Source Note
This excerpt is taken from Shaykh Riḍā’ullāh ʿAbd al-Karīm Madanī’s book “Proof of Twenty Rakʿahs of Tarāwīḥ: In the Mirror of Reality”, which is a response to Mufti Shabbīr Aḥmad Qāsmī’s booklet.
Why Twenty Rakʿahs in the Ḥaramayn?
Qāsmī Ṣāḥib’s Third Question
He writes:“Also, why are twenty rakʿahs continuously performed with regularity in every Ramadan in the Ḥaramayn Sharīfayn?”
Answer
Twenty rakʿahs are performed in the Ḥaramayn because of people like you—stubborn and obstinate—who, in opposition to the Qur’an and Sunnah, hold faith in their own sect and customary practice.The matter happened like this: when Allah Almighty willed to restore to the Ḥaramayn Sharīfayn their lost honor and status—which the blind-followers had stripped away—then within the Masjid al-Ḥarām itself, four designated prayer-places were formally established, and at one time prayers would be held in four different locations. The Ḥanafī, Shāfiʿī, Mālikī, and Ḥanbalī each prayed at their own place and at their own time. While prayer would be going on at one place, people would remain seated at another place and keep calling others away. Those who divided the House of Allah into four parts were content—each believing only his own was correct.
The Maqām Ibrāhīm, at which the Qur’an commanded that prayer be performed, and Allah said:
﴿وَاتَّخِذُوا مِنْ مَقَامِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ مُصَلًّى﴾
“Take the station of Ibrāhīm as a place of prayer.”
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ considered complying with this necessary; he practiced it throughout his life and made it practiced. The Rightly Guided Caliphs practiced it themselves and made others practice it. In the era of Banū Umayyah, and even in the era of the four Imams, this practice continued and remained prevalent.
But when the blind-followers began viewing mutual bloodshed as sacred jihād, and started calling one another disbelievers, and matters reached the point that the ruler of the time—just to rid himself of these fights and stop the bloodshed—had to divide the mosques, divide the madāris, separate the endowments and hand them over to the claimants, then the last limit was reached here: permission was given to establish four prayer-places even in the Kaʿbah. These blind-followers, violating the sanctity of the Kaʿbah and the Maqām Ibrāhīm, formally built four prayer-places.
They did not reflect that by doing so they were opposing the Qur’an, rejecting the command of ḥadīth, opposing the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and the Rightly Guided Caliphs, and forgetting the practice of the Imams of the religion and the Mujtahid Imams. The intoxication of blind-following had risen so high that none of these matters appeared bad to them, nor did they consider this grave crime a sin, negligence, or mistake.
Allah’s honor became aroused. Allah gave the Saudi government (حرسها الله من شر حاسد اذا حسد) the reins of the Ḥaramayn. An earthquake struck the halls of blind-following. They spoke thousands of lies to defame this government and its rulers. They called them irreligious, called them Wahhābī, wrote booklets in the Ḥaramayn under the name “Black Thief,” held meetings for protests, and conspired with Jews and Christians. But by Allah’s فضل و کرم, nothing happened. Allah blackened the faces of these liars.
After this government arrived, just as manifestations of shirk and bidʿah were removed from the Ḥaramayn, likewise the dominance of those four prayer-places was ended. This act—falling like lightning upon the palace of blind-following—became a means of restoring honor and nobility to the Masjid al-Ḥarām. And the Muslim Ummah once again united upon the Muṣallā of Maqām Ibrāhīm. In any case—
Why Are Twenty Tarāwīḥ in the Ḥaramayn?
Why are twenty rakʿahs of Tarāwīḥ performed in the Ḥaramayn? If eight rakʿahs, or eleven rakʿahs with witr, are the Sunnah—then why are they not done in the Ḥaramayn? Today many people mislead the public and present the Ḥaramayn as an argument in order to make the people believe that twenty rakʿahs of Tarāwīḥ are the correct ones.Mufti Shabbīr is a learned man; he knows that the practice of a place is neither a standard nor a proof. If such a thing had ever been a proof, then the Ḥanafī jurists would certainly have accepted the practice of the people of Madīnah—whereas we see that in refuting Imām Mālik رحمه الله’s position, the Ḥanafī Imams not only spoke against it, but even wrote books in refutation. Even then, in an unacademic way, the practice of the Ḥaramayn is being made a foundation to mislead the public, so that people may be turned away from Qur’an and Sunnah and trapped in the “practice of the Ḥaramayn.”
Those who make the practice of the Ḥaramayn a basis for twenty rakʿahs forget that many other things also happen in the Ḥaramayn—about which these same Indian clerics, with extreme obstinacy and stubbornness, declare those actions wrong and even run movements against them. Come, let us examine:
① Intention for Fasting and the Ḥaramayn
Here in India, both Ḥanafī groups make the intention for fasting with the words “بصوم غد نويت من شهر رمضان”, and this intention is printed in newspapers, leaflets, and all timetables of suḥūr and ifṭār. Whereas in the Ḥaramayn, this intention is considered an innovation, because it has no proof from the Qur’an, nor from ḥadīth, nor from ijmāʿ—and qiyās has no scope in it, because this is not a new issue. Rather, since fasting was obligated, intention was also required, and the noble Prophet ﷺ clearly said:إنما الأعمال بالنيات
“Actions are only by intentions.”
The validity of an action depends on intention; without intention no action is valid. But the Messenger of Allah ﷺ or the Companions never made intention verbally, nor did they specify any wording for it, because intention is the name of a heartfelt resolve. Intention relates to the heart, not the tongue. For this reason, scholars and linguists say:
النية عمل القلب
“Intention is an action of the heart.”
Some blind-followers themselves fabricated an intention for fasting and then made it widespread. Some taught: “بصوم غد نويت من شهر رمضان”. Others thought that the phrase “month of Ramadan” is general—whether it means this year’s Ramadan or next year’s—so they taught: “بصوم غد نويت من شهر رمضان هذا”. And some taught: “نويت ان اصوم غدا لله تعالى”. Yet it is astonishing that these sharp-minded jurists noticed all these hair-splittings but did not notice this: intention is made at the time of suḥūr, and suḥūr is eaten for today’s fast, but they always make their followers intend for tomorrow’s fast. The meaning of “بصوم غد نويت” is: “I intend the fast of tomorrow.”
If someone asks: you have made intention for tomorrow’s fast—when will you make intention for today’s fast?
What can be done? Here it is blind imitation: practice is not on Qur’an and ḥadīth, but on custom—custom. If it becomes customary to intend like this, then practice will remain on it. The Qur’an may say something, the ḥadīth may say something, the Companions may say something—yet no one listens. We asked one man who insisted on verbal intention: are you a follower of Imām Abū Ḥanīfah رحمه الله or of the Ḥanafī fiqh? He replied: of Imām Abū Ḥanīfah. We said: then end the dispute—show a single statement from any book of the Imām that he commanded verbal intention, or that his students reported that the Imām himself used to make intention verbally. If you prove it, then you have the right to do it verbally. Otherwise, abandon that which the Imām did not teach, which is not proven from Qur’an and Sunnah, and which is also irrationally incorrect. He said: we will bring proof for you. A long time has passed; he has not yet returned.
② Suḥūr Adhān and the Ḥaramayn
Here in India, there is no custom of a suḥūr adhān; rather there is a custom of drums, tambourines, sirens, and today among a certain group, recordings. In those recordings, along with qawwālī to entertain hearts, melodious songs of film-world “fairies” are also made a means of “spiritual progress.” From different neighborhoods, requests are made through “Alais” and “MS,” and they are formally announced. People gain applause by playing hit songs of All India Radio’s Urdu service or the old Radio Ceylon. And on Eid day, a portion of the fiṭrah is given to those recording people, because they “worked continuously for a month.”All of this happens in the presence of scholars and shaykhs: no fatwā is issued, nor any displeasure or anger expressed.
In such a situation, if a lover of Sunnah gives the suḥūr adhān—which is the Sunnah of the Messenger ﷺ, the Sunnah of the Rightly Guided Caliphs, and the Sunnah of the Imams of the religion and the mujtahids—then these same scholars and shaykhs create an uproar, and are ready for every lowly and disgraceful act from mischief and disorder onwards—things not befitting them at all.
In that commotion they forget that in the Ḥaramayn, neither are drums beaten, nor songs sung on tambourines, nor sirens used. As for recordings, the very concept is absurd there. There, only and only the suḥūr adhān is given.
Why do these “innocents” not hear the suḥūr adhān of the Ḥaramayn? The same eyes with which they see twenty rakʿahs of Tarāwīḥ—why do those eyes and ears not see and hear the suḥūr adhān?
The straightforward answer is: they are not concerned with the Ḥaram or what happens in it—they are concerned with custom. Twenty rakʿahs of Tarāwīḥ is customary, so they used the Ḥaram as support for it. And suḥūr adhān is not customary, so they shut their ears and closed their eyes to it.
③ Loud Āmīn and the Ḥaramayn
Here in India, it is not customary to say Āmīn loudly after Sūrah al-Fātiḥah. If someone says Āmīn with only enough volume that a few other worshippers can hear, it is as if an earthquake occurs in the masjid after the prayer. Cities are still somewhat better, but in towns and villages it becomes such a great “crime” that the person is not only questioned, but in some places ignorant people threaten to raise hands against him, throw him out of the masjid, threaten him, and even warn him not to come again.One man said that he happened to go to a settlement in Meerut. In a loud prayer, when the imam said wa laḍ-ḍāllīn, by habit he said Āmīn loudly. No sooner did Āmīn leave his tongue than a voice came from the row behind: “چپ بے کمین”.
When the prayer ended, everyone glared at him with eyes that could devour, but no one looked at the one who answered Āmīn with “چپ بے کمین”—speaking in prayer something unrelated to prayer, in Urdu, and in opposition to ḥadīth—yet it did not “affect his prayer.” Since he was a stranger, perhaps people let him go.
But the imam spoke in a seemingly well-wishing manner: Āmīn should not be said loudly; saying it loudly has been abrogated. He said: but in ḥadīth it is mentioned. The imam replied: that was the earlier matter; later it was abrogated—but in Ḥanafī fiqh…
He barely managed to say anything when the imam snapped: this habit of you people is very bad—you do not respect anyone, you do not accept anyone’s word. Then he said: be silent. If you say Āmīn loudly again, it will not be good.
He left with his face saved. The imam and his followers hate Āmīn only because it is not customary here in India. But in the Ḥaramayn, Āmīn is so loud that it can be heard all the way to India! Why, then, do these brothers not hear the Āmīn of the Ḥaramayn? Why does that Āmīn not disturb their prayers?
If insisting on twenty rakʿahs because it happens in the Ḥaramayn is correct, then why is Āmīn not correct?
④ Fajr Prayer and the Ḥaramayn
In India, both Ḥanafī groups do not perform prayer at its earliest time. The greatest carelessness is in Fajr and ʿAṣr. Regarding Fajr, one person even wrote that it should be performed only so shortly before sunrise that if it needs to be repeated, it can be repeated with short sūrahs before sunrise.What is the wisdom in this, and is it a Sharʿī ruling or political? We do not raise that debate here. We only wish to say that the Messenger ﷺ, the Companions, and the Rightly Guided Caliphs used to pray Fajr in ghalas, and for this there are not one or two, but scores of clear, authentic, marfūʿ, connected narrations.
And in the Ḥaramayn too, Fajr is prayed in ghalas. But these people pray at the very last time. While doing so, neither do they consider the ḥadīth of the Messenger, nor the Sunnah of the Messenger ﷺ and the Sunnah of the Rightly Guided Caliphs—only following custom and maintaining fiqh-group loyalty.
Why does the practice of the Ḥaramayn not appear here? If twenty rakʿahs of Tarāwīḥ in the Ḥaramayn is “correct,” then why is praying ʿAṣr at the earliest time not “correct”?
⑤ Two Sunnah Rakʿahs After Maghrib Adhān and the Ḥaramayn
Here in India, it is not customary to pray two rakʿahs before Maghrib after the adhān. If in some masjid two rakʿahs are prayed, these people show displeasure and create noise to mislead the public, saying: where is there time in Maghrib for two rakʿahs before the congregation?In short, at any cost, those Sunnahs which are established from the Prophet ﷺ through his statements, actions, approvals, and through aḥādīth—and which were practiced abundantly in the time of the Companions—and have always remained in the Ḥaramayn—are minimized and declared wrong here due to lack of custom.
Those who forbid it claiming Maghrib time is too short are the same whom we see in Ramadan: first they delay the adhān, then they do ifṭār for ten to twelve minutes after the adhān, and then the prayer is established. If an imam establishes the prayer quickly somewhere, they become hostile toward him.
How did ten to twelve minutes become possible in the very Maghrib in which two rakʿahs “do not fit”?
Call it arbitrariness, call it hostility to Sunnah, call it stubbornness and obstinacy, call it custom-worship—what should it be named?
Why do those who raise an outcry about “twenty rakʿahs in the Ḥaramayn” not see this practice of the Ḥaramayn?
Is this not proof that you adopted the practice of the Ḥaramayn for twenty rakʿahs not because it is the Ḥaramayn’s practice, but because it matches your desire and your custom?
⑥ Women Attending the Five Daily Prayers and the Ḥaramayn
Here in India, these people consider women entering masājid extremely reprehensible. Even at the times in which Ḥanafī fiqh allowed it, they are not prepared to allow it. Whenever women’s attendance in masājid is mentioned, they see “fitnah.”But women attending invitations, walīmah feasts, ʿaqīqah gatherings, wedding processions, marches, fairs, and the gatherings of “chehlum,” “barāh wafāt,” and “ʿīd mīlād an-nabī”—with full freedom, without veiling, adorned—these muftīs do not see fitnah, nor does their sense of honor stir. Now formal women’s tablīghī groups go out—no fear, no fatwā.
Why do those who use the Ḥaramayn as proof for twenty rakʿahs not see that in the Ḥaramayn, large numbers of women attend the five daily prayers, perform obligations and nawāfil, act on Sunnahs and recommended deeds, and even participate in Tarāwīḥ?
Why do the eyes that see twenty rakʿahs of Tarāwīḥ not see women’s attendance in Masjid al-Ḥarām and Masjid an-Nabawī and their performing Tarāwīḥ in congregation?
If twenty rakʿahs of Tarāwīḥ is correct because it happens in the Ḥaramayn and the Prophet’s Mosque, then why is women’s going to masājid forbidden in India, while there women pray in masājid?
⑦ Women Attending ʿĪd Prayer and the Ḥaramayn
In India, women’s attendance at ʿĪdgāhs is considered reprehensible, just like their attendance in masājid. Women are not permitted to attend ʿĪd prayer at all.Whereas in the most authentic narrations—clear, ṣaḥīḥ, marfūʿ, connected narrations in the books of the six—women are commanded to attend ʿĪd prayer, even menstruating women are commanded to come to the ʿĪdgāh—though they do not pray—so that they participate in the duʿā’ when the imam supplicates after the prayer and sermon:
يشتركن فى دعوات المسلمين
(Al-Bukhārī)
Yet despite these authentic narrations, these people prioritize custom, and leaving ṣaḥīḥ aḥādīth, they prioritize fiqh-speech and do not allow women to attend the ʿĪdgāh or ʿĪd prayer.
Those who see twenty rakʿahs of Tarāwīḥ in the Ḥaramayn—why do they not see women’s attendance at ʿĪd prayer in the Ḥaramayn? If the practice of Makkah and Madīnah is proof for twenty rakʿahs of Tarāwīḥ, then why is the practice of Makkah and Madīnah not proof for women’s participation in ʿĪd prayer?
Just as it is loudly proclaimed that twenty rakʿahs of Tarāwīḥ occur in the Ḥaramayn—will these people also tell the public that in the Ḥaramayn women also participate in ʿĪd prayer? If they refrain from it, the public should understand that all of this is merely following custom, not due to the Sunnah of the Messenger, the Sunnah of the Companions, or the practice of the Ḥaramayn.
⑧ Twelve Extra Takbīrs in the Two ʿĪds and the Ḥaramayn
In India, these brothers pray ʿĪd prayer with six extra takbīrs and look negatively upon those who pray with twelve takbīrs. Some even forbid going near the Ahl al-Ḥadīth ʿĪdgāh.These sectarian people do not pray ʿĪd with Ahl al-Ḥadīth in an ʿĪdgāh in Eastern Delhi, and stubbornly insist on a small congregation in an empty space between apartments. Last year a Deobandī scholar expressed the truth, saying: in a festival like ʿĪd, this sectarian splitting and the method of “a separate ʿĪdgāh for one-and-a-half bricks” is not correct; it is happening due to the local mosque imam’s bias. Even after this, due to prejudice and due to collecting gifts, this small congregation continues. Among the reasons used to prevent praying with Ahl al-Ḥadīth is the dispute of six takbīrs versus twelve takbīrs.
Those who declare twenty rakʿahs of Tarāwīḥ to be the truth and present the Ḥaramayn’s practice as proof—will they reflect on their conduct? Those who claim: “In the Ḥaramayn twenty rakʿahs of Tarāwīḥ occur, therefore that is correct and all else is wrong”—can they dare to say: “In the Ḥaramayn ʿĪd prayer is performed with twelve takbīrs, therefore that is correct and all else is wrong”?
Those who see twenty rakʿahs—why do they not see ʿĪd prayer with twelve takbīrs?
These are eight practices that occur in the Ḥaramayn, and the Ḥanafīs oppose them. If the practice of the Ḥaramayn is the standard and proof for twenty rakʿahs of Tarāwīḥ, then in the mentioned issues too, the practice of the Ḥaramayn should be the standard and proof. What is this: accept what matches one’s desire and custom, and reject the rest—even if it matches the Book and Sunnah? This approach is extremely dangerous and far from fairness.
So Why Are Twenty Tarāwīḥ in the Ḥaramayn?
If the answer is given in two words, it is: because of the obstinacy, stubbornness, and unjust insistence of the blind-followers.The detailed explanation is: when the Saudi government removed manifestations of shirk and bidʿah from the Ḥaramayn, removed the incorrect practice of the four prayer-places, removed domes built over shrines and graves, then those who lived off shirk and bidʿah, and those who polished leadership on the basis of division among Muslims, found the world dark before them. They made full efforts to end this government by any means, but divine help was with Ibn Saʿūd.
When Ramadan came, the imam, in the Sunnah manner, led eight rakʿahs of Tarāwīḥ and three witr and then left. Seeing this, the desire of becoming “imams of the Ḥaram” entered the hearts of many blind-followers. After the imam left, they began establishing their own congregations. The rest, hear in the words of Professor ʿAbd ar-Razzāq Sājid.
When this came to the notice of the government, in view of the situation, a meeting of scholars was immediately called, and an agenda was set to unite upon one matter so that the credibility and dignity of the center of Islam would not be harmed—the focus of the whole world.
Despite countless efforts, the proponents of twenty rakʿahs insisted: they must pray twenty.
Therefore, from an administrative standpoint, the government appointed two imams. One imam would lead ten rakʿahs and leave. Whoever wished to perform the Sunnah number would complete his standing with the first imam. And whoever wished to pray additional rakʿahs would not sit in groups and gangs in various places. For them, arrangement of a second imam was made. Thus, from an administrative perspective, the practice of performing twenty rakʿahs of Tarāwīḥ in the Ḥaramayn with two imams began.
For details, see:
“Why Twenty Rakʿahs of Tarāwīḥ in the Ḥaramayn Sharīfayn?”
By Professor ʿAbd ar-Razzāq Sājid
Fortnightly newspaper Aslāf, Mālegāon — 20 July 2011
Dear Readers!
Now you have learned the reality of why twenty rakʿahs of Tarāwīḥ are being performed in the Ḥaramayn. It is hoped that now no one will mislead you by saying: twenty rakʿahs of Tarāwīḥ are the Sunnah of the Messenger and the greatest proof is that twenty are being performed in the Ḥaramayn. Twenty Tarāwīḥ in the Ḥaramayn and the Indian Blind-Followers
The twenty rakʿahs being performed in the Ḥaram are not being performed because twenty rakʿahs of Tarāwīḥ are the Sunnah of the Messenger ﷺ. Rather, they are being performed because the rulers there consider unity among Muslims more important than a subsidiary incident or practice.In contrast, for the Indian blind-followers, their own sect is dearer than Islam, the Qur’an, ḥadīth, and unity among Muslims. Therefore, they are not prepared to create even a slight flexibility regarding their sect.
One feels like praising the love of Islam and farsightedness of the Saudi rulers and scholars. They preserved the Sunnah of the Messenger ﷺ and, seeing the insistence of the blind-followers, also allowed twenty Tarāwīḥ to avoid division, and appointed two imams. From then until today, no imam has led twenty rakʿahs of Tarāwīḥ even for a single day. The snake of obstinacy died, and the stick of unity remained intact.
Closing Note
Dear readers! Explaining the actual stance of the Saudi rulers and scholars through the sayings of their famous scholars and references from their books would make the discussion long—and this discussion has already become lengthy.We wish to say to our Muslim brothers: if you want to see, then look at the other mosques of Makkah and Madīnah yourselves—what is happening there: twenty rakʿahs of Tarāwīḥ, or eight rakʿahs? The nearest mosques to Masjid al-Ḥarām in Makkah and the nearest mosques to Masjid an-Nabawī in Madīnah testify that the original Sunnah of the Messenger ﷺ—upon which the Saudi rulers and their greatest national organization al-Lajnah ad-Dā’imah stands and issues fatwā—is that the original Sunnah is eleven rakʿahs with witr. Yes, whoever wishes, considering it voluntary, may pray twenty or more.
In Madīnat ar-Rasūl, in the famous worldwide Islamic university “al-Jāmiʿah al-Islāmiyyah (Madīnah University)”, in its grand mosque, only eight rakʿahs of Tarāwīḥ are performed.
The Imams of the Ḥaramayn and the Indian Blind-Followers
The Indian blind-followers believe in twenty rakʿahs of Tarāwīḥ every night of Ramadan. They neither consider more nor less correct; rather they issue verdicts calling it contrary to consensus. In contrast, the fatwā of the scholars of the Ḥaramayn is that the Sunnah of the Messenger ﷺ is only eleven rakʿahs with witr, and there is no restriction beyond that. They allow twenty rakʿahs at the prayer-place due to an administrative matter, but not with one imam—rather with two imams, as already mentioned. But in the last ten nights, they pray and lead twenty rakʿahs in the beginning of the night and ten rakʿahs at the end of the night, and this practice too is from the Ḥaramayn.Our non-Ahl al-Ḥadīth brothers who keep raising the slogan that “in the Ḥaram twenty rakʿahs are performed” are only correct regarding the twenty of Ramadan—and that too with the clarification that it is not led by two imams. In the remaining ten days, they pray twenty at the beginning and ten at the end. The straightforward meaning is that the understanding of our non-Ahl al-Ḥadīth brothers of India that “we are doing what is happening in the Ḥaramayn” is incorrect.
And thus the response to Mufti Shabbīr Aḥmad Qāsmī’s booklet was completed.
والحمد لله على ذلك وصلى الله على خير خلقه محمد وآله وسلم
