. The Imam Bukhari and Muslim, specifically Bukhari, narrated that Abdul-Rahman ibn Abdul-Qari said, "One night I came to Umar ibn al-Khattab رضي الله عنه, and Umar saw in the Masjid that the people were dispersed—everyone prayed by himself. And then another night, he saw another group of people praying in the same way, scattered all over the place. Umar then said, 'I wish and I hope to bring all of these people together under one reciter.'" Then Umar did that. First, it was a wish, and then he made it into a conviction and made it happen. So, he brought them all together under the great reciter, the Qari of the Sahabah, Ubayy ibn Ka'b رضي الله عنه, or from the Qurra of the Sahabah, Ubayy ibn Ka'b.
The next night, he came out again, and the people were praying under their reciter, all united and all praying together. He said, "What a great example this has been set here." Even that phrase, because I know some people might listen to that phrase, there might be a discussion about it. We’ve covered that extensively in the hot seat, previously in the episode we did about innovation, which I think from memory was the third episode we’ve ever done in the hot seat. Anyone who wants an explanation of that phrase can go there, insha'Allah.
Exactly, and it can't even be considered innovation because it was something the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم did clearly. But what Umar meant here is the linguistic usage of the word "bid‘ah," not the technical meaning of the word. This is the part that concerns me from the narration, which is Umar said, "What they are doing right now, which is that they pray in the first portion of the night, what is better is that they pray in the last part because they sleep during the last part of the night, and they pray in the first part of the night." So, he’s saying that what they sleep during is better than the time they're praying right now. It’s better that they flip it. The people used to pray at the beginning, so this all shows us that the person should try their hardest to pray the last part of the night if they have the ability to do so, insha'Allah.
Okay, next question I have—and again, remember that one of the reasons why we’re asking these questions at the start is for the listener, and even for us, to bring our hearts close to Allah and ask Him to purify them for us. This is something that we should be listening to with an attentive ear so we can implement it even in the Taraweeh Salah that we’re praying tonight, insha'Allah, and the rest of Ramadan. What are some of the etiquettes and manners of how we can pray Qiyam ul-Layl? How should we approach Qiyam ul-Layl?
The person should intend, from their sleep, that they’re going to wake up for Qiyam. So, the manners even start that early on. It starts that early, and you look at your sleep as a way to nurture your body to worship Allah سبحانه وتعالى. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said, in a hadith narrated by al-Imam al-Nasai, Abu Dawood, and Malik, and authenticated by Abu al-Darda رضي الله عنه: "Whoever goes to his bed, intending to wake up and pray during the night, but his eyes overpower him until dawn, it is written for him as if he prayed the entire night."
Hafidh Ibn Hajar in Fath al-Bari quotes the great scholar Ibn Battal. Ibn Battal said: "Anyone who hears this hadith should seize the opportunity and come with sincere intention (ikhlas), good intent. If you hear this hadith, we don’t know if our deeds will ever be accepted. True, knowing that by doing this action, our salah is going to be accepted—it’s a great deed and a great opportunity." Allah says in the Qur’an, "Allah accepts the dua, the supplication, the prayer, and the righteous deeds of the pious." Because we know we’re not from the pious, it worries us whether our actions will be accepted. Imam al-Hasan al-Basri said: "I wish I knew that Allah will accept just one prostration from me." Imagine if your entire prayer was accepted, your wudu was accepted, your dua was accepted. This shows the virtue of this action.
Another point to be pointed out here is that the person who makes this dua, because the hadith does say that the person is not fully awake, is a person who used to what?
Let's take a moment to really digest those narrations, a lot of us are going to be inshaAllah praying Salat al-Tarawih this month, we mentioned at the beginning, Salat al-Tarawih, Qiyam al-Layl, they're all synonyms. How many of us actually go to the masjid to pray Salat al-Tarawih and actually put on our best garments, have a specific garment for this prayer and put perfume on ourselves, brush our teeth before we go? Some of us just wake up and without washing our face, without brushing our teeth, without making our clothes look clean, we would just rush and then stand up for prayer. In pyjamas even.
Okay, next question I have and it's the final one I have from this opening section inshaAllah, give some encouragement for people to pray Qiyam al-Layl, Tarawih, what are some of the virtues of praying Qiyam al-Layl? Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala spoke about the night prayer, many verses in the Quran, he encouraged the people to come with it, Allah says وَمِنَ الَّيْلِ فَاتَّهَجَّدْ بِهِ نَافِلَةً لَكَ عَسَىٰ أَن يَبْعَثَكَ رَبُّكَ بَقَابًا بَحْبُودًا This is in Surah Al-Isra, in Surah Al-Sajdah Allah says about the believers when he talks about their quality تَتَجَافَى جُنُوبُهُمْ عَنِ الْمَضَاجِعِ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُمْ خَوْفًا وَطَمَعًا وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَهُمْ يُنْفِقُونَ That they don't sleep, they leave their bed, they're running away from their bed and they go into their night prayer to ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, hoping for Jannah and wanting Jannah from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and fearing the hellfire. Allah even said about them كَانُوا قَلِيلًا مِنَ الْلَيْلِ مَا يَهْجَعُونَ وَبِالْأَسْحَارِ هُمْ يَسْتَغْفِرُونَ Little they spend in the night, they would wake up and beg Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Even Allah mentioned وَعِبَادُ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الَّذِينَ يَمْشُونَ عَلَىٰ الْأَرْضِ هَوْنَ وَإِذَا خَاطَبَهُمُ الْجَاهِلُونَ قَالُوا سَلَامًا وَالَّذِينَ يَبِيْتُونَ لِرَبِّهِمْ سُجَّدًا وَقِيَامًا Allah mentioned that they would be in sujood and huqoor.
Even when Allah praised the sahabas, Allah says about them وَالَّذِينَ مَعَهُ أَشِدَّاءُ عَلَىٰ الْكُفَارِ رُحَمَاءُ بَيْنَهُمْ تَرَاهُمْ رُكَّعًا سُجَّدًا يَبْتَوُونَ فَضْلًا مِنَ اللَّهِ وَرِضْوَانًا سِيمَاهُ فِي وُجُوهٍ مِنْ أَثَرِ السُّجُودِ ذَلِكَ مَثَالٌ فِي التَّوْرَاتِ وَمَثَالٌ فِي الْإِنْجِيلِ كَزَرْعٍ أَخْرَجَ شَطْآهُ فَآزَرَهُ فَاسْتَغْلَظَ فَاسْتَوَى عَلَىٰ سُوْقِ إِلَىٰ أَكْرِ الْآيَاءِ Also this quality of praying and light prayer in Ramadan more and even outside Ramadan as well because the lord of Ramadan is the lord of every other month. It's something that the Prophet used to make sure he sticks to alayhis salatu wasalam to the extent that he would actually physically harm his body. Al-Imam Al-Bukhari and Muslim both narrated in their Sahih in the hadith of Aisha that the Prophet ﷺ used to get up in the middle of the night until his feet would break.
Aisha said, Why do you do this, O Messenger of Allah? Allah has forgiven you for your sins and for what you did later. He said, Don't I like to be a grateful servant? So when he had a lot of meat, he sat down and prayed. When he wanted to kneel, he stood up.
He read and then knelt. Aisha she says, The Prophet ﷺ used to stand up at night until his feet would break. Al-Mughirat ibn Shu'ba mentions another wording, not just his leg would actually swollen, even his shin.
So Aisha said to him, O Messenger of Allah, Hasn't Allah not forgiven you for your past sins and your upcoming sins? For any mistakes that you were to do, it will be forgiven for you. Why do you do this to yourself? The Prophet ﷺ responded, He said to her, Don't I like to be a grateful servant? Do I not want to be a slave who shows gratitude to his Lord? The Sahabas sensed that from the Prophet ﷺ that he was one who prayed to Allah ﷺ. Abdullah ibn al-Ghawaha said, وَفِينَا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ يَتْلُو كِتَابَهُ إِذَا انْشَقَّ مَعْرُوفٌ مِنَ الصُّمْحِ صَاطِعُ أَرَانَ الْهُدَىٰ بَعْدَ الْعَبَى فَقُلُوبُنَا بِهِ مُوقِنَاتٌ أَنَّمَا قَالَ وَاقِعُ يَبِيتُ يُجَافِي جَنْبَهُ عَنْ فِرَاشِهِ إِذَا اسْتُثْقِلَتْ بِالْكَافِرِينَ الْمَضَاجِعُ When the disbelievers were sleeping and they were snoring, our Prophet ﷺ was praying and he spent his time in the night prayer. Daytime he was fasting and at night he was praying.
Also, it is from one of the greatest means to enter Jannah. عَبْدُ اللهِ مِّنِ السَّلَامِ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى عَنْهُ يِسَدْ لَمَا قَدِمَ النَّاسُ وَلَمَا قَدِمَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَامًا المَدِينَةَ جِئْتُ فَلَمَّا تَبَيَّنْتُ وَجْهَهُ عَرَفْتُ أَنَّ وَجْهَهُ لَيْسَ بِوَجْهِ كَذَّابٍ فَكَانَ أَوَّلُ مَا قَالَ أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ أَفْشُوا السَّلَامِ وَأَطْعِمُوا الطَّعَامِ وَصِلُوا الْأَرْحَامِ وَصَلُّوا بِاللَّيْلِ وَالنَّاسُ نِيَامًا تَدْخُلُوا الْجَنَّةَ بِالسَّلَامِ And Imam al-Tirmidhi and Ibn Ubaid narrated this. عَبْدُ اللهِ مِّن السَّلَامِ was a rabbi.
He was a Jew rabbi. He said, when the Prophet came to Medina, the people rushed at the Prophet ﷺ. جَفَلَ النَّاسُ One of the narrations mentions. The people, they charged at the Prophet ﷺ. Okay, they want to see him.
Muhammad came ﷺ. Everyone wanted to see him. He says, فَكَانَ أَوَّلُ مَا قَالَ From the first thing that he said ﷺ was what? أَفْشُوا السَّلَامِ Spread the greetings. أَفْشُوا السَّلَامِ وَأَطْعِمُوا الطَّعَامِ Feed the ones who are in need.
وَصِلُوا الْأَرْحَامِ Keep the ties of kinship. وَصَلُّوا بِاللَّيْلِ وَالنَّاسُ نِيَامُ تَدْخُلُوا الْجَنَّةَ بِالسَّلَامِ Pray at night when the people are sleeping. You would enter Jannah in peace.
Wow. Also from the virtues of Qiyamul Layl is it's a form to expiate our sins and our shortcomings. I mentioned already the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ when he said عَلَيْكُمْ بِقِيَامِ اللَّيْلِ فَإِنَّهُ دَأْبُ الصَّالِحِينَ قَبْلَكُمْ وَقُرْبَةٌ لَّكُمْ إِلَىٰ رَبِّكُمْ وَمَكْفَرَةٌ لِّسَيِّئَاتٍ وَمَنْهَاتٌ عَنِ الْإِثْمِ It's the deed of the righteous people.
And it is also a way to get nearness to Allah. And it's an expiation for our sins. That's what it is.
Also Qiyamul Layl is the best virtuous action after the prayer. After the five daily prayers that we pray, the best prayer is Qiyamul Layl. Imam Muslim narrated in his Sahih, from the Hadith of Abu Hurairah, that the Prophet ﷺ said, أَفْظَلُ الصَّلَاةِ مَعْدَ الْمَكْتُوبَةِ الصَّلَاةُ فِي جَوْفِ اللَّيْلِ That the best prayer after the obligatory prayer is الصَّلَاةُ فِي جَوْفِ اللَّيْلِ The prayer that is prayed in the middle of the night.
So all of these things give us the idea and the insani of the virtues of Qiyamul Layl. There are many more other virtues you can find if you look at the Qur'an. May Allah make us from those people who are consistently and continuously praying at night to their Lord.
Ameen. JazakAllah khair. Really appreciate that.
And that should, by the will of Allah, soften some of the hearts, including ours. And now we can talk about the discussion at hand. We're talking about how many raka'ats should be for the Salat al-Tarawih.
This is a common topic that is often discussed all over the world. And some people have different views on it. And some people are quite staunch and firm upon their view as well.
I think it's worth it to start mentioning the two views we're going to be representing today. I'm happy for you to explain the best view. I'll explain my view, and you can explain your view inshaAllah.
The view that I'm going to be representing today is that Salat al-Tarawih, Qiyamul Layl in the month of Ramadan, and outside of the month of Ramadan, cannot exceed 11 raka'at. It cannot go over that. If it does, then it's an innovation.
This is the position that I'm going to be representing today. Your position? My opinion inshaAllah and my view on this issue is the view of the scholars who say that there is no restriction for Qiyamul Layl. You can pray as much as you like and there isn't a restriction to it.
So it could be 11, it could be 20, it could be 30, it could be 40? It could be 100, 200. Jimmy? Okay, I'm going to start with my position inshaAllah. My position revolves predominantly around one hadith.
It's a hadith narrated by Abu Salma ibn Abdur Rahman, where he said, I asked Aisha radiAllahu anha, how is the prayer of Allah's Messenger sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam, during the month of Ramadan? This is exactly what we want to know. She said, Allah's Messenger sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam never exceeded 11 raka'at in Ramadan or in other months. Ma kana RasoolAllahi sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam yazeedu fee ramadana wala fee ghayrihee ala ahdaa ashrataa raka'at.
This is the hadith of Aisha radiAllahu anha and then she goes on to explain and describe his prayer, but that's the shahid from the hadith that I want. Again, I'm going to repeat it. Allah's Messenger sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam never exceeded 11 raka'at in Ramadan or in other months.
The position I'm representing, this is a clear-cut nafs in the issue, sahihun salihun. As for the authenticity, it's not going to be debated even from the other side. It's narrated fee sahihain in the sahih of Imam al-Bukhari and the sahih of Imam al-Muslim.
It's not going to be disputed, like I said, even from the other side. As for being salih, it's being direct in what Aisha radiAllahu anha is saying. It's clearly and categorically telling us that the Prophet's prayer sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam at night never exceeded 11 raka'at in Ramadan or in other months.
If this is the case for the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam, he is the one who has been set for us as an example to follow. And he prayed the night prayer for 20 years. Qur'an Shaykh al-Bani, in one of his books, mentioned 20 years.
Not just, this is now talking about istimlal, it's not just one-off here or there. Consistently, for 20 years, yet never, not once, according to this hadith, until you prove otherwise, not once did he exceed 11 raka'at. He is teaching us that this is a prayer that is restricted.
You cannot go over it. That's what he is teaching us. And there's another hadith, The Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam said, pray as you have seen me pray.
If we're not going to listen to him in that command, pray as you have seen me pray, when he is clearly showing us in this hadith that it is restricted to 11 raka'at, then what are we going to listen to him in? Number one. Second point I want to make is who is telling us this information? It's our mother, Aisha radiAllahu anha. You mentioned before, and that's why I smiled and said I want you to underline this, that she knew the private affairs of the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam.
Nobody knew his prayer better than she did. And she's the one who's informing us of this hadith. Next point I want to make is that opposing the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam, and it's all related to this one hadith.
I'm not going to go outside this hadith. I'm sure the discussion will bring other narrations. But this one hadith, I'm sticking onto it to prove my first point.
Opposing the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam in this is the same way as opposing him in other aspects of the prayer. For example, when he commands us to pray the way we saw him praying, anyone who prays other than that, even in other prayers, we say this is an innovation. How can you pray five rak'aat for dhuhr, for example? Similarly, he's showing us that the salat al-layl or taraweeh or qiyam al-layl is restricted to 11 rak'aat.
I'm now going to go in a little bit deep on the same hadith. This is a little bit now the next level and it's going to be a little bit technical. But inshaAllah, it's something I want the people to pay attention to inshaAllah.
The sunnah of the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam can be divided into different types. For example, we have as-sunnah tul qawliyah, statements of the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam. We have as-sunnah tul fi'liyah, actions of the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam.
I'm going to go into the different types of sunnah. I've only got four with me and I'm going to apply it to this particular issue. With regards to as-sunnah tul qawliyah, do we have statements of the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam that is clearly and categorically telling us that we can pray as much as we want in qiyam ul-layl or taraweeh? This is the side that you're representing now.
Do we have any evidence on that side? We don't. If you have one, you can bring it inshaAllah. But I'm claiming that we don't.
Even the hadith, as-sallahu alayhi wa sallam, it's not the maf'oom of that is what you're taking. It's not the mantook. It's not saying clearly.
It's talking about the kayfiyah. It's talking about how we pray. After every two raka'at, we have a taslim.
As we're saying that this is unrestricted and therefore we can pray unrestricted, we need evidence for that. I also have to be fair and just. On my side, I don't have a sunnah qawliyah that clearly says that it's restricted to eleven.
So, so far in that first type of sunnah, we don't have anything, neither of us. As for the sunnah fi'aliyah, this is where I'm bringing something to the table and I've already brought that, which is the hadith of Aisha radiyAllahu anha, clearly saying never in Ramadan, not outside of Ramadan, did the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam pray eleven raka'at. You now have to bring something to the table.
My claim is that you don't have anything that is authentic to bring to the table and therefore we're restricted to this hadith. There's another kind of sunnah, sunnatu at-taqririyah. This is where the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam sees something happen and he gives his tacit or silent approval because we know that no munkar would take place in front of our beloved Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam except he would clarify it and say this is wrong.
In twenty-three years of Prophethood, we never, this is something that I want the people to pay attention to, in the life of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam we never have one narration where anybody around him prayed more than eleven raka'at and he saw it and he stayed silent and he said this is good. It just didn't happen in his life. All of the people in his life salallahu alayhi wa sallam understood that this is a hard limit that we don't go over.
This is the position I'm representing. The fourth type of sunnah is something that I really want the people to ponder over. You mentioned this type of sunnah before.
As-sunnatu at-tarqiyah You said before on this very same podcast that when the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam doesn't do something in an act of worship then even if he doesn't tell us not to do it we should also follow him and not do that. For example, many people ask how do you know that it's an innovation or what is the evidence that it's an innovation to celebrate the Prophet's birthday salallahu alayhi wa sallam. The Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam never told us directly not to celebrate his birthday salallahu alayhi wa sallam.
Even the hadith of the Eidain it still needs a mafoom that's applied to that. He never told us directly do not celebrate my birthday salallahu alayhi wa sallam. One of the evidences that we bring to the table in this masalah is that the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam did not do it.
Therefore, we should not do it. Again, apply this to the topic that we are discussing today. The Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam hadith Aisha in Bukhari and Muslim he did not pray more than 11.
It's not appropriate for any Muslim to hear that and to think I know better than the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam. Even though there are general ayaat and general evidences that encourage lots of ruku, lots of sujood the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam was more aware of those ayaat than we are and he didn't apply it in a manner not once in his life 20 years of praying qiyam ul-layl every single night not once in his life did he say I'm just going to go over just once. That's my argument and the final thing that I'd end with is that for the Muslims at home who are listening to this podcast if you want to be from the people that love Allah and the people that Allah loves then stick to the Sunnah of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam.
Allah says, قُلْ إِن كُنْتُمْ تِحِبُّونَ اللَّهَ فَاتَّبِعُونِي يُحْبِبْكُمُ اللَّهُ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ. Allah is telling the Prophet ﷺ to tell us, قُلْ—it's a command to tell us: if you love Allah, then follow me, i.e., the Prophet ﷺ. Allah will love you and He will forgive you for your sins. He is the Forgiving, the Merciful. If you want to be part of this ayah, if you want to be part of this group of people, stick to the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. Don’t look left, don’t look right. You have a clear-cut hadith in this issue: the hadith of Aisha, that the Prophet ﷺ never, inside or outside Ramadan, exceeded 11 raka'at in Qiyamul Layl. That's my argument. Now, inshallah, you have your opportunity to respond. JazakAllah khair.
First of all, may Allah bless you for presenting your points and giving your evidences, mashallah. Now listen to mine, inshallah. Bismillah. My argument is that Qiyamul Layl ليس له حد—it has no limit. يعني there is no limit in the Quran and there is no limit in the Sunnah. Okay, it’s my chance to prove this, inshallah. And what is meant by that? The acts of obedience, other than the obligatory, the voluntary acts, are divided into two: there are Nawafil known as Mutlaqah (unrestricted), you can do as much as you like, and there are Nawafil which are known as Muqayyada (restricted). Okay, Muqayyada meaning restricted. The prayers that are restricted are like Salat al-Qusuf, the prayer for the eclipse, either solar or lunar. The difference is, the second one is the Rawatib, Sunan Rawatib, which is 12 raka'at a day. It’s restricted, it’s numbered, you can’t add nor reduce. Okay, it’s important. That’s the first type, which is known as Nawafil Al Muqayyada, the restricted ones. There’s a number to it. The second category is Nawafil which are Mutlaqah, meaning they are unrestricted, there’s no added to it.
Al Imam Ibn Hajar Al Haytami in his Kitab Al Fatawa Al Fiqhiyat Al Kubra says, "Wal Farquh Bainahu Wa Bain Ghayrihi Anna Shari'a Lam Yaj'al Lahu Adadan Wa Fawwadahu Ila Kheerati Al Mutabidi," meaning the voluntary prayer that’s unrestricted, the Shari'a hasn’t given it a number, a figure, and the Prophet ﷺ hasn’t either.
Can I ask a question? And the last part of the question: Wa Fawwadahu Ila Kheerati Al Mutabidi—the matter has been placed in the hand of the worshipper, so the worshipper has the right to choose what number he wants. Allah hasn’t given it a number, nor has the Prophet ﷺ.
What’s your question? For the eclipse prayer, where did Allah or His Messenger ﷺ give a number? The Prophet ﷺ gave it two raka'at. Where did He give it? The hadith mentions that it’s two raka'at. Every raka'at has two ruku’ and two sujood. There are disputes about the narrations that have come. There is a limitation to it. Is that just because of the action of the Prophet ﷺ, or is that a statement that He made? Statements as well. For example, let’s take the Rawatib: the Prophet ﷺ has said the number. He ﷺ did it, and now, which prayers do those twelve fall under is a matter of dispute, give or take. There was Khilaf on that issue. But that being said, the number is agreed upon. In my research, I couldn’t find a statement of the Prophet ﷺ talking about the eclipse prayer. I just saw everyone narrating it as how He prayed it.
So, two things I want us to understand: there exist Sunan Muqayyada (restricted), I don’t mean you disagree, right? There are, if the Prophet ﷺ clearly says a number, then of course, there is a number there. So, like for example, Sunan al-Rawatib: you believe there are twelve raka’at. I believe there are twelve. Is it only twelve?
Twelve?
Yes, twelve Sunan. You believe it’s only twelve?
Yes, only twelve.
Okay, yeah, so it is restricted to twelve, right?
Yeah.
Because of the statement of the Prophet ﷺ and the fact that He ﷺ did it. Now, that is Muqayyada, you cannot add or reduce. Now, another thing is, who has the choice to choose? No one. Only Allah has the choice on His Masjid. Agreed?
Agreed.
The second one is that it is unrestricted—you can pray as much as you like. An evidence for that is the Prophet ﷺ told us in a hadith: “Anyone who comes to the day of Jumu’ah before the Imam does the Khutbah, enters the Masjid early, comes there and prays what has been written for him.” This is a Mutlaqah, so you can keep going until the Imam comes. You can keep praying.
So, me and you, our discussion is about which category. I agree both those categories exist. Okay? My argument is that it falls under the category which is Mutlaqah—unrestricted. The reason for that is because, number one, I looked at the Qur’an and pondered over the verses of the Qur’an. Great ulema before me have done the same. The Salaf as-Salih did the same, and they realized from the Qur’an that it is mentioning this act of worship, Qiyamul Layl, unrestrictedly, which is Mutlaqah. That’s what the word means.
For example, Allah says, فَقْرَأُوا مَا تَيَسَّرَ مِنْهُ (Surah Al Muzammil), the beginning. What was He talking about? قُمِ اللَّيْلَ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا نِصْفَهُ أَوِ انْقُصْ مِّنْهُ قَلِيلًا أَوِ زِدْ عَلَيْهِ وَرَتِّلِ الْقُرْآنَ تَرْتِيلًا (Surah Al Muzammil, 73:2-4). He’s talking about what prayer?
Qiyamul Layl, فَقْرَأُوا مَا تَيَسَّرَ مِنْهُنَا — this is the abrogation of the first portion of the Surah, right? فَقْرَأُوا here doesn't mean "read." I have a question, if that's okay. Sorry, here فَقْرَأُوا doesn't mean "read." Carry on. فَقْرَأُوا here means "pray," because it's like the verse where Allah says, وَقُرْآنَ الفَجْرِ إِنَّ قُرْآنَ الفَجْرِ كَانَ مَشْهُودًا and وَقُرْآنَ الفَجْرِ مِنْهُ وَصَلَاتُ الفَجْرِ إِنَّ صَلَاتُ الفَجْرِ كَانَ مَشْهُودًا. فَقْرَأُوا means Quran, but here قراءة (recitation) means Salah. So, Allah is saying, فَقْرَأُوا meaning صَلُّوا — pray مَا تَيَسَّرَ مِنْهُ (whatever is easy for you).
Now, ما هي according to the Usuliyin is لِلعُمُوم — generalization. So, فَقْرَأُوا means "pray" مَا تَيَسَّرَ مِنْهُ — whatever is easy for you. This is the first generalization. I take my عُمُوم from there.
By the way, at the start of the Surah, you mentioned المزمل. It's talking about time, right? It talks about from what time to what time, and then you say the later part of the Surah is an abrogation of that first part. It's saying, "pray what is easy for you." So, if we’re talking about time, how does that affect the رَكَعَات? Someone could pray 8 رَكَعَات faster or longer than someone who prays 20 رَكَعَات.
No, here Allah says فَقْرَأُوا — read. But فَقْرَأُوا here means فَصَلُّوا. I’m with you on that, so it means فَصَلُّوا — pray whatever Allah has made easy for you. But we also agree that this was an abrogation from the first part of the Surah, which was talking about time, not a number of رَكَعَات. Do you see the point?
No, because the Sahabahs were praying, and they were struggling with the prayer. That’s why they were praying. It says, يَا المُزَمِّلُ قُمِ اللَّيْلَ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا، قُمِ اللَّيْلَ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا نِصْفَهُ أَوْ إِنْ قُصْ مِنْهُ قَلِيلًا أَوِ زِدْ عَلَيْهِ وَرَتِّلِ الْقُرْآنَ تَرْتِيلًا. They had to pray half of the night — that's the time period, right? So, Allah is saying to them that it’s important. I don’t want people to move on from here. Allah left it general. He didn’t restrict the number of rak'ahs to it, because you’re saying it’s restricted. Allah is the One talking here, and He’s leaving it unrestricted.
That’s not the only verse I’m using. I have all the verses in the Quran that talk about قِيَامُ اللَّيْلِ in every verse. التَّحَدَّك — I challenge you to bring me any verse where there's a restriction to it. Allah says, عِبَادُ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الَّذِينَ يَمْشُونَ عَلَىٰ الْأَرْضِ هَوْنًا وَإِذَا خَاطَبَهُمُ الْجَاهِلُونَ قَالُوا سَلاَمًا وَالَّذِينَ يَبِيتُونَ لِرَبِّهِ سُجَّدًا وَقِيَامًا. Allah left it unrestricted — سُجَّدًا وَقِيَامًا. Allah also says, لَيْسُ سَوَاءَ مِنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ أُمَّةٌ قَائِمَةٌ يَتْلُونَ آيَاتِ اللَّهِ آنَاءَ اللَّيْلِ وَهُمْ يَسْجُدُونَ — unrestricted again.
Again, يَا أَيُّهَا الْمُزَمِّلُ قُمُوا اللَّيْلَ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا نِصْفَهُ أَوْ إِنْ قُصْ مِنْهُ قَلِيلًا وَرَتِّلِ الْقُرْآنَ تَرْتِيلًا. This was in Makkah.
Okay, you can say it's abrogated. What about وَذْكُرِ اسْمَ رَبِّكَ بُكْرَةً وَأَصِيلًا وَمِنَ اللَّيْلِ فَسْجُدِ لَهُ — prostrate to Him وَسَبِّحُ — exalt Him لَيْلًا طَوِيلًا? The whole night.
Allah also says, أَمَّنْ هُوَ قَائِتٌ آنَاءَ اللَّيْلِ سَاجِدًا وَقَائِمًا يَحْذَرُ الْآخِرَةَ وَيَرْجُو رَحْمَةَ رَبِّهِ وَالْهَلْ يَسْتَوِي الَّذِينَ يَعْلَمُونَ وَالَّذِينَ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ إِنَّمَا يَتَذَكَّرُ أُولُو الْأَلْبَابِ — again unrestricted.
إِنَّ الْمُتَّقِينَ فِي جَنَّاتِ وَعُيُونٍ — آخِرِينَ مَا آتَاهُمْ رَبُّهُمْ إِنَّهُمْ كَانُوا قَبْلَ ذَٰلِكَ مُحْسِنِينَ. كَانُوا قَلِيلًا مِنَ اللَّيْلِ مَا يَهْجَعُونَ وَبِالْأَسْحَارِ هُمْ يَسْتَغْفِرُونَ — again, it’s left unrestricted.
إِنَّ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ بِآيَاتِنَا الَّذِينَ إِذَا ذُكِّرُوا بِهَا خَرُّوا سُجَّدًا وَسَبَّحُوا بِحَمْدِ رَبِّهِمْ وَهُمْ لَا يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ تَتَجَافَى جُنُوبُهُمْ عَنِ الْمَضَاجِعِ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُمْ خَوْفًا وَطَمَعًا وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَاهُمْ يُنفِقُونَ — unrestricted.
Then you spoke about the hadith. I’m going to discuss with you the hadith of Aisha, but I first want to start from the beginning. The verses of the Qur'an don’t give any restriction, and then the Prophet ﷺ said. We have hadith from the Prophet, which you said to me you don’t have any qawliya, right? Yes, that's right.
I have a hadith from Abdullah ibn Umar in Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, where a man clearly and categorically asked the Prophet ﷺ for something. He asked him about what?
صَلَاةُ اللَّيْلِ – He asked him about that night prayer. The Prophet (s.a.w.) said to him: صَلَاةُ اللَّيْلِ مَثْنَى مَثْنَى (The night prayer is two, two, two). فَإِذَا خَشِيَ أَحَدُكُمُ الصُّبْحَةَ (And if one of you fears the morning) صَلَّى رَقْعَةً وَأَحِدَةً تُوتِلُ لَهُ مَا قَدْ صَلَّى (he prays one rak'ah that will conclude the prayer for him).
You said here, but first let me explain the hadith: صَلَاةُ اللَّيْلِ is two, two, two. فَإِذَا خَشِيَ أَحَدُكُمُ (If one of you fears) الصُّبْحَةَ (the Fajr prayer), صَلَّى رَقْعَةً وَأَحِدَةً تُوتِلُ لَهُ مَا قَدْ صَلَّى (he prays one rak'ah that will conclude what he has prayed). You come with a witr that will conclude your prayer for you.
You said here that the Prophet (s.a.w.) was asked about the Kayfiyyah (how to perform it). Where did you get that from? When he is talking about مَثْنَى مَثْنَى (two, two, two), he is talking about the Kayfiyyah, how? It could be argued that this means you pray two rak'ahs and then you have the Tasneem (a specific supplication). No, this is not true. The Prophet (s.a.w.) didn’t say that. The narration says that a man asked the Prophet (s.a.w.) about the night prayer. A man asked the Prophet (s.a.w.) about the night prayer, yes, but he didn’t ask him about the number of rak'ahs. Why are you eliminating that?
I am not eliminating it; I am saying it could be about how to pray. I’m going to quote a great Imam, Hafidh Ibn Hajar. The hadith is found where? It is in Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim. We’re going to look into Sahih Bukhari, right? We are going to go to this great Imam who spent 16 years of his life dedicated to explaining Bukhari, right? Hafidh Ibn Hajar mentioned and alluded to the idea that the Prophet (s.a.w.) was asked and that he alluded to what this means. He gave options; that was not the only option he gave. It’s true that the Prophet (s.a.w.) was asked either about the adad (number) or whether it should be connected or disconnected. That is what I mean by kafiya (how).
I am not eliminating kafiya, but you can’t say that this is what the Prophet (s.a.w.) was asked. That is my point.
Okay, fine, I agree it could be asked about both. So, my point is not from that. My point is that the Prophet (s.a.w.) said two, two, and left it. He said to the man: “If one of you fears Fajr,” and you know, and I know this qa'ida (principle) very well—the Prophet (s.a.w.) will never delay a need for something when it arises without clarifying, right? Agreed? He said two, two.
This man, it seems like he doesn’t know anything about Qiyamul Layl. That’s why he asked the Prophet (s.a.w.) about Qiyamul Layl. Is this your understanding of it?
This is not an interpretation. This is Sareeh (clear) from the hadith that a man was asked by the Prophet (s.a.w.) about Qiyamul Layl. But someone can ask a question about a particular issue. You just said kafiya. Someone can ask a question about Salah, and you just said now, forget someone else. You just said right now that he asked about something from the Prophet (s.a.w.), something related to kafiya.
Let’s take your word for it. Okay, kafiya means how to pray, right? As in, should I break it up two by two? Should I do it four by four? So, he doesn’t know. He doesn’t know that. I suppose it doesn’t mean he doesn’t know anything about Qiyamul Layl. Why do you say he asked? Because that is part of the kafiya, right? Should I break it up two by two? Should I do four by four? He’s asking. It doesn’t mean he doesn’t know anything about it. That’s an exaggeration.
No, it’s not an exaggeration; it’s the zahir (apparent meaning) of the hadith. A man came to the Prophet (s.a.w.) and asked him about Qiyamul Layl, meaning he doesn’t know about Qiyamul Layl. He’s asking the Prophet (s.a.w.). How would he have even heard about Qiyamul Layl if he doesn’t know anything about it? Hearing it doesn’t mean you know it. He came and asked the Prophet (s.a.w.) about Qiyamul Layl.
From the hadith, the zahir of the hadith is that the man doesn’t know. Now, when he asked the Prophet (s.a.w.) about Qiyamul Layl, the Prophet (s.a.w.) did not say to him: "By the way, it’s restricted to eleven." That’s why the two I mentioned. He can’t delay the need when it arises, right? Now, this man needs to know the restriction as well because you’re making it very important. You’re saying it’s a bid’ah (innovation), it’s not allowed to increase it.
So why here does the Prophet (s.a.w.) not say to him: "It’s capped at eleven"? Why does he leave him thinking that it’s two, two, two until Fajr? That’s a hujjah (proof) against another hadith. It’s sarih (clear) and sahih (authentic).
And I'm going to mention that Sheikh Al-Albani weakened the hadith of Abu Huraira. You probably have it here. Abu Huraira (r.a.) said that the Prophet (s.a.w.) said—this is the one with Tahir ibn Amlan in it. Abu Huraira mentioned that the Prophet (s.a.w.) said: "Do not do witr with three rak'ahs that resembles Maghrib. The way Maghrib is prayed, don't make it like that." Okay, so if you're going to pray the three, in another narration, you have to pray it in a way that it doesn't resemble Maghrib. That's one. But do witr with five, or with seven, seven, or with nine, nine, or with eleven, or eleven or more than that.
This was narrated by someone who said that this hadith meets the conditions of Bukhari and Muslim. He said, "You know what? You're right," and agreed with him. Now you're right; you already pointed it out. There is a man by the name of Ibn Tariq. Sheikh Nasir said, "I haven’t come across him; he’s majhool (unknown).” Some of the scholars even mentioned that he’s majhool al-hal (his situation is not known). This man, okay, we know who he is. Anyone who claims that they don’t know his situation will say we’ve come across his situation. We’ve researched him. His name is Habashi Ibn Amr al-Hilali. Scholars have narrated from him. Imam Ibn Khuzaymah narrated from him, Muhammad Ibn Nasr al-Marwazi, who’s a student, also narrated from him. Abu Abdillah Muhammad Nasr al-Marwazi, Al-Hasan Ibn Hamib, Habib al-Damashqi narrated from him. Al-Hafidh Muhammad Ibn Asam also took from him, narrated from him. Abu Awanah al-Isra'ini has a kitab called Al-Mustakhraj Ala Sahih Muslim, where he conditioned that he said: "Everyone I mention in this book is going to be authentic." In it, he mentions him.
The scholars that mention his biography include Khatib al-Baghdadi, who mentions him in his kitab Mawdihu Awham al-Jami wa al-Tafriq, Hafidh al-Ma'kula in his kitab Tahdhib wa Mustamir al-Awham, and Hafidh al-Hajar in Al-Nuzhatul Albab fil Alqab. All of these people have mentioned his biography. Muhammad Nasr al-Marwazi authenticated this hadith in his kitab Qiyamul Layl. Hafidh al-Iraqi, the teacher of Hafidh al-Hajar, in his kitab Tahrul Tathreeb, also authenticated this hadith. Ibn al-Qayyim, also in his Ilamul Waqi'in, authenticated this hadith.
So this hadith, the claim that was made about it being weak, is incorrect. Now, this hadith shows us when the Prophet (s.a.w.) clearly said: "أو أكثر من ذلك" (or more than that). He mentioned 11, and even said, "more than that," which points to what? My argument that this act of taraweeh is unrestricted. It’s unrestricted.
Okay, you mentioned another narration. No, no, please, go ahead. Ibn Juraij mentioned: "Akhbarani Utbat Ibn Muhammad Ibn al-Harith an Ikrimah Mawla Ibn Abbas." I want to show you the Sahabah’s understanding of it. It is nawafil mutlaqah (unrestricted voluntary prayers), and then I’m going to bring you the ijma' (consensus) that it is nawafil mutlaqah. There’s no difference of opinion on it being nawafil mutlaqah.
The problem is the ijma' on it. Scholars transmitted the ijma'. I’m going to mention them first. I want to mention these narrations. Listen to this: Ikrimah, who was the mawla (freed slave) of Ibn Abbas, said: "He told Utbat Ibn Muhammad Ibn al-Harith." He told him that Ibn Abbas came as a delegation to Muawiyah. Ibn Abbas came to Muawiyah in Sham. Both of them were whispering and talking—like two people who hadn’t met each other in a long time, and they were also related as well. They were talking, hugging, and talking like two people who hadn’t seen each other. Hatta (until) half of the night. Fa’kthar (even more), the narration mentioned. They were talking until the middle of the night, and Fashahida Ibn Abbas ma’a Muawiyah al-Isha' al-Akhirati (Ibn Abbas prayed Isha with Muawiyah, the final prayer of the night).
The narration mentions that they prayed Isha together in the Maqsura. Maqsura, by the way, is when Umar was murdered and killed by Abu Lulu al-Majusi. An issue arose for the rulers at that time, which wasn't commonly known before that: the rulers used to pray with the people normally. They used to go into the place and just pray with the people, but after the issue of Umar’s assassination and the attempt on Muawiyah’s life, the rulers started to make themselves a place within the masjid to pray, separate from the people. This was a security measure, as they had to protect themselves. They started to make themselves a place within the masjid.
So, the ijma' (consensus) that was transmitted to us.
Consensus that have been transmitted in this issue by three great Imams I'm going to mention. The first of them Ibn Abdul Barra. Ibn Abdul Barra he said the scholars have unanimously agreed upon.
Now somebody might be watching and thinking what's this Ijma'a for? Go back to what I was saying. I was saying, it was my argument. I'm still on my first point which is that the Qiyamul Layl is from the Nawafil Al Mutlaqa.
I mentioned all those evidences for it. Now I'm mentioning the Ijma'a that the scholars unanimously agreed that it is from the Nawafil Al Mutlaqa. Ibn Abdul Barra said.
He said the scholars are unanimously in agreement that there is no restriction and that the night prayer there is not an amount designated for it. That it's a voluntary prayer. Anyone who wants to lengthen it, he can.
Anyone who wants to pray more Ruku' and Sujood, he can. Is that not the definition of Nawafil Al Mutlaqa? You know the Ijma'a, the concept Ijma'a which I think we need another podcast on it. But is this a source that we take our religion from? Of course.
So if it's a proof. My ummah do not agree upon falsehood. This ayah says anyone who follows a path other than Allah and his messenger and the believers.
The believers here means the consensus of the Muslims as Imam Al Shafi'i mentioned. So if that's the case and we're talking about an issue that is differed upon between the ulama, is it only 11? Can it be Mutlaqa? Can it be unrestricted? Sheik Al Bani's opinion is a strange, shahid opinion. My question is if you bring an Ijma'a doesn't that mean there cannot be a second opinion? This is the only opinion which is your opinion.
So why do you believe it's a valid difference of opinion? Do you believe it's a valid difference of opinion if someone holds on to the point that it's only 11? I believe that the view Sheik Al Bani is coming with is a fringe. It's not a view that he has a bulk of scholars that hold it. Like the issue of Niqab for example.
Of course it's not the same weight. This issue, I'm telling you, from the ulama when you look at it, you don't tend to find anyone. Is there anyone aside from him? The sahib of Kitab al-Tuhfat al-Ahwadi al-Mubarak al-Furi, the Indian scholar, preceded Sheik Al Bani in this.
And it's like Sheik Al Bani really took his opinions. Al Qadir al-Iyad al-Yahsubi said the same thing. It's another Ijma'a from another imam.
He said, There is no difference of opinion. There is. All of the khilaf they have is which one is better.
So what was Sheik Al Bani's response to the Ijma'at? Was he not aware of them? Let me finish my Ijma'at first. The last person is al-Iraqi, Hafidh al-Iraqi in his Kitab Talhut Tathreeb. He said, وَقَدِ اتَّفَقَ الْعُلَمَاءُ عَلَىٰ أَنَّهُ لَيْسَ لَهُ حَدُّ مَحْصُورٌ وَقَدِ اتَّفَقَ الْعُلَمَاءُ The scholars have all agreed, عَلَىٰ أَنَّهُ لَيْسَ لَهُ حَدُّ مَحْصُورٌ There is no limit to it.
It's from those acts, you can just keep doing it and keep doing it and keep doing it. That's what Ibn Taymiyyah mentioned. Ibn Taymiyyah didn't transmit an Ijma'a, but he mentioned this opinion, that it is what? That it's a voluntary prayer, you can pray as you wish, that you can go and keep doing it and keep doing it, and there's no need to stop at a particular point.
Also, this is what the Salaf were upon. قَاطِبَةً All of them. Ata'ib Ibn Rabah is saying, he's a Tabi'i.
He's saying, أَدْرَقْتُ النَّاسَ Who's he talking about? Companions. Of course. And the senior Tabi'in he's talking about.
أَدْرَقْتُ النَّاسَ I reached the people. وَهُمْ يُصَلُّونَ ثَلَاثًا وَعْشِرِينَ رَكْعَةً بِالْوِتْرِ صحيح. No dispute about authenticity.
He's not the only person. If he was one or two, he's not. داود Ibn Qaysan is saying, أَدْرَقْتُ النَّاسَ بِالْمَدِينَ Of course, he says Medina.
This is where the Wahi came down. أَدْرَقْتُ النَّاسَ بِالْمَدِينَ I met the people in Medina. أَدْرَقْتُ النَّاسَ بِالْمَدِينَ 36 رَكْعَةً وَيُؤْتِرُونَ بِثَلَاثٍ And the winter was three.
أَدْرَقْتُ النَّاسَ بِالْمَدِينَ He mentions from Sa'id Ibn Ubaid أَدْرَقْتُ النَّاسَ بِالْمَدِينَ 36 رَكْعَةً وَيُؤْتِرُونَ بِثَلَاثٍ Sa'id Ibn Jubayrin, the student of Ibn Abbas Waqaa mentions, and some of the scholars weakened this chain because of Waqaa Ibn Iyasin. Sa'id Ibn Jubayrin, he said في رَمَضَانَ فَيُصَلِّ بِنَا عِشْرِينَ لَيْلَةً سِتَّ تَرَوِيحَاتٍ فَإِذَا كَانَ الْعَاشِرُ الْآخِرِ اِعْتَكَفَ فِي الْمَسْجِدِ وَصَلَّى بِنَا سَبْعَ تَرَوِيحَاتٍ The voluntary prayer was a lot. Now, I want to go back to something you mentioned.
And I really want us to understand the Qiyamul Layl of the Prophet ﷺ. This is all me trying to show that my argument in this issue is that it is Nawafil Mutlaqah (unrestricted voluntary prayers). Now, I want to talk about the rak'ahs of the Prophet ﷺ and how he used to pray. The Prophet ﷺ prayed 11 and 13 rak'ahs.
When you say 13, people who pray 11 rak'ahs in Tarawih also pray 13. Why? Because we said that Qiyamul Layl is from Isha' to Fajr, and these people, after praying the obligatory Isha' prayer, now pray 2 rak'ahs from the Rawatib for the Sunnah of Isha'. There is no narration... Hold on, let me show the people on the stand. Then they pray 8 rak'ahs for Tarawih, which makes it 10, and then they pray 3 rak'ahs for Witr, making it 13.
Thirteen is not an issue for us. There is no narration that shows Isha' is involved. There are some for Fajr (the 2 rak'ahs of Fajr Sunnah), but there are no evidences that show or prove Isha' is involved. That is a burden upon the person who claims Isha' is involved here. There is no evidence for that.
When you say evidence, you mean it is not specifically stated that this was a Sunnah of Isha'? There is no narration that shows the 2 Sunnah of Isha' were there. What I am saying is that it does not need to be. Because you said the Qiyamul Layl is from when until when? Isha' until Fajr. My position is that the Prophet ﷺ can pray 13 in that time. I am saying you have to prove to us because these people, the narration I am going to mention, are being asked about the Prophet ﷺ's Witr. They have been asked about the Prophet's Qiyamul Layl. This is what they have been asked.
For you to say that the first two rak'ahs are Isha' Sunnah, you would have to bring proof for that. But I am going through your introduction. You said that Qiyamul Layl takes place from Isha' to Fajr. Qiyamul Layl is right, and also Isha' Sunnah is prayed at that time. So, you put the two together. I want proof from you that these two have come together. Fajr has happened. Some narrations we accept, where they counted it and mentioned that the 2 Sunnah of Fajr are included in there. But for Isha', there is no evidence for that. Do you understand my point? So, it could be the 2 Sunnah of Fajr in there as well. That is a good argument—better than Isha'. Because there is no evidence for the Isha' Sunnah. That alludes to it, and no one has counted that.
Let me now go through. I am going to eliminate the Fajr one, but let me start with the 11th first. There are 3 Sifahs (descriptions) that have been transmitted to us regarding the 11th rak'ah. I want to show you the hadith that Aisha used and what is in the reality of the discussion.
The first one is the first Sifah: The hadith of Zorara. Sa'd Ibn Hisham Ibn Amir wanted to go for a battle for the sake of Allah. He came to the city of Medina. He wanted to sell a property that he owned, and the reason why he wanted to do that is that he wanted to place it inside what? He wanted to invest in swords and horses. So he wanted to sell all his property and his belongings, and he wanted to invest in swords and horses.
When he did that, he wanted to fight with the Romans until he died. So when he came to the city of Medina, he met people from Medina. They prohibited him from this, and they told him, "What you are trying to do, 6 men at the time of the Prophet ﷺ tried to do something similar to it, and the Prophet ﷺ prohibited those 6 men from what they were doing." And the Prophet ﷺ said to those 6 men, "Don’t you have a role model? Am I not a role model for you?"
The Prophet ﷺ said to them, when they told Sa'd Ibn Hisham Ibn Amir this, he divorced his wife. So he said to his wife, "I take you back." He had divorced her previously, and he wanted to cut off from the entire world. He was selling all of his properties and wanted to divorce his wife. He only wanted to buy horses and swords and go fight until he dies. Then he heard about this narration of the Prophet ﷺ, and he was told that the Prophet ﷺ prohibited a group of people from doing what he was doing. So, he took his wife back, and he took a group of people with him to witness that he had taken his wife back.
When he took his wife back, he came to Ibn Abbas. He asked him about the Prophet’s witness, and Ibn Abbas said to him, "Should I tell you someone who is more knowledgeable than me on the Prophet’s witness? Should I tell you the most knowledgeable person when it comes to the Prophet's witness?" He said, "Who?" Ibn Abbas replied, "Aisha."
So he went to Aisha and asked her. Ibn Abbas didn’t go to Aisha and ask her directly, but he said, "Go to her and come back with the answer." This is how the scholars were before. If they knew someone was more knowledgeable or more qualified than them, they would say, "Go to that person." They were never embarrassed to admit this.
He said, "I went. I got ready and left. There was a man by the name of Hakeem Ibn Al-Aflah, who was related to Aisha. He said, 'Look, let's both go to Aisha.'"
Hakeem Ibn Al-Aflah said, "I’m not going to go close to Aisha. I don’t want to meet her because I forbade her from speaking about the two parties that were fighting at the time, one in line with Uthman and one in line with Ali. I didn’t want her to speak about it, but she refused what I told her and went on and said what she said." He swore to him, and Sa'd Ibn Hisham said, "I swear by Allah that you should come with me. Are you going to come with me?" So Hakeem agreed to come with him.
Notice how the companion didn't want to be alone with Aisha. He always wanted a Mahram (chaperone) to be present when dealing with foreign women. But, SubhanAllah, look how easy we make these things today. So they went to Aisha, and they asked for permission to enter. She granted them permission. As they entered, Aisha couldn’t see them because she was behind a veil, but from the voice, she recognized Hakeem Ibn Al-Aflah. She said, "He’s Hakeem. Who is with you?" He replied, "Sa’d Ibn Hisham." She then asked, "Who is Hisham?" He said, "Hisham Ibn Amir." She said, "May Allah have mercy on him," and spoke well of him. The narrator of the hadith mentions that Hisham was one of those who was martyred on the day of Uhud.
Then Aisha said, "Do you not read the Quran?" Sa’d replied, "Of course, I do." She said, "The Prophet’s manners were the Quran." Upon hearing this, Sa’d said, "I will stand up and never ask anyone anything after that, except for what she just told me. The Prophet’s manners were the Quran, and I just want to immerse myself in the Quran and be from its people."
But then something became clear to him, and he said, "Tell me about the Prophet's Qiyam (night prayer)." Aisha replied, "Do you not read?" He said, "Yes, I do." She said, "Allah made Qiyamul Layl obligatory for him at the beginning of the Surah. The Prophet ﷺ stood up and his companions stood with him for 12 months. For a year, they prayed Qiyamul Layl, and then Allah made it easier. After it was obligatory, it became a voluntary act."
Sa’d said, "O mother of the believers, tell me about the Prophet's Witr." This is the first description of the 11 rak'ahs.
Aisha said, "We used to prepare the Siwak for him, to purify him. Then he would brush his teeth, perform his wudu, and pray 9 rak'ahs. He would continue until the 8th rak'ah, without making Tashahhud in between. After the 8th rak'ah, he would sit down and do Tashahhud, but not the Tasleem (no greeting of peace). After that, he would get up, without saying Salam. Then he would perform the 9th rak'ah and say Tashahhud in the 9th, and then Salam Alaikum."
So, we learn that the Prophet ﷺ prayed 9 rak'ahs, then 2 more, making a total of 11 rak'ahs.
Now, regarding the 9 rak'ahs: In the first part, there was no Witr yet. What is meant by "no Witr"? This was the first form of the Prophet's Qiyam, and we need to understand this before discussing another issue.
Now, the second description: The second form (of 11 rak'ahs) is narrated by Bukhari and Muslim, both from the hadith of Abu Salamah Ibn Abdul Rahman, who asked Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) about the Prophet's prayer during Ramadan. Aisha replied, "He did not increase beyond 11 rak'ahs, either in Ramadan or outside of it more than 11
He will pray 4. So these 4 are all together. It's not 2-2; it's 4 altogether. Then he will pray 4, and 4 plus 4 is how much? 11. These 4 together, these 4 together, and then he will pray what? 3. It was long. Beautiful. Well done.
Then Aisha said, "The Messenger of Allah, are you going to sleep before you do your Witr?" The Prophet said, "My heart would be awake, my eyes would go to sleep." This was the second form.
The third form is what? He would pray how many? 13. With the 2 Raka'ah of what? Fajr. I agree. This one clearly and categorically says what? The 11 of Qiyamul Layl. And now what? The 2 of Sunnah of Fajr. How? She clearly says that he will pray 6, which would make 6 overall. The Witr would be 5. So, 2, 4, and 6. Right? 2, 4, 6. And he would do how many Witr? 5. He will not sit in those 5 until the ending.
Ok, all connected. 6 plus 5 equals 11. This is another form now. Ok. Those are the 3 forms that we have of 11, of the 11 Raka'ah.
Ok, we now have the 13. Our mother Aisha narrated. She said he would pray 13 Raka'ah. Then he would pray if he heard the Adhan. This one is separate from the other previous narration. Shaykh Al-Bani, this is the Ishkan. He is merging the 2. This one is clearly saying to you. The other one, she is telling you it is 13 here. Here she is separating it. She is saying to you, "He will pray 13 Raka'ah whenever he heard the Adhan." He will pray 2 Raka'ah, which is what? The Sunnah of Fajr. Because Fajr has ended, that Sunnah of Fajr can't be included in the 13. It can't be.
But you haven't limited Sunnah of Aisha. The Sunnah of Aisha, there is no narration for it, but it could be in there, right? In the time. The reason is the Hadith of Aisha stands. The Hadith of Aisha stands for previously the one I mentioned, for 11 Raka'ah, where the Prophet ﷺ said, where she said he prayed 13 with the 2 Sunnah of Fajr. We take it now. We accept that because she said that.
But when you use the word "The Prophet ﷺ said at night, pray 13 Raka'ah," and you leave it like that, Sunnahs are not in there unless a narration clearly mentions that. But you've got the other Hadith which I mentioned in Bukhari and Muslim. Isn't that a contradiction now? Which says what? She said she never went past 11, and now she is saying she did 13? No, it's different situations. We are going to mention all the narrations together. Don't worry.
Abdullah Ibn Abi Qais mentioned. He said, "I asked Aisha, 'How much Qiyamul Layl did the Prophet ﷺ use to pray?'" She said, "4 and 3. How much? 7. 6 and 3. How much? 9. 8 and 3. 11. 10 and 3. 13. The Prophet ﷺ never went below 7, and he never went what? More than 13." This Hadith, Abu Dawood narrated it. Shaykh Al-Bani authenticated it.
What do we have here? 13 Raka'ah, she said. So when Shaykh Al-Bani authenticated, what did he say about it?
He said, "How did he explain it then?" He keeps bringing it back to the narration, but it's not. Here he says, "The question that she was asked was the Witr." She was asked. It clearly shows 13 Raka'ah: Fajr, Qiyamul Layl.
Don't you think the reason Shaykh Nasir (Rahimahullah) is doing that is because he's reconciling the narrations? For Aisha to say, "He never prayed more than 11," and then she's narrating that he did pray 13, that means from that 13, there must be a Sunnah Hadith of Aisha. I'm going to come back to it. I really just want this to be all understood. And the Hadith of Aisha — I know you keep pulling on that one, and I want to come back to that also.
Al-Imam Ibn Khuzaymah narrated this Hadith, and Shaykh Al-Bani weakened this Hadith. Fair to say. And I'll go through why he weakened it and I'll answer to it. The Hadith mentions, "He entered upon Aisha and asked her about the Prophet's prayer." He said, "What does the Prophet pray at night?" She said, "He used to pray 13 Raka'ah. Then he started to pray 11. He left 2 Raka'ah, and the Prophet was taken — he was taken and he only used to pray 9. And his last prayer, the last portion of it, always used to be Witr."
What does the Hadith show? He used to pray 13. Then when he became weaker, he was not able to. He went for 11. And then when he became weaker, he was not able to do that, and he went to 9. And his prayer used to finish with Witr. Shaykh Abdul Mohsen Abad — I listened to his Sharh — finished it. Shaykh Abdul Mohsen Abad says, "The Hadith that Al-Imam Al-Bani weakened it, I don't know how he weakened it. I remember I wrote it in my book like that. I remember."
The reason why Shaykh Al-Bani weakened it is because of 2 reasons. The first reason he says, and he used "An" in this Hadith: If a Mudallis uses "An," the Hadith is not taken. The second reason he says is because of the weakness of Mansur Ibn Abdul Rahman Al-Ghudabi.
Let me go for the easier one to respond to you, and then I'll go back to this harder part. As for Mansur Ibn Abdul Rahman Al-Ghudabi, there are scholars who consider him to be Muthuq. Some scholars unrestrictedly did Tawthiq of him. From them is Ibn Ma'in, and Abu Dawood, and Ibn Hibban added him to the Al-Thiqat, even though Ibn Hibban is from the Mutasahileen. But he did add him into this Kitab Al-Thiqat. So, Ahmad used to have some veneration and respect to speak about him. Why? Because two great scholars of Hadith, who are mountains — one of whom was known as Ameer Al-Mumineen in the Hadith, Shu'ba Ibn Hajjah, Hajjaj Abu Bistam Al-Ataki narrated from him, and Ismail Ibn Ulayya.
So Ahmad, because of those two people who narrated from him, he avoided saying anything about him. One point he said about him, he is right, Salih Inshallah. Shu'ba narrated from him one time, he said, "Thiqatun." He is Thiqatun. Haddata Anu Ismail Ibn Ulayya wa Shu'ba. Yes, he is not a Thiqatun Thabtun bi Hadith Tariqah, but he is a Hadith. He is a Hasan.
To say Shaykh Al-Bani makes him Tad'eef or makes him Dha'eef, that's not okay. Yes, Abu Hatim Al-Razi did say about him, and Rahimahu Allahu Ta'ala, that he is a weak person. Like we know, Abu Hatim Al-Razi is considered from the Mutashiddin. He is a bit harsh when it comes to the narrators. Abu Ishaq Al-Sabi'ini is a Mudallis. The Hadith has Shawahid, the Hadith has Shawahid to strengthen it, so his Tad'eef is not a problem. Now, so Mudallis means that if he makes Tad'eef, it suggests that he might be dropping someone from the chain. But you are saying they are supporting narrations for it, so it is no issue.
Some people looked at the Hadith of Aisha and they said, "Here she is saying 11. Here she is saying 13. What is happening here?" Correct. Abu Al-Abbas Al-Qurtubi said, "Ashkalat riwayatu Aisha 'ala katheerin min ahlil ilmi hatta nasaba ba'dhum haditha ila ddhirab Aisha's Hadith." Like they saw 13, 11, different Sifah, and all of that, and then they said, "You know what, it is mummad dharib." It is all contradicting one another.
Wa hadha innama yatimu law kan al-rawiyu anha wahida. Yes, this would have been an argument if one narrator is bringing so many different forms from her, or akhbalat an waktin wahidin, or she said one time and then everybody narrating it from her is different in the way that they are narrating.
Wa sawabu, that which is correct, is Anna kulla shay'in dakarathu min dhalika mahmulun 'ala awqatin muta'didatin wa ahwalin mukhtalifatin bi hasabi nashati wa bayani aljawazi.
Wallahu a'lam. All of it is in regards to the Prophet's enthusiasm when he was narrating. He was very enthusiastic when he was 13. When he felt a bit, he went for 11. When he felt even weaker and wasn't able to, he went down.
Salawatullahi wa salamun alayhi. The riwayat of Aisha, everyone who came, she was telling him different. Al-Asr al-Munizzit, something else. Abi Salama, different, something else.
This is all that which he heard from similar sources. Ibn Khuzaymah said Ibn Abbas also mentioned 13. Ibn Abbas said, "When he slept in the house of his auntie Maimuna, he said, 'Quraib mentioned that Ibn Abbas told him: I stayed at Maimuna's house, and the Prophet was with his family. At midnight, or close to it, the Prophet woke up, started to wipe the sleep from his face, and recited ten verses from Surah Ali Imran. There was a small place where his water skin was tied, and he took it, did his wudu, and perfected it. Ibn Abbas said: 'I did exactly what he was doing. I did the wudu, I did it with him. I stood and prayed with him, but I went on the wrong side of him. So, he grabbed me and put me on the right side.'"
Then he said, "Listen to this." Then he prayed 2 rak'ahs, then 2 rak'ahs, then 2 rak'ahs, then 2 rak'ahs, and so on, repeatedly. This is how he prayed. So, you're again eliminating the Sunnah of Fajr from this 13.
Another narration clearly comes from Ibn Abbas. What did he say? "The prayer of the Prophet ﷺ was thirteen rak'ahs during the night." Both Bukhari and Muslim narrate this hadith from Ibn Abbas. Does this one have other narrations that talk about the Fajr? No, this one doesn't.
Zayd ibn Khalid al-Juhani, I'm still talking about the 13, mentioned: "He said, 'I am going to look at the Prophet's prayer today. I'm not going to take my eye off his prayer.' So, he prayed two light rak'ahs, then two more light rak'ahs, and so on. Some of the scholars mentioned why Aisha mentioned in your narration that the Prophet ﷺ never used to increase beyond 11. They said that the two light rak'ahs he used to start with were eliminated in her narration."
Some scholars mentioned that the Prophet started the prayer with two light rak'ahs, then prayed two more rak'ahs, and so on. How much do we have now? We have four, then six, then eight, then ten, then twelve. Then he did the Witr, which is one more, making thirteen.
Who is narrating this? Zayd ibn Khalid al-Juhani. This hadith is in Sahih Muslim, and there is no dispute or argumentation regarding it. I just mentioned Aisha, Ibn Abbas, Zayd ibn Khalid al-Juhani, and even Umm Salama. All of them narrated that the Prophet prayed thirteen rak'ahs. Even in some of them, there is discussion regarding authenticity, but in some of them, there is no dispute. Like you mentioned in the last one, even Umm Salama said: "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to pray Witr with thirteen rak'ahs, but when he became old and weak, he prayed seven." This was narrated by Tirmidhi and Nasai from the hadith of Umm Salama, and Shaykh al-Albani authenticated this one.
There are general texts that allow us to pray as much as we want. I already mentioned that the prayer of the night is two rak'ahs at a time. If one of you fears the dawn (Fajr), then he should pray one rak'ah to make Witr what he has prayed. This is unrestricted. Bukhari and Muslim both narrate from Ibn Abbas and Ibn Umar. The Prophet ﷺ also said: "Let one of you pray according to your energy and enthusiasm, and if you feel tired, then sit down."رواه البخاري ومسلم Both are narrated. A man came to the Prophet ربيعة بن كعب. He said, "يا رسول الله, I want to be with you in Jannah." The Prophet said, "فاعني على كثرة السجود." Help me with coming with a lot of sujood. The Prophet said in حديث صحيح مسلم, "فإنك لا تسجد لله سجدة إلا رفعك الله بها درجة وحط بها عنك خطيئة." (All of that) What does it show? Unrestriction.
الآن دعونا نعود إلى هذا الحديث Now let's come to this hadith. This is what I was going to say. Now let's come back to this hadith. How do you understand the words of Aisha? Aisha's understanding is that since she narrated 11 and she narrated 13. And we've seen this a few times where she's negated something and then she said something again, it's different to it.
أمنا عائشة Our mother Aisha, she said in a hadith, she said, "When it came to the Prophet, she said, 'فقالت كان يصوم حتى نقول قد صام.'" The Prophet, she's talking about Shaaban. She said that the Prophet, same narrator Abi Salamat, narrated from Aisha. When it came to the Prophet's fasting, she said, "فقالت كان يصوم," He used to fast "حتى نقول قد صام," until he said he fasted all, "ويفضل." He would break his fast "حتى نقول قد أفضل." That the Prophet is not going to fast at all.
و لم أرى و لم أره صائما من شهر قط. This is the part that concerns me. She said, "و لم أره صائما من شهر قط." I have never seen a month where the Prophet fasted, "قط" more than his fasting in Shaaban. "كان يصوم شعبان كله." He used to fast Shaaban in its entirety.
But then we have the hadith of Sa’d Ibn Hisham Ibn Amir, which I mentioned before, Hadith Sahih Muslim. When Zorarah narrated from Sa’d Ibn Hisham, when he went and visited Aisha, Ibn Abbas told him to go to her. What did she say to him? She said to him, "و لا صام شهرا كاملا غير رمضان." There was not an entire month which the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم fasted in its entirety other than Ramadan.
It doesn't mean never. It means really. That's the only way to bring the narrations together. So when you mention the narration that you mentioned, "ما كان يزيد" that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم "ما كان يزيد في رمضان ولا في غيره على 11 ركعة," it's safe to say she's trying to say little did he increase on that number. That was the Prophet's favorite number. Okay, that's fair. And some of the scholars basically choose that as the most virtuous one to do.
لكنها هي التي روَت في البخاري But she's the one who narrated in Bukhari. She is the one who said, "كان رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يصلي بالليل ثلاث عشرة ركعة ثم يصلي إذا سمع النداء بالصبح ركعتين خفيفتين," which shows that she doesn't mean the negation the way the people understood it.
فإذا كان هناك سؤال So there's a question that would come from the other side now. How do you, what gives you the right? Why wouldn't she just say little? Why would she say never? Why would she say little? The possibility could be, as I said to you, that she has not added the first two ones that we pray. The Prophet did tell us in hadith, "إذا قام أحدكم من الليل," if one of you stands up at night, "فليفتتح صلاته بركعتين خفيفتين." Start with two raka'ah which is light.
لذلك قالت "لم أره يصلي أكثر من 13" So that's why she said never, because she never went more than thirteen. Eleven plus, that's how maybe she did count it. Even Muslim she narrates it. She says, "كان رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم إذا قام من الليل ليصلي افتتح صلاته بركعتين خفيفتين." She's saying that he used to start with two raka'ah which is light. Maybe she eliminated those two from the discussion.
وتوضيح الإجابة على سؤال قد يأتي And just to respond to the question that might come that she's saying one thing, you were saying sometimes she does this رضي الله عنها. And therefore, this is an incident where she's doing this. It's not pick and choose. It's when other evidence is brought together and you have to reconcile everything.
أيضًا بما أن هذا ليس من الأعمال النافلة المطلقة مثل الاستغفار Also, since this is not an action which is from the Nawafilul Mutlaqah like the Istighfar, which is from the Nawafilul Mutlaqah. The Prophet we know in narrations, narrations mention يعني سبعين مرة وفي بعض الأيام. The Prophet used to do مئة مرة. Can a person now come and say, "If you do Istighfar 200 times for example," and you follow the ayah, "استغفروا ربكم إنه كان غفارا," that you're doing an innovation?
لقد اتفقنا أن الاستغفار من النوافل المطلقة We already agreed that it's from the Nawafilul Mutlaqah, and the Istighfar is from the Nawafilul Mutlaqah. It's from these you just unrestrictedly have to do. Just like Hajj for example, Hajj is from the Nawafilul Mutlaqah. The Prophet did Hajj once only. If somebody does 50 times Hajj, is there any problem with it? And they follow the hadith, "عنهما تابعوا بين الحج والعمرة فإنهما ينفيان الفقر والذنوب كما ينفي الكيرة خبث الحديث."
أنا أتبع هذا الحديث I follow that hadith, that general evidence, which says that عمرة and Hajj follow them one after the other because they remove poverty from you, just like fire and sins. It removes it from you, just like the fire removes any filth and dirt of what? Of the metal when it burns it.
أيضًا، دعونا نقول أن الرواية الخاصة بعائشة Also, let's say Aisha, let's say that the 13th narration, all of that we dismiss it. عدم العلم بالشيء ليس علما بعدمه. Aisha is negating. We have Ibn Abbas, and we have Zayd Ibn Khalid Al-Juhani, and Aisha Umm Salama was also another one. All of these people saw the Prophet pray, and Aisha wasn't the only person he used to be with. For you to use her as the Hakam only.
القاعدة هي عندما ينفي شخص شيئًا ويؤكده آخر So the principle is when someone negates something and someone affirms something, the person who is negating it might not have seen it. It doesn't mean that it didn't happen, whereas the person who is affirming it has seen it.
ماذا عن أقوال السلف الصالح؟ Another thing is, why have you dismissed the أقوال السلف الصالح رحمه الله تعالى في الاعتبار? Isn't your منهج الكتاب والسنة بفهم السلف الصالح? Why have you dismissed what the Salaf were upon? We are talking about the companions. The companions, what they were upon, we know عمر رضي الله عنه when the Prophet passed away, أبو بكر and then عمر. The hadith Abu Hurairah narrated, "أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم كان يرغب في قيام رمضان من غير أي أمور بعزيمة." The Prophet would encourage the companions to pray the Qiyamul Layl without forcing it onto them.
And he would say to them: قام رمضان إيمانا واحتسابا وفر له ما تقدم من ذنبه (Whoever fasts during Ramadan with faith and seeking reward, all his previous sins will be forgiven.) قال ابن حشامين said: فتوفي رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم والأمر على ذلك (The Prophet passed away, and the matter remained as such.) The Prophet had passed away, and the practice continued like that. ثم كان الأمر على ذلك في خلافة أبي بكر وصدرا من خلافة عمر بن الخطاب (Then the matter continued like that during the caliphate of Abu Bakr and part of the caliphate of Umar ibn al-Khattab.) When Abu Bakr's time ended, and then Umar's time passed as well. Then Umar brought the people together. There are two narrations from Umar, both of which are authentic. The first one is the one that you would be pleased with, or the view that you are representing: Muhammad ibn Yusuf, which is عبد الرحمن بن القاري, When he mentioned... Sorry, Muhammad ibn Yusuf said that Muhammad ibn Yusuf narrates from السائب بن يزيد أنه قال: أمر عمر بن الخطاب رضي الله تعالى عنه أبي بن كعب وتميمن الداري أن يقوم (Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, commanded Ubayy ibn Ka'b and Tamim ad-Dari to stand up) And lead the people. للناس بإحدى عشر ركعة (To lead the people in eleven raka'a.) قال: وقد كان القارئ يقرأ بالمئيل حتى كنا نعتمد على العصي من طول القيام وما كنا نتصرف إلا في فروع الفجري (The reader would recite the long passages, and we would lean on our staffs due to the length of the standing, and we would not move except during the Fajr break.) Until the beginning of Fajr. إحدى عشر ركعة (Eleven raka'a.)
Is that the only narration we have? No. There are other narrations that have also been transmitted, which mention that Umar رضي الله تعالى عنه led twenty raka'a. He led or he commanded to lead? He commanded to lead. Ali ibn al-Jad mentioned in his Musnad that Ibn Abi Dhubab said: عن يزيد بن الخصيفة عن السائب بن يزيد (From Yazid ibn al-Khasifah, from al-Sa’ib ibn Yazid.) كانوا يقومون على عهد عمر في شهر رمضان بعشرين ركعة (They used to pray twenty raka'a during the time of Umar in Ramadan.) وإن كانوا لا يقرؤون بالمئين من القرآن (And they would not recite the long portions of the Qur’an.) Here we have what? يزيد بن الخصيفة بعشرين ركعة (Yazid ibn al-Khasifah mentions twenty raka’a.) So this is a problem now, because it’s coming from the same source, al-Sa’ib ibn Yazid, and he has said two contradictory things now. So he said to Muhammad ibn Yusuf: eleven raka'a, and he said to Yazid ibn al-Khasifah: twenty or twenty-three. Is it twenty or twenty-three? Twenty.
Now, how do we reconcile this? Shaykh Nasir and the people whom I am representing bring a few problems with the second narration, which mentions twenty. Ahmed mentioned that Yazid ibn al-Khasifah is "منكر الحديث" (a fabricator of hadith). That’s number one. Do you want to respond to each one? I’ve only got two. Ahmed ibn Hanbal himself considered him reliable, so why would he say he's "منكر" (a fabricator)? The "منكر الحديث" (fabricator of hadith) according to the scholars of the past, refers to someone who narrates by themselves, like Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Taymi, who is one of the narrators who narrated the hadith: إنما الأعمال بالنيات (Actions are judged by intentions.) Ahmed considered him a fabricator, and he is the only narrator of this hadith. So, you didn't translate it into English, but it means he’s the only narrator. If you study "نزهة النظر في توضيح نخبة الفكر في مصطلح أهل الأثر" (“The Clear Examination in Explaining the Nakhbah of Thought in the Terminology of the Scholars of Hadith”), you’ll find Ibn Hajar mentioning it there. Also, great scholars have spoken highly of him and confirmed his reliability. Among them are: Abu Hatim, al-Nasa’i, Ibn Sa’d, and Ahmed himself, as well as Hafiz Ibn Hajar, in his book Taqreeb al-Tahdeeb. If you go there, you'll find it.
Why do you specifically want to focus on أحمد when he didn't even mean it like that? What matters is that if you refer to his book ميزان الاعتدال (Mizan al-I'tidal), which, as you know, is where the people who were critiqued have been discussed. If we open that door, many other people he's spoken about in there are reliable. He’s mentioned in there. Also, the حديث of Yazid ibn Khasifah has many supporting narrations (شواهد متعددة). I’ve already mentioned it, and it has been authenticated by a number of scholars who have accepted it.
I don't want to open that door further. I'm now discussing the حديث that the scholars agree with, one that no one can dispute. Among the scholars who have authenticated it is Al-Imam Al-Nawawi. Go to the كتاب نصب الراية (Nassb al-Rayah) by Zaylai. He brings the quote of Al-Imam Al-Nawawi, who considered the حديث to be صحيح (authentic). And not only that, but even Shaykh Nasir himself said he was ثقة (reliable). He didn’t weaken him. The only issue he mentioned was that we have two contradictory narrations.
We will hold on to the one that aligns with the حديث of Aisha رضي الله عنها, which is exactly what you were saying earlier, where he clings to that حديث, رحمه الله. He dismissed the other narration that way.
Also, regarding the number of raka'ahs, for example, عطاء بن أبي رباح believed it was more than eleven. I mentioned داود بن قيس when he discussed the time of Umar ibn al-Khattab, and also الفضل بن دكين when he mentioned سعد بن عبيد. I also mentioned سعيد بن جبير, even though there’s a dispute regarding it. Additionally, عبد الرحمن بن الأسود led us in prayer during Ramadan with forty raka'ahs, and prayed the Witr with seven, as mentioned by Ibn Abi Shaybah.
This is the case with أبي البختري, who would pray five sets of ترويحات (resting periods between prayers) during Ramadan and prayed the Witr with three. Ibn Abi Shaybah narrated this. مالك بن أنس also mentioned, through Ibn al-Qasim, that he heard Malik say that جعفر بن سليمان sent to him asking if reducing the number of raka'ahs in Ramadan was permissible, and Malik forbade that. When asked how many raka'ahs should be prayed, Malik said thirty-nine raka'ahs, with the Witr included.
Ibn Ayman also said, quoting Malik: "I would prefer the people to pray thirty-eight raka'ahs, and then the imam and the people would conclude with one Witr." So, you have many innovations here. أحمد بن حنبل was asked, "How many raka'ahs do you pray in Ramadan?" He replied, "It has been said that the number can vary, close to forty." So, this is a voluntary prayer, إِنَّمَا هُوَ تَطَوُّعٌ (it is voluntary), and إِسْحَاقُ بْنُ مِصْر said, "We prefer forty raka'ahs, and the recitation should be lighter." الإمام الشافعي's student الزعفراني said that he saw the people in Madinah praying thirty-nine raka'ahs, and he preferred twenty. The same is done in Makkah, and there’s no restriction or specific limit because it’s a نافلة (optional prayer).
As for lengthening the standing and reducing the prostration, this is also good. Whether the imam prolongs the standing or makes the prostration longer, it’s fine. محمد نصر المروزي mentioned all of this in his book on قيامة رمضان.
So, you mentioned forty, thirty-nine, and twenty as the preferred numbers, with others like مالك, الشافعي, and أحمد also having different opinions. The issue is far from settled to say it has to be a closed debate. الله أعلم.
There are so many narrations, and I think the two I’ve spoken about most are the ones from سائب بن يزيد. This is where someone might look at these two narrations and wonder, how do you reconcile one stating eleven and the other stating twenty? The reconciliation could be that they occurred on different occasions, or it could be that they were two different situations, and الجمع واجب (reconciliation is required) whenever possible. So, for the latter, the people he refers to are reliable. It could be two separate events. إِنَّ شَاءَ الله.
The issue of ترجيح (preference for one narration) doesn’t always have to apply. Sometimes, it’s fine to reconcile. والله أعلم. جزاك الله خير. I’m looking at the time, and I think people can see from outside as well that we’re approaching the start of Maghrib, so إن شاء الله we will continue this on another day. بارك الله فيك for joining me today. جزاك الله خير. السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته.
Moving on to some general questions about صلاة التراويح. The first one, I think, we’ve already answered: Do you have to pray two by two, or can you pray four by four? As you mentioned from حديث عائشة رضي الله عنها, those four were not disconnected; they were four. So, you have the option to pray two by two or four by four.
Do you have to finish the entire Qur'an in صلاة التراويح? No, not necessarily. It’s better to finish it, but no, you don’t have to.
Okay, some مساجد they don't leave much time between the end of صلاة العشاء and the start of صلاة التراويح. They rush it very quickly. That person who wants to get the reward of praying the رواتب of صلاة العشاء, what should he do in this situation? They should add it to the تراويح with the intention they’ll get it. The first two ركعات of تراويح have the intention of رواتب for صلاة العشاء.
Is it permissible to give short reminders in between every four ركعات, like some of the مساجد they sit down, give a break, and give a short reminder? It shouldn’t always be the case. Now and then, no problem, but it shouldn’t be the norm that the people always do.
Is it better to pray صلاة التراويح at home or in the مسجد? صلاة التراويح is better for the people to pray in the مسجد, it's better than praying at home. Unless you have a جماعة in your locality where you can lead the قيام and you have a جماعة where you can, no problem, but to pray in the مسجد is the best one, which the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم did in the beginning, and then he changed it صلى الله عليه وسلم because of the fear that he had that it might be made obligatory on the people. And the حديث of course, the Imam was telling me the narrating: من قام مع الإمام في صلاة التراويح حتى ينصرف فكتب له قيام ليلتين So this won’t come unless you pray with an Imam, right, in a مسجد you’re not going to get that. And عمر رضي الله عنه when he saw the people praying separately, he wanted to bring them all together, so that’s the best. That’s what ابن حجر and great other scholars know. He even says صلاة التراويح سنة بإجماع العلماء وتجوز منفردا وجماعة وأيهما أفضل. He says in two famous opinions:
- The correct view, agreed upon by the companions, is that الجماعة is better.
- The second view is that praying individually is better. The reason why there’s a dispute anyways is because the one who has memorized the Qur’an and knows the Qur’an ولا يخاف الكسل (and he’s not scared about being lazy), they say if he prays by himself, it’s better because he’s going to have more خشوع (humility), no one’s going to see him, it’s better for his sincerity. As for the one who has يعني not got much Qur’an, he’s scared he’s going to be lazy and he only can keep his momentum by going to the مسجد, then for him to go to the جماعة is better for him. So, there’s that observation that some of the scholars have. ابن القيم speaks about it, but الترمذي says that إختيار ابن مبارك عبدالله بن مبارك’s view and أحمد محمد and إسحاق بن راهويه is that الصلاة مع الإمام في شهر رمضان is better. That’s the view they chose. Now, you know, on that point that you mentioned about someone who’s not memorized a lot of Qur’an, if they want to pray صلاة التراويح at home and they want to extend it, are they allowed to hold the مصحف open and read from there? The concept of reading from the مصحف is something our mother عائشة رضي الله عنها she was led by the حديث of الإمام البخاري narrated in معلق. حافظ مهاجر mentions it in his فتح الباري. أبو داود said in his سنان that ابن أبي ملايكة brought a chain for it. ابن أبي شيبة brought a chain for it. عبد الرزاق and الشافعي brought a chain for it. So البخاري narrated in معلق that عائشة رضي الله عنها she had a servant called ذكاوان who used to lead this صلاة from the مصحف in Ramadan. He would hold the مصحف. He would be holding the مصحف. And even الزهري was asked about it, the man who reads in Ramadan in the مصحف. He said, “Our righteous ones, our noble ones, they used to use the مصحف to read from it.” And الإمام النووي says if he reads the Qur’an from the مصحف, his صلاة will not nullify. If he reads from the مصحف whether he has memorized it or not, it doesn't matter. Rather, it can be obligatory if the person hasn't memorized الفاتحة (Al-Fatiha). He knows it only from the مصحف, he has to open the مصحف and look at it again. This is all regarding the voluntary prayers. It should be in his مصحف. It should be in his مصحف, be in his مصحف, be in his مصحف, be in his. And the one who is not leading the prayer, but the one who is praying behind the imam, so there is no necessary need for him, he just wants to hold it just to follow along. It's ok, it’s an عبادة, نذر of the مصحف itself is an عبادة, Inshallah, it’s not a problem. But I discourage people from using iPhones. Yeah, I was going to ask about that next. You discourage that? I highly discourage it if people use phones because phones have other gadgets and things in there and pop-ups and messages and things like that, so I would not advise that. Use a مصحف. Where do you place a مصحف when you go into ركوع or سجود?
The person should have a pillow right next to them, so when they go to رُكوع they can place the قرآن on the pillow.
My next few questions are related to the دعاء القنوت in الوتر.
Is it legislated to make دعاء القنوت every single night in Ramadan with الوتر? The قنوت is something that a person should avoid saying every single night. Even though the قنوت in الوتر is a سنة, because the حديث of الحسن بن علي بن أبي طالب رضي الله عنه says: علمني رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم كلمات أقولهن في قنوت الوتر The Prophet told me words which I should say: اللهم هدني فيمن هديت وعافني فيمن عافيت وتولني فيمن توليت And the famous دعاء القنوت that we say, أبو داود in ترمذي and other great scholars narrated it.
So it mentions that the Prophet taught him what to say in قنوت. Some of the scholars, like شيخ الألباني, extracted from it because the narration of أبي بن كعب from all the صحابة was the only one who narrated where the Prophet did قنوت in Ramadan. They said that this is something that you shouldn’t do very often because if it was something he was doing every night, a lot of صحابة would have narrated it. So something أبي only from the جماعة صحابة who narrated that he did قنوت in Ramadan shows that it’s something that can be done, but it shouldn’t be something that’s always done.
So ابن تيمية mentions three views for the issue in his مجموعة الفتاوى. Some scholars said he can't, but إن شاء الله it's fine with the condition of not making it a norm and doing it all the time now.
And you mentioned that the wording of the قنوت was taught by the Prophet. Now, obviously, you have the قنوت and you also have a long دعاء after that. Is this allowed in the salah? Again, another thing is, can you stick to what the Prophet taught, or can you say more? Again, from the سلف, it was transmitted from some of the سلف that they say that ابن عبد البر mentions that the person makes قنوت in making دعاء against the non-Muslims. And this is the opportunity to make دعاء for the Muslims.
So some of the سلف did mention that الحسن said that عمر بن الخطاب commanded أبي بن كعب to pray with the people. So when half of Ramadan finishes, after 15 days, and they begin the next half of Ramadan, on the night of the 16th, they should make قنوت and دعاء against the كفار. This is something that a large number of scholars mentioned.
You know, on this particular issue, we heard a lot about شيخ الألباني and we mentioned his view, and it was a view that was opposing yours. And it's something that he's become quite well known for. As another episode, we did on the issue of النقاب, again, he held a particular strong view on that as well.
In light of this, how do we view Sheikh Al-Albani with regards to these kinds of issues? First of all, I want us to understand that there’s no one who’s infallible except الله سبحانه وتعالى and His Messenger. Allah says: لا ياتيها الباطل من بين يديها ولا من خلفها تنزيل من حكيم حميد The only thing that we have, which is infallible, is the قرآن. There is no falsehood that can come to it. Everything about it is true, it is the كتاب الله سبحانه وتعالى. Every single person is what? Every single person is open to mistakes and errors.
The poet said: من نرضى عنهم كل ما قالوا أو فعلوا؟ Nobody. What we can say about a person is that his mistakes are one, two, three. Someone’s given دعوة for 13 years, 14, 15 years, and you've got like two mistakes, three mistakes against them—that actually shows ما شاء الله بارك الله. That’s not bad. He says more good is good than bad. Yes, he says good about it.
So we understand that the علماء are not infallible. They do make mistakes. The people are too extreme when it comes to a scholar’s mistakes. A group that goes overboard in trying to defend the Sheikh and following him in the mistake and trying to find excuses and reasons for it—that’s extreme exaggeration. And there’s extreme negligence, which is when a scholar does a mistake and comes with a shortcoming, there are people who want to drop the Sheikh and basically disregard him and consider him an innovator.
Ibn Al-Qayyim says: It is not permissible to follow him in it, and it is not permissible to diminish his position, his imamate, and his rank from the hearts of the Muslims. A powerful statement, by Allah. Anyone who knows the Sharia and understands the reality knows with certainty—without a doubt—that an honourable man who has a position in this religion, with righteous actions and good deeds, and who has left behind good works, and is a part of Islam and its people, holds a great position. A mistake can come from him, and he may slip or have a shortcoming, but he is excused for it because he is a mujtahid (a scholar capable of independent reasoning), receiving either one or two rewards. However, it is not permissible for us, first of all, to follow him in that mistake. Also, it is not permissible to diminish his position or his imamate or rank in the hearts of the Muslims. We cannot use his mistake as an excuse to belittle him and ridicule him. But we also do not use it as an opportunity to magnify his mistakes.
Many people think that respecting a scholar means taking all of his mistakes. Al-Imam al-Awza’i said: "Whoever follows the odd opinions of the scholars has deviated from the path of Islam." Ali ibn al-Dhahabi also said: "Whoever follows the concessions of the scholars and the mistakes of the mujtahideen, their religion will become weak and fragile." That’s why we say to these people, Sheikh al-Albani’s status is as clear as the sun at midday. His imamate and position in the field of knowledge are established. We say to those who criticize him: "Aqilu alihim la aba li abikum mina alloumi au suddu al makan al ladhi saddu" (You should not belittle them. If you're truly sincere, try to come with even half of what they contributed.) And if you're real and you've truly benefited, try to do what he did, رحمه الله تعالى. Shaykh Nasser has proven his works and efforts. With that being said, he is an imam, just like the other imams of Islam. He sometimes gets things right and sometimes he gets things wrong. When he gets it right, we respect, love, and admire him for it. We accept from him. But when he gets it wrong, we also respect and admire him, but we do not follow him in the mistake. This is part of the things we learn from him.
Final Question from My Side: How do we treat this particular issue if we disagree with someone over it? For example, you have a friend who believes that you should pray 20 rak'ahs, and you believe it should be 8. How big of an issue is this? Do you make tabdi' of this issue? Do you call the person an innovator or not?
Making tabdi' (declaring someone an innovator) on issues that are related to ijtihad is an issue for someone who hasn't studied the basics of the religion. It’s called ijtihad because it is based on independent reasoning. There is al-akhd wal-rad (accepting and rejecting) between the scholars. Abu Qasim al-Taymi in his book says: "It is clear-cut what the scholars of Ahl al-Sunnah differ on in issues of ijtihad. Like Abu Hanifa said this, and Shafi’i said that, and Malik said this. These are issues of ijtihad. A person will not become a mubtadi’ (innovator) because of it, nor will he be blamed for it." Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah even has a very strong and powerful statement: "Some of the Salaf said things that went against the Kitab and Sunnah, but they didn’t base their love or hate on those things." Even today, if someone bases love and hate on the issue of taraweeh and declares someone a mubtadi’ because of it, this would be wrong. Mistakes of scholars will always come. There is no one—remember this in your life—who you will not disagree with in certain issues. We need to have the correct mentality when it comes to issues of furu’ (subsidiary issues) and fiqh (jurisprudence). A mentality where we can coexist, admire each other, and love one another without having hard feelings.
Anything Else You Want to Add Before We Close the Episode? I think the only thing I’d add is that this whole discussion we had about taraweeh is regarding something that is not obligatory. We’re talking about something that is highly recommended. It’s a virtuous act to perform. The reason I mention that is because sometimes you get people who pray long taraweeh prayers, and then they miss Salat al-Fajr. This is a big problem for a person’s heart and understanding of the religion. People will pray taraweeh long, they might pray 20 rak’ahs, then they might go and hang out with friends or have something to eat. But they almost value taraweeh more than Salat al-Fajr. They see taraweeh and think: "Oh, the Muslims are coming together, it’s Ramadan, this is what I have to do," and they don’t realize that Salat al-Fajr is far more important than Salat al-Taraweeh. So I just wanted to mention that. InshaAllah. JazakAllah Khair, and I hope to see you again soon. JazakAllah Khair, Salam Alaikum.
