Taraweeh Rakaats

Bismi-llahi ar-rahmani ar-rahimi, In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. And I beg for forgiveness from Allah for whatever sin that I have done in the past and to show me the right path. Ameen.

Assalamualaikum / Greetings dear readers.

As requested by a brother, i have found the answer to his question.

His had doubts and wanted to clarify about the rakaats of the taraweeh prayers carried out in the holy month of Ramadhan. Whether or not 20 taraweeh rakaats or more are acceptable in Islam and not bid'ah. The answer came unexpectedly from the radio station, a daily tazkirah session just before the adhan for maghrib was sounded. Insya'Allah, we can take a valuable lesson with ourselves on this.

Rasulullah SAW first carried out taraweeh prayers for three consecutive days at the mosque. This managed to grab hold a good number of jamaah. However, on the fourth day, the prophet SAW was missing from isyak and only came back for jemaah prayers for Subuh. This was done because he was thoughtful for his ummah. He feared that it will be fard or wajib upon us all.

Back then, the prophet SAW carried out taraweeh prayers in this manner; 8 rakaats for taraweeh and 3 rakaats witr. However, in each rakaat, the number of ayats or verse read out was more than 100. This means, in 2 rakaats, he is most likely able to complete surah Al-Baqarah (open up the quran to see how long it is). It also means that it will take around at the very least 30 mins or average an hour plus to complete one rakaat.

Bear in mind that back then, the ummah had the prophet saw in their sight and having the Habibullah, the most beloved one to Allah, is an added boost to their imaan or faith.

When Rasulullah SAW had passed away, during the time of the caliph or khalifah saiyyidna Umar ibn Khattab r.a., he started to see that the elderly are starting to struggle to hold on to such long period of time for each rakaat. They even held on to their sticks (tongkat in malay) when praying. Thus, Saiyyidina Umar was the one who changed the taraweeh structure from 8 and 3 to 20 and 3. So that each rakaat had a shorter time span and the elderly can withstand better. This was in makkah. In madinah, the structure was 36 and 3 rakaats (rakaats are in taraweeh and witr order).

Note here that Saiyyidina Umar was the one who changed the stucture because he noticed that the taraweeh was getting "messy". Thus he came up with a solution to better the suit the ummah of Rasulullah SAW. This is due to the lack of our imaan or faith. The imaan or faith is strongest at the time when Rasulullah SAW was around but it doesnt mean that we cannot reach that status as well. But generally, our imaan or faith is weak now. So we can only withstand shorter time span for each rakaat now than it was before.

If there are still doubts, Saiyyidina Umar is one of the 10 Sahabas that are confirmed and guaranteed a place in Heaven or Jannah. Even when heaven or hell was put in front of their eyes, they still maintained that high imaan or faith that they have. Saiyyidina Umar was given the title Al-Faruq, the one who is truthful for he is very strict in the syaria'a of Islam. And if there were ever a prophet after Rasulullah SAW, he was appointed as that prophet (hadith). Who dares question his actions of changing that taraweeh structure?

Imaam Syafie, one of the four madhzab, winessed that mekkah carried out 20 taraweeh rakaats and 3 witr rakaats while madinah carried out 36 taraweeh rakaats and 3 witr rakaats. And he said nothing. Even the highly recognised imaams never question or comment anything about the change of structure of taraweeh. However, its always the generation that follows that will argue about things that have never been a problem at all. Also, taraweeh prayers are sunnah, not fardh or wajib upon us. So, it wouldn't be of any harm if we were to carry out as much prayers as possible, since they are many secrets and good rewards in it.

Insya'Allah, may we be rewarded for our good deeds. Ameen.


If there's any error, I'm open for rectification. None is perfect as perfection only belongs to Allah (God Almighty). All good things come from Allah and all the bad things are from my side and the side of Shaiytan the accursed.