Praying at Night in Ramadaan (Taraweeh)

Yaḥyā ibn Bukayr related to us: al-Layth related to us, from ʿUqayl, from Ibn Shihāb, who said: Abū Salamah informed me that Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) say regarding Ramaḍān: ‘Whoever spends its nights in prayer, out of faith and seeking reward, will have his past sins forgiven.’

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yūsuf related to us: Mālik informed us, from Ibn Shihāb, from Ḥumayd ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, from Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: ‘Whoever spends Ramaḍān in night prayer, out of faith and seeking reward, will have his past sins forgiven.’ Ibn Shihāb said: The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) died while the practice remained as it was. It remained so during the caliphate of Abū Bakr and the early part of the caliphate of ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with them both).

Ibn Shihāb related from ʿUrwah ibn al-Zubayr, from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAbd al-Qārī, who said: One night in Ramaḍān I went with ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (may Allah be pleased with him) to the mosque. The people were scattered in separate groups: a man praying alone, and another praying with a small group following his prayer. ʿUmar said: ‘I think that if I gathered them behind a single reciter, it would be better.’ He then resolved to do so and gathered them behind Ubayy ibn Kaʿb. Another night I went out with him, and the people were praying behind their reciter. ʿUmar said: ‘What an excellent innovation this is! The prayer they leave for later in the night is better than the one they are performing now.’ He meant the latter part of the night; people used to pray in its early part.

Ismāʿīl related to us, saying: Mālik related to me, from Ibn Shihāb, from ʿUrwah ibn al-Zubayr, from ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her), the wife of the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace), that the Messenger of Allah prayed—and that was during Ramaḍān.

Yaḥyā ibn Bukayr related to us: al-Layth related to us, from ʿUqayl, from Ibn Shihāb, who informed me: ʿUrwah informed me that ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her) told him: The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) went out one night in the middle of the night and prayed in the mosque. Some men prayed with him. In the morning, people talked about it, and more gathered and prayed with him. The next morning people talked about it again, and on the third night many more people filled the mosque. The Messenger of Allah went out and prayed, and they prayed with him. On the fourth night the mosque could not hold all who had gathered, so he did not come out until the dawn prayer. After completing the dawn prayer, he turned to the people, recited the testimony of faith, and said: ‘To proceed: I was aware of your presence, but I feared that it might be made obligatory for you and that you would be unable to keep it up.’ The Messenger of Allah then died, and the matter remained so.

Ismāʿīl related to us, saying: Mālik related to me, from Saʿīd al-Maqburī, from Abū Salamah ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, who asked ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her): ‘How was the Messenger of Allah’s prayer during Ramaḍān?’ She replied: ‘He did not pray more than eleven rakʿahs in Ramaḍān or in any other month. He would pray four—do not ask how beautiful and long they were—then four—do not ask how beautiful and long they were—then three.’ I said: ‘Messenger of Allah, do you sleep before praying witr?’ He replied: ‘ʿĀʾishah, my eyes sleep, but my heart does not sleep.’