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The Number Of Units Of Prayer That Should Be Offered For Tarāwīḥ And The Night Prayer | Shaykh Ṣāliḥ Al-Fawān The Questioner: [The questioner] says, may Allāh reward you with good, distinguished Shaykh, this questioner says some students of knowledge were harsh with me when I prayed thirteen units of prayer during Ramaḍān in Tarāwīḥ prayer and they requested from me that I pray eleven units of prayer. They say that this is what has been narrated so what is the opinion of the Shaykh regarding this? Shaykh Ṣāliḥ al-Fawzān: “Restricting the people to a specific number and forcing the people to adhere to it is a mistake. Tarāwīḥ and the night prayer does not have a specified limit. And the Prophet () encouraged offering the night prayer and he did not limit it to a specific number of units. Likewise he encouraged standing in prayer during Ramaḍān and he did not specify a definitive number of units while he himself () used to pray and did not used to pray during Ramaḍān or in other months, more than eleven or thirteen units of prayer. And the companions after the Prophet (); ʿUmar united the Muslims behind Ubayy ibn Kaʿb –may Allāy be pleased with him- and he would pray Tarāwīḥ with them and he used to pray twenty three units of prayer with them. This indicates that the matter as it relates to this affair is flexible. So if you wanted to do as the Messenger () did, you would restrict yourself to eleven or thirteen and in doing so you be doing as the Messenger () did. He used to extend his recitation of the Qurʾān and extend his bowing and prostration. This is if a person prays by himself; he should do this. However, if an individual leads the Muslims in prayer, he should take their matter into consideration and lighten it for them. And it is for this reason that the companions, when ʿUmar united the Muslims behind Ubayy, they prayed twenty three units of prayer. They added the number of units but they lessened the characteristics of the prayer in order to be gentle with the Muslims. And the Prophet () said: ‘Whoever among you leads the people in the prayer then he should lighten the prayer since from among them are the elderly, the weak people with special needs;’ so if he were praying by himself then he may lengthen it as much as he wishes. And there is no rebuke for the one who restricts himself to eleven, thirteen or twenty three or even more than this since some scholars hold that more than this is lawful. This indicates that the issue is one that is flexible, and there should be no disassociation from anyone regarding Tarāwīḥ prayer. Rather, this issue returns back to the type of Tarāwīḥ prayer. Is it long and difficult or is it light? So if the bowing and prostration is lengthened as well as the recitation; in this case the units of prayer should be less. And if the characteristics of the prayer are lightened in a manner that does not negatively affect the prayer, then an individual may add to the number of units of prayer just as the companions –may Allāh be pleased with them- did. Yes.”
