The 20-Rakʿah Tarawih

As noted by Ibn Qudāmah in al-Mughni, tarāwīḥ is a confirmed Sunnah of Ramadan. Its roots begin with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and its organized form was completed under Umar ibn al-Khattab (radiya Allahu anhu). The number twenty is not a late invention. It is the transmitted and established practice of the Companions and the majority of the jurists of Islam.

Tarāwīḥ in the Time of the Prophet ﷺ

Abu Hurayrah (radiya Allahu anhu) reports that the Prophet ﷺ would encourage standing in Ramadan without making it obligatory. He said, “Whoever stands in Ramadan with faith and seeking reward, his previous sins are forgiven.” This establishes the basis of the prayer.

Aishah (radiya Allahu anha) reports that the Prophet ﷺ prayed in the mosque one night and people followed him. The congregation increased on subsequent nights. On the third or fourth night he did not come out. In the morning he said, “Nothing prevented me from coming out except that I feared it would be made obligatory upon you.” This was in Ramadan.

Abu Dharr (radiya Allahu anhu) reports that the Prophet ﷺ led them in prayer during the final nights of Ramadan until they feared missing suhoor. He then said, “Whoever prays with the imam until he finishes, it is recorded for him as a full night of prayer.”

These reports establish three principles. First, the congregational night prayer in Ramadan is Sunnah. Second, it was prayed publicly. Third, it was left only out of mercy, not prohibition.

The Organization Under Umar (radiya Allahu anhu)

After the Prophet ﷺ passed, the prayer remained voluntary and dispersed. During the caliphate of Umar (radiya Allahu anhu), he observed people praying in scattered groups. He gathered them behind Ubayy ibn Kab (radiya Allahu anhu) and unified them.

Abd al-Rahman ibn Abd al-Qari reports that Umar said, “I see that if I gather them upon one reciter it would be better.” He did so. Later he remarked, “What a good practice this is.” This was recorded by al-Bukhari.

The Inspiration Behind the Revival of Congregational Tarāwīḥ

Beyond the legal reasoning behind ʿUmar’s revival, some scholars also preserved narrations that reflect the spiritual aspiration behind it.

In Al-Ghunyah, Shaykh ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī al-Hanbali relates a remarkable narration describing the spiritual inspiration behind ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb’s decision to recommence the tarāwīḥ prayer in congregation during Ramaḍān.

It is narrated from ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (raḍiyallāhu ʿanhu) that he said: “ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (raḍiyallāhu ʿanhu) only established these tarāwīḥ prayers upon a ḥadīth he had heard from me.”

They asked, “What was it, O Commander of the Believers?”

He replied, “I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: ‘Indeed, around the Throne there is a place belonging to Allah The Exalted called Ḥaẓīrat al-Quds, the Enclosure of Holiness. It is fashioned from light. Within it are angels whose number none knows except Allah, Mighty and Majestic. They worship Allah unceasingly and never grow weary even for a single hour. When the nights of the month of Ramaḍān arrive, they seek permission from their Lord to descend to the earth and pray alongside the children of Ādam. He grants them leave, and they descend each night to pray with humankind. Whoever among the Ummah of Muḥammad ﷺ touches them, or is touched by them, is granted a felicity after which he shall never again know misery.’”

ʿUmar (raḍiyallāhu ʿanhu) then said, “We are more entitled to this.” 

So he gathered the people for the tarāwīḥ prayer and established it as a communal practice.

It is also narrated from ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (raḍiyallāhu ʿanhu) that he went out on the first night of Ramaḍān and heard the Qurʾān being recited throughout the mosques. He said: “May Allah illuminate the grave of ʿUmar just as he illuminated the mosques of Allah with the Qurʾān.”

A similar report is related from ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān (raḍiyallāhu ʿanhu).

In another wording, it is reported that ʿAlī (raḍiyallāhu ʿanhu) passed by the mosques as they glowed with lantern light and the people stood in prayer performing tarāwīḥ. He said: “May Allah, Mighty and Majestic, illuminate ʿUmar’s grave just as he illuminated our mosques.”

Origins of 20 Rak'ahs

Ibn Qudamāh notes that Ubayy led them in twenty rakahs. Yazid ibn Ruman said, “The people would stand in the time of Umar in Ramadan with twenty-three rakahs.” Malik narrated this. The three extra were Witr.

It is also reported that Ali (radiya Allahu anhu) commanded a man to lead the people in Ramadan with twenty rakahs.

Ibn Qudāmah further states that this became like consensus. The practice was public, known, and unopposed among the Companions. This carries decisive weight.

In Kashshaf al-Qina, al-Buhūti notes a report from Ibn Abbas (radiya Allahu anhuma) that “The Prophet ﷺ would pray twenty rakahs in Ramadan.” This was narrated by Abu Bakr Abd al-Aziz in al-Shafi. While discussion exists regarding chains, it reflects the transmitted understanding of the early jurists.

As for the report of ʿĀʾishah that the Prophet ﷺ would pray eleven at night “and make one of them witr,” the Hanbali jurists cite it in the chapter of witr as describing his habitual nightly practice and the manner in which he would conclude it with witr.

The well-known narration that he did not exceed eleven rakʿahs in Ramaḍān or outside of it is not treated as a numerical restriction on congregational tarāwīḥ, especially in light of the established and unopposed practice of the Companions under ʿUmar.

The Positions of the Schools

He further documents that Imam Ahmad, Abu Hanifah, and al-Shafi'i held that tarāwīḥ is twenty rakahs.

Imam Malik is reported to have held thirty-six rakahs. This was based on the practice of Madinah.

The reasoning mentioned by scholars is that the people of Makkah would perform tawaf between every two sets of tarāwīḥ. The people of Madinah, unable to perform tawaf, replaced each tawaf with four additional rakahs. This was an increase in voluntary worship, not a reduction from twenty.

Thus the number was expanded in Madinah out of effort, not restriction. The foundation remained the twenty established by Umar and the Companions.

Why Twenty

Sharh al-Muntaha and Kashshaf al-Qina explain that the regular voluntary prayers total ten rakahs daily. In Ramadan they were doubled due to the sanctity of the month and the increased spiritual striving required.

Ramadan is a month of exertion. Fasting disciplines the body. Night prayer disciplines the soul. Increasing prostration increases humility.

There is also a juristic principle that multiplying prostrations is superior to merely lengthening standing. Each sujud brings the servant closest to his Lord. Twenty rakahs increase the number of sujud, invocations, and moments of nearness.

The Companions understood Ramadan as a season of effort. They stood until suhoor approached. They completed the Quran. They prolonged the prayer. They did not seek the minimum.

The Balance of Evidence

Tarāwīḥ is voluntary. Its number is flexible in principle. However, the organized congregational practice of twenty is anchored in the era of the Companions and transmitted by the majority of jurists.

The establishment of twenty under Umar (radiya Allahu anhu) occurred with the knowledge and presence of the Companions. No opposition is authentically recorded.

Where the Companions unite, the Ummah follows.

The Aim

The discussion of number should not distract from purpose. Tarāwīḥ is standing before Allah with the Quran. It is forgiveness. It is effort accepted in a sacred month.

Whoever prays with the imam until he finishes receives the reward of a full night. Our hope is that promise applies to whatever number of rakahs the congregation prays. But the inherited path of this Ummah for centuries has been twenty or more.

It is a practice rooted in prophetic encouragement, organized by the rightly guided Caliph, transmitted by the Companions, and upheld by the jurists.

Ramadan is not a month of reduction. It is a month of increase.

Sources: 

al-Mughnī, by Ibn Qudāmah
al-Ghunyah, by ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī
Kashshāf al-Qināʿ, by al-Buhūtī
Sharḥ Muntahā al-Irādāt, by al-Buhūtī