What Should Be the Intention of Tarawih Prayer?

Questions and Answers from the Madani Muzakarah

1. Fasting and tarāwīḥ

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

A: Yes, tarāwīḥ 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 tarāwīḥ prayer will still remain an emphasised sunnah for him. Similarly, if someone is unable to fast due to a reason validated by shariah, offering tarāwīḥ will still be an emphasised sunnah for him.[2]

2. The intention for tarāwīḥ prayer

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

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

3. What to recite if one does not know tasbīḥ al-tarāwīḥ

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

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

4. Ruling on praying tarāwīḥ before the obligatory (fard) units of Ꜥishāˈ salah

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

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

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

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

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

6. Paying ṣadaqat al-fiṭr to one’s daughter

Q: Can a father give ṣadaqat al-fiṭr to his daughter?

A: No, he cannot.[7]

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

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

A: No, he cannot. Only women may perform iꜤtikāf 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-Fātiḥah. Can the follower (muqtaḍī) say āmīn when the imam concludes Sūrat al-Fātiḥah or not?

A: It is stated in Bahār-e-SharīꜤat 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 Quṭb al-Madinah رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه: Mawlānā Faḍl al-Raḥmān 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 (baḥr) 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 ṣalāt al-layl

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

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

12. Praying missed (qaḍāˈ) 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]