Did ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (رضي الله عنه) Establish 8 Rakʿāt for Tarāwīḥ?
Source: Fatāwā Amunpuri by Shaykh Ghulām Muṣṭafā Ẓahīr Amunpuri
❖ Question:
Is there authentic evidence that ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (رضي الله عنه) instructed the Companions to perform eight rakʿāt of Tarāwīḥ?
❖ Answer:
Yes, ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (رضي الله عنه) commanded the Companions to perform eleven rakʿāt in total, including three rakʿāt of Witr, which means eight rakʿāt of Tarāwīḥ specifically.
✿ Primary Evidence from the Companions:
➊ Narrated by al-Sāʾib ibn Yazīd (رضي الله عنه):
“ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb ordered Ubayy ibn Kaʿb and Tamīm al-Dārī to lead the people in prayer with eleven rakʿāt.”
(Al-Muwaṭṭaʾ of Imām Mālik: 138; Sharḥ Maʿānī al-Āthār by al-Ṭaḥāwī: 1/293; al-Sunan al-Kubrā by al-Bayhaqī: 2/496; Mishkāt al-Maṣābīḥ: 1/407)
🟢 Chain of narration: Authentic
📌 This narration perfectly aligns with the well-known ḥadīth of ʿĀʾishah (رضي الله عنها) found in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī and Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, wherein the Prophet ﷺ would not exceed eleven rakʿāt during Ramadan or otherwise.
✿ Consensus of the Companions in ʿUmar’s Time:
➋ Narrated again by al-Sāʾib ibn Yazīd (رضي الله عنه):
“ʿUmar gathered the people behind Ubayy and Tamīm, and they would lead eleven rakʿāt in prayer.”
(Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah: 2/391; Tārīkh al-Madīnah by ʿUmar ibn Shabbah: 2/713)
🟢 Chain of narration: Authentic
➌ He further states:
“During the time of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, we used to pray eleven rakʿāt.”
(Sunan Saʿīd ibn Manṣūr, cited in: al-Ḥāwī lil-Fatāwā by al-Suyūṭī: 1/349; Ḥāshiyat Āthār al-Sunan by al-Nīmawī al-Ḥanafī: 250)
🟢 Chain of narration: Authentic
➍ Imām al-Subkī said regarding the isnād of this narration:
“Its chain is of the highest level of authenticity.”
(Sharḥ al-Minhāj, cited in: al-Ḥāwī lil-Fatāwā: 1/350)
✅ Conclusion:
☑ The above authentic narrations confirm that ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (رضي الله عنه) established eleven rakʿāt for Tarāwīḥ (including Witr), thus confirming eight rakʿāt of Tarāwīḥ.
☑ There is no sound evidence that he ever established twenty rakʿāt, as claimed by some.
☑ Therefore, the claim that Tarāwīḥ should be twenty rakʿāt as Sunnah Mu’akkadah is incorrect and not supported by the actions of ʿUmar or the consensus of the Companions.
✦ Supplication:
May Allah grant us the ability to act upon this authentic Sunnah. Āmīn.
