By Haroon-Ishola Balogun
Taraweeh prayer is one of the notable acts of worship in Ramadan. One of the sunnah prayers done during the night of Ramadan after Ishai. There is no specific number of it, it can be 8, 10 or 20. Although there are different opinions on the number of rak’at but no scholar in Islam fixed the number of a sunnah prayer. It can be done according to capacity and convenience. There are arguments on whether it is better to pray behind Imam or at home, individually.
It can be done in both ways. While those behind imam can enjoy the beautiful recitation of Quran during the salat, the individual performing it at home will also have the convenience to do more and make it longer too.
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Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) initially and briefly prayed the Tarawih in congregation during Ramadan, but discontinued this practice out of concern it would be made obligatory, yet he never forbade it. It was reinstated during Umar (r.a) as the caliph.
More specifically, those school of thought who hold the opinion that it is better to be done at home based their position on the hadith that it is more beneficial to pray sunnah prayers at home.
There are many rewards for praying the taraweeh. The Prophet said: “Whoever stands for prayer (the night prayer) during Ramadan with eeman (faith), hoping for rewards, then all his/her previous sins will be forgiven.”(Bukhari and Muslim)
Additionally, as the rewards for good deeds are multiplied during the month of Ramadan, the rewards for Taraweeh are even greater. The Prophet said: “Whoever draws nearer (to Allah) by performing any of the (optional) good deeds in (this month) shall receive the same reward as performing an obligatory deed at any other time, and whoever discharges an obligatory deed in (this month) shall receive the reward of performing seventy obligations at any other time.”(Narrated by Ibn Khuzaymah)
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