Source: Fatāwā Amunpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amunpuri
How many rakʿāt of Tarāwīḥ did the Prophet ﷺ pray?
The regular practice of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, both in Ramaḍān and outside of it, was to pray eight rakʿāt in Qiyām al-Layl (night prayer).
❀ Shaykh al-Ḥadīth of Dār al-ʿUlūm Deoband, ʿAllāmah Anwar Shāh Kāshmīrī writes:
"There is no choice but to accept that the Tarāwīḥ of the Prophet ﷺ was eight rakʿāt. There is not a single narration that proves the Prophet ﷺ prayed Tahajjud and Tarāwīḥ separately in Ramaḍān."
(Al-ʿUrf al-Shadhī: 1/166)
❀ Mawlānā Khalīl Aḥmad Sahāranpūrī رحمه الله writes:
"It is unanimously agreed that Tarāwīḥ is an emphasized Sunnah of eight rakʿāt. If there is any disagreement, it is about the additional twelve."
(Barāhīn Qāṭiʿah: 195)
❀ Abū Salamah ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān رحمه الله asked Sayyidah ʿĀ’ishah رضي الله عنها about the Prophet’s ﷺ night prayer in Ramaḍān. She replied:
"The Messenger of Allah ﷺ never prayed more than eleven rakʿāt in Ramaḍān or outside of it."
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 1147, 2013; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 738)
Thus, declaring twenty rakʿāt as Sunnah is incorrect. Below is a brief but scholarly review of the related evidence:
"The Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to pray twenty rakʿāt and Witr during Ramaḍān."
(Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah: 2/294; Al-Sunan al-Kubrā by al-Bayhaqī: 2/496; al-Muʿjam al-Kabīr by al-Ṭabarānī: 11/393)
This chain is severely weak due to the following:
① Abū Shaybah Ibrāhīm ibn ʿUthmān is matrūk al-ḥadīth (abandoned in ḥadīth);
the majority of scholars have declared him weak.
❀ ʿAllāmah Qudūrī Ḥanafī called him a liar.
(Al-Tajrīd: 1/203)
❀ ʿAllāmah Zaylaʿī Ḥanafī wrote:
"This narration is defective because of Abū Shaybah Ibrāhīm ibn ʿUthmān, the grandfather of Imām Abū Bakr ibn Abī Shaybah, who is unanimously agreed upon as weak. Imām Ibn ʿAdī also declared him weak in Al-Kāmil. Moreover, this narration contradicts the authentic narration from Sayyidah ʿĀ’ishah رضي الله عنها where she said the Prophet ﷺ never exceeded eleven rakʿāt, whether in Ramaḍān or outside it."
(Naṣb al-Rāyah: 2/153)
① ʿAllāmah Anwar Shāh Kāshmīrī writes:
"Eight rakʿāt of Tarāwīḥ are authentically proven from the Prophet ﷺ. As for twenty rakʿāt, they are reported with a weak chain, and this weakness is agreed upon."
(Al-ʿUrf al-Shadhī: 1/166)
② Mawlānā ʿAbd al-Shakūr Fārūqī also declared the narration weak.
(ʿIlm al-Fiqh, p. 198)
③ Muftī ʿAzīz al-Raḥmān of Dār al-ʿUlūm Deoband wrote:
"Indeed, there is no doubt that this ḥadīth is weak."
(Fatāwā Dār al-ʿUlūm Deoband: 1/249)
④ ʿAllāmah Ibn ʿĀbidīn Shāmī Ḥanafī states:
"This ḥadīth is weak due to Abū Shaybah, who is unanimously declared weak. Additionally, it contradicts the authentic narration from ʿĀ’ishah رضي الله عنها."
(Minḥat al-Khāliq: 2/66)
Similar criticism has been expressed by:
❀ Imām al-Suyūṭī رحمه الله stated:
"This ḥadīth is extremely weak and cannot be used as evidence."
(Al-Maṣābīḥ fī Ṣalāt al-Tarāwīḥ: p. 17)
In his book Jāʾ al-Ḥaqq (2/243), during a discussion on not reciting Sūrat al-Fātiḥah in Janāzah prayer, he quotes Imām al-Tirmidhī that:
"Ibrāhīm ibn ʿUthmān Abū Shaybah is munkar al-ḥadīth."
Yet in the appendix of the same book (1/447), in the booklet "Lumaʿāt al-Maṣābīḥ ʿalā Rakʿāt al-Tarāwīḥ", he presents his narration as valid evidence—this is not a fair scholarly approach.
Sayyidunā Jābir رضي الله عنه reportedly said the Prophet ﷺ led twenty-four rakʿāt and three rakʿāt Witr in one Ramaḍān night.
(Tārīkh Jurjān by Abū Qāsim Hamzah ibn Yūsuf al-Sahmī, p. 275)
This narration is fabricated:
① ʿUmar ibn Hārūn al-Balkhī is matrūk and a liar (kadhdhāb), declared unreliable by many Imāms including Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, al-Nasā’ī, Ibn Ḥibbān, and Abū Ḥātim.
❀ Ḥāfiẓ al-Dhahabī said:
“There is consensus on his weakness.”
(Talkhīṣ al-Mustadrak: 848)
② Muḥammad ibn Ḥumayd al-Rāzī is considered weak and even a liar by the majority of scholars.
③ The narration includes an unknown narrator.
❖ Question:
How many rakʿāt of Tarāwīḥ did the Prophet ﷺ pray?
✿ Answer:
The regular practice of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, both in Ramaḍān and outside of it, was to pray eight rakʿāt in Qiyām al-Layl (night prayer).
❀ Shaykh al-Ḥadīth of Dār al-ʿUlūm Deoband, ʿAllāmah Anwar Shāh Kāshmīrī writes:
"There is no choice but to accept that the Tarāwīḥ of the Prophet ﷺ was eight rakʿāt. There is not a single narration that proves the Prophet ﷺ prayed Tahajjud and Tarāwīḥ separately in Ramaḍān."
(Al-ʿUrf al-Shadhī: 1/166)❀ Mawlānā Khalīl Aḥmad Sahāranpūrī رحمه الله writes:
"It is unanimously agreed that Tarāwīḥ is an emphasized Sunnah of eight rakʿāt. If there is any disagreement, it is about the additional twelve."
(Barāhīn Qāṭiʿah: 195)❀ Abū Salamah ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān رحمه الله asked Sayyidah ʿĀ’ishah رضي الله عنها about the Prophet’s ﷺ night prayer in Ramaḍān. She replied:
"The Messenger of Allah ﷺ never prayed more than eleven rakʿāt in Ramaḍān or outside of it."
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 1147, 2013; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 738)Thus, declaring twenty rakʿāt as Sunnah is incorrect. Below is a brief but scholarly review of the related evidence:
❖ Narration from ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهما:
"The Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to pray twenty rakʿāt and Witr during Ramaḍān."
(Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah: 2/294; Al-Sunan al-Kubrā by al-Bayhaqī: 2/496; al-Muʿjam al-Kabīr by al-Ṭabarānī: 11/393) This chain is severely weak due to the following:① Abū Shaybah Ibrāhīm ibn ʿUthmān is matrūk al-ḥadīth (abandoned in ḥadīth);
the majority of scholars have declared him weak.
❀ ʿAllāmah Qudūrī Ḥanafī called him a liar.
(Al-Tajrīd: 1/203)❀ ʿAllāmah Zaylaʿī Ḥanafī wrote:
"This narration is defective because of Abū Shaybah Ibrāhīm ibn ʿUthmān, the grandfather of Imām Abū Bakr ibn Abī Shaybah, who is unanimously agreed upon as weak. Imām Ibn ʿAdī also declared him weak in Al-Kāmil. Moreover, this narration contradicts the authentic narration from Sayyidah ʿĀ’ishah رضي الله عنها where she said the Prophet ﷺ never exceeded eleven rakʿāt, whether in Ramaḍān or outside it."
(Naṣb al-Rāyah: 2/153)❖ Opinions of Ḥanafī Scholars on Abū Shaybah's Narration:
① ʿAllāmah Anwar Shāh Kāshmīrī writes:
"Eight rakʿāt of Tarāwīḥ are authentically proven from the Prophet ﷺ. As for twenty rakʿāt, they are reported with a weak chain, and this weakness is agreed upon."
(Al-ʿUrf al-Shadhī: 1/166)② Mawlānā ʿAbd al-Shakūr Fārūqī also declared the narration weak.
(ʿIlm al-Fiqh, p. 198)③ Muftī ʿAzīz al-Raḥmān of Dār al-ʿUlūm Deoband wrote:
"Indeed, there is no doubt that this ḥadīth is weak."
(Fatāwā Dār al-ʿUlūm Deoband: 1/249)④ ʿAllāmah Ibn ʿĀbidīn Shāmī Ḥanafī states:
"This ḥadīth is weak due to Abū Shaybah, who is unanimously declared weak. Additionally, it contradicts the authentic narration from ʿĀ’ishah رضي الله عنها."
(Minḥat al-Khāliq: 2/66)Similar criticism has been expressed by:
- Ibn Humām Ḥanafī (Fatḥ al-Qadīr: 46/81)
- ʿAynī Ḥanafī (ʿUmdat al-Qārī: 17/177)
- Ibn Nujaym Ḥanafī (al-Baḥr al-Rā’iq: 6/62)
- Ibn ʿĀbidīn (Radd al-Muḥtār: 1/521)
- Sharṇbalālī Ḥanafī (Marāqī al-Falāḥ: p. 442)
- Ṭaḥṭāwī Ḥanafī (Ḥāshiyat al-Ṭaḥṭāwī: 1/295)
❀ Imām al-Suyūṭī رحمه الله stated:
"This ḥadīth is extremely weak and cannot be used as evidence."
(Al-Maṣābīḥ fī Ṣalāt al-Tarāwīḥ: p. 17)❖ Contradictions in Ahmad Yār Khān Gujarātī’s Writings:
In his book Jāʾ al-Ḥaqq (2/243), during a discussion on not reciting Sūrat al-Fātiḥah in Janāzah prayer, he quotes Imām al-Tirmidhī that:
"Ibrāhīm ibn ʿUthmān Abū Shaybah is munkar al-ḥadīth."
Yet in the appendix of the same book (1/447), in the booklet "Lumaʿāt al-Maṣābīḥ ʿalā Rakʿāt al-Tarāwīḥ", he presents his narration as valid evidence—this is not a fair scholarly approach.
❖ Fabricated Narration from Jābir رضي الله عنه:
Sayyidunā Jābir رضي الله عنه reportedly said the Prophet ﷺ led twenty-four rakʿāt and three rakʿāt Witr in one Ramaḍān night.
(Tārīkh Jurjān by Abū Qāsim Hamzah ibn Yūsuf al-Sahmī, p. 275) This narration is fabricated:① ʿUmar ibn Hārūn al-Balkhī is matrūk and a liar (kadhdhāb), declared unreliable by many Imāms including Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, al-Nasā’ī, Ibn Ḥibbān, and Abū Ḥātim.
❀ Ḥāfiẓ al-Dhahabī said:
“There is consensus on his weakness.”
(Talkhīṣ al-Mustadrak: 848)② Muḥammad ibn Ḥumayd al-Rāzī is considered weak and even a liar by the majority of scholars.
③ The narration includes an unknown narrator.
Conclusion:
- The Prophet ﷺ regularly prayed only eight rakʿāt of Qiyām al-Layl, even in Ramaḍān.
- No authentic narration supports the practice of twenty rakʿāt from the Prophet ﷺ.
- Narrations supporting twenty or more rakʿāt are either weak, fabricated, or contradict authentic ḥadīths.
