Should the intention for tarawiḥ be that of a sunnah prayer or a nafl prayer?

Questions and Answers from the Madani Muzakarah

1. Fasting and tarāwī

Q: Will the person who does not fast offer tarāwī prayer?

A: Yes, tarāwī prayer is an emphasised sunnah for every Muslim man and woman.[1] However, fasting is obligatory. If someone intentionally does not keep a fast, he will be very sinful, but tarāwī prayer will still remain an emphasised sunnah for him. Similarly, if someone is unable to fast due to a reason validated by shariah, offering tarāwī will still be an emphasised sunnah for him.[2]

2. The intention for tarāwī prayer

Q: Should the intention for tarāwī be that of a sunnah prayer or a nafl prayer?

A: Tarāwī prayer is an emphasised sunnah[3]. Therefore, make the intention of sunnah for it.[4]

3. What to recite if one does not know tasbī al-tarāwī

Q: Is it necessary to recite tasbī al-tarāwī after every four units (rakah) of tarāwī? If one has not memorised it, can any other supplication be recited?

A: Reciting this exact tasbī is not necessary. The testimony of faith (kalimah) or alawāt may also be recited. Even if one remains silent, there is no sin. Sitting after every four units of tarāwī is recommended (mustaabb). It is not a sin if someone does not do so.[5]

4. Ruling on praying tarāwī before the obligatory (fard) units of ishāˈ salah

Q: If someone arrived whilst tarāwīḥ was taking place, should he offer the obligatory units (far) of ishāˈ first or immediately join the tarāwī congregation?

A: He should first offer the obligatory units of ishāˈ, the two sunnah units after them, etc., and then offer tarāwī. One cannot offer tarāwī prior to offering the obligatory units of ishāˈ.[6]

5. Ruling on women praying 8 or 10 units of tarāwī

Q: Can women offer 8 or 10 units of tarāwī?

A: Both men and women are to offer 20 units of tarāwī.6

6. Paying adaqat al-fir to one’s daughter

Q: Can a father give adaqat al-fir to his daughter?

A: No, he cannot.[7]

7. Itikāf of a disabled male in masjid al-bayt

Q: Can a disabled man perform itikāf in masjid al-bayt?

A: No, he cannot. Only women may perform itikāf in masjid al-bayt.[8]

8. Purdah between a mother-in-law and son-in-law

Q: Must purdah be observed between a mother-in-law and son-in-law?

A: It is not necessary for purdah to be observed between a son-in-law and his mother-in-law, and similarly between a daughter-in-law and her father-in-law. However, it is better if a mother-in-law observes purdah before her son-in-law and a daughter-in-law before her father-in-law, as there is goodness in doing so.[9]

9. Saying āmīn in a quiet prayer (salah sirriyyah) behind the imam

Q: Sometimes, in quiet prayers (i.e. those in which the imam does not recite the Quran aloud), the microphone is close to the imam’s mouth, and it is possible to hear him reciting Sūrat al-Fātiah. Can the follower (muqtaī) say āmīn when the imam concludes Sūrat al-Fātiah or not?

A: It is stated in Bahār-e-Sharīat that if the imam says āmīn in a quiet prayer and the follower is close to him, such that he hears him, the follower should also utter āmīn.[10] It is not a condition for the sound of āmīn to reach the follower via a microphone. Regardless of whether there is a microphone, if the sound of āmīn reaches the follower, it is sunnah for him to utter āmīn.[11]

10. Question about a Prophetic ode

Q: You composed the following Prophetic ode:

Likh raha hoon naat-e-Sarwar, Sabz Gumbad dekh kar

Kayf taari hai qalam par, Sabz Gumbad dekh kar

When did you compose this? Was the Green Dome before you at the time?

A: Many years ago, in Madinah, the successor of Sayyidī Qub al-Madinah رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه: Mawlānā Fal al-Ramān رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه, recited a couplet whose radīf [12] was Sabz Gumbad dekh kar, and he said, “I used to have so-and-so’s[13] poetry, but it is lost now. Write a new Prophetic ode with this line.” I attempted to compose this Prophetic ode on this poetic meter (bar) whilst seated in al-Masjid al-Nabawi. I do not remember the month and year. Then, I took the lines I had composed to the shaykh. An interesting anecdote related to this occasion was that an Islamic brother accompanying me was asking me to give him the ode I had composed. I informed the shaykh that the brother wanted this ode. “Why shall I give it?” said the Shaykh, and he refused to give it.[14]

11. The time for alāt al-layl

Q: When should the voluntary units of alāt al-layl be offered?

A: The time for ṣalāt al-layl is after ishāˈ. It is stated in Bahār-e-Sharīat, “Whatever voluntary salah is offered after ishāˈ at night is called alāt al-layl.”[15]

12. Praying missed (qaāˈ) salah whilst seated

Q: Can missed salah be offered seated?

A: Missed fard and witr salah cannot be offered seated. However, if there is a reason validated by shariah, one may offer them seated.[16]



[1] Bahār-e-Sharīat, vol. 1, p. 688

[2] Madani Muzakarah bad namaz-e-tarawih, 7 Ramzan 1444 AH

[3] Bahār-e-Sharīat, vol. 1, p. 688

[4] Madani Muzakarah bad namaz-e-tarawih, 7 Ramzan 1444 AH

[5] Bahār-e-Sharīat, vol. 1, p. 690 summarised; Madani Muzakarah bad namaz-e-tarawih, 4 Ramzan 1444 AH

6 Madani Muzakarah bad namaz-e-tarawih, 6 Ramzan 1444 AH

[7] Madani Muzakara bad namaz-e-tarawih, 6 Ramzan 1444 AH

[8] Madani Muzakarah bad namaz-e-tarawih, 6 Ramzan 1444 AH

[9] Madani Muzakarah bad namaz-e-tarawih, 6 Ramzan 1444 AH

[10] Bahār-e-Sharīat, vol. 1, p. 525

[11] Madani Muzakarah bad namaz-e-tarawih, 6 Ramzan 1444 AH

[12] That word which appears repeatedly after the rhyming syllable (qāfiyah) at the end of the hemistichs or distichs of ghazals and odes. (Firawz al-Lugāt, Urdu, p. 748)

[13] Sadly, I have forgotten the name of that poet.

[14] Madani Muzakarah bad namaz-e-tarawih, 6 Ramzan 1444 AH

[15] Bahār-e-Sharīat, vol. 1, p. 677; Madani Muzakarah, 16 Shawwal 1444 AH

[16] Bahār-e-Sharīat, vol. 1, p. 510, 703; Madani Muzakarah, 9 Shawwal 1444 AH


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