❖ Are Twenty Rak‘ahs of Tarawih Established from Sayyiduna ʿUmar رضي الله عنه؟
Reference: Fatāwā ʿIlmiyyah, Vol. 1: Uṣūl, Takhrīj, and Ḥadīth Authentication – p. 669
❀ Question
Are twenty rak‘ahs of Tarawih established from Sayyiduna ʿUmar رضي الله عنه?
Some people claim that the practice of offering twenty rak‘ahs of Tarawih was introduced during the caliphate of ʿUmar رضي الله عنه, and on this basis, it is considered permissible and legislated. The question is: Did Sayyiduna ʿUmar رضي الله عنه really order twenty rak‘ahs of Tarawih? And was he himself aware of it at that time?
(Questioner: Ḥājī Nadhīr Khān, Dāmān Ḥazro)
❀ Answer
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu wa-s-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, ʾammā baʿd!
From Sayyiduna ʿUmar رضي الله عنه, neither in statement nor in action are twenty rak‘ahs of Tarawih established. Rather, what is authentically proven from him is the order of eleven rak‘ahs only.
◈ Narration from Muwaṭṭaʾ Imām Mālik رحمه الله
In al-Muwaṭṭaʾ of Imām Mālik رحمه الله, it is narrated:
Sayyiduna Amīr al-Muʾminīn ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb رضي الله عنه ordered Sayyiduna Ubayy ibn Kaʿb رضي الله عنه and Sayyiduna Tamīm al-Dārī رضي الله عنه to lead the people in eleven rak‘ahs of Tarawih.
(al-Muwaṭṭaʾ: Vol. 1, p. 114. Also in Ḥusn ʿIndah Ṣaḥīḥ Āthār al-Sunan by al-Nimawī, p. 250, who said: “Wa isnāduhu ṣaḥīḥ.”)
◈ Research Reference
For a complete discussion on this narration and the explicit order of Sayyiduna ʿUmar رضي الله عنه, see:
- “Taʿdād Rakʿāt Qiyām Ramaḍān kā Taḥqīqī Jāʾizah” by the author
(pp. 22–23)
❀ Juridical Conclusion
Against the clear and well-known command of Sayyiduna ʿUmar رضي الله عنه, the action of some unknown individuals during his caliphate of praying twenty rak‘ahs holds no validity or Sharʿī status.
(Māhnāmah al-Ḥadīth: Issue 61)
ھذا ما عندي واللہ أعلم بالصواب
