Darimi

(Commentary on Hadiths 1813 to 1816)

From the first hadith, the virtue of standing in prayer at night (qiyam al-layl) or the prayer of Tarawih is established, and staying awake, standing in prayer, and worshipping during Laylat al-Qadr is proven, and its reward is so great that previous sins are forgiven. Qiyam, Tarawih, and Tahajjud are all the same thing. The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) performed qiyam and prayed Tarawih in congregation for only three nights, and on the remaining nights did not lead Tarawih in congregation out of fear that it might be made obligatory upon the Ummah «(فِدَاهُ أَبِيْ وَأُمِّيْ)». The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) never prayed more than eleven rak‘ahs of Tarawih or Tahajjud in Ramadan or outside of Ramadan. In one narration, there are thirteen rak‘ahs, so this is the Sunnah. Twenty rak‘ahs were prayed during the blessed era of Sayyiduna ‘Umar (radi Allahu anhu), so twenty rak‘ahs may also be prayed. When the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) was asked about the voluntary night prayer, he (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said: «صَلَاةُ اللَّيْلِ مَثْنَيٰ مَثْنَيٰ» “The night prayer is two by two rak‘ahs.”

The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) did not specify a number of rak‘ahs, and for this reason, in the two sacred sanctuaries (Haramayn Sharifayn), twenty, thirty-six, and even forty rak‘ahs of Tarawih have been prayed. However, the practice of the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) remained limited to eleven or thirteen rak‘ahs, so this is the Sunnah and is better and more virtuous.

And Allah knows best.