2] Numbers of rak’ahs in Taraaweeh prayer

2]
have asked this earlier butdid not get a satisfactory answer. My
question is about Taraweeh Prayer inRamadan. You have answered to me
in a question before that Taraweeh should not be more that 11 rakat.
It has been authentically reported that MuhammadSAAW prayed Taraweeh 3
times in Ramadan and it consisted 11 Rakah. Also the book by Shaykh
Naasir-ud-Din Al-Albani (May Allah have mercy on him)، Qiyam and
Taraweeh states that Taraweeh should be 11 Rakah. The sunnah is 11
Rakat. Now the question which is confusing and often becomes a
discussion among brothers is whether the number of Rakat in Taraweeh
should be 11 Rakat or 20 Rakat. Some people during Ramadan go to
masjids where the Imam does 11 Rakats andother go to Masjids wherethe
Imam does 20 Rakats.In most of the Hanafi Masjids around the US the
Imam does 20 Rakat. The point to note is whether 20 Rakat or 11 Rakat
the Imam completes the entire Qurran during Ramadan. The people are
very sentitive about this issue and this issue becomes a topic in
gathering in the United States. The people who pray 20 Rakat blame the
other groug praying 11 asbeing wrong and the group praying 11 Rakat
blames the group praying20 as wrong. This is a big fitnah in the US.
This leadsto disunity. People alwaysquote that in Prophets Mosque the
Imam prays 20 Rakats and also in Masjid-ul-Haraam in Mecca the Imam
prays 20 Rakat. Also those who during Ramadan go to Saudi Arabia for
Umrah say that the Imam prays 20 Rakat. This is a confusion.
Please answer and explain to me the following issues:
1. The sunnah is to pray 11 Rakat then why is Prophets mosque in
Medina and also in Masdid-ul-Haram the imam leads the people to pray
20 Rakat? Why? Whyis this different from the sunnah?
2. Why are the number of Rakat of Taraweeh in Prophets mosque and
Masjid-ul-Haraam 20 Rakat? Please explain to us so.
Praise be to Allaah.
We do not think that the Muslims should be so sensitive with regard to
issues that are the matter of scholarly differences or make them the
cause of division and fitnah amongthe Muslims.
Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said, when
speaking about the matter of one who prays ten rak'ahs with the imam,
then sits down andwaits for Witr and does not complete the Taraaweeh
prayers with the imam:
It grieves us deeply that we find in the Muslim ummah a group which
differs concerning mattersin which differences of opinion are
acceptable, and they take these differences as a means to cause
division. Differenceswithin the ummah existed at the time of the
Sahaabah, yet they remained united. The youth in particular and to all
those who are committed to Islam must remain united, because they have
enemies who are laying in wait.
Al-Sharh al-Mumti', 4/225
Two groups have gone to extremes with regard to this matter. The first
group denounced everyone who prays morethan eleven rak'ahs and said
that doing so was bid'ah. The second group denounced those who do only
eleven rak'ahs and said that they are going against scholarly
consensus (ijmaa').
Let us listen to what Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
Here we say that we should not go to extremes or be negligent. Some
people go to extremes in adhering to the number mentioned in the
Sunnah, and say that it is not permissible to do more than the number
mentioned in the Sunnah, and they aggressively denounce those who do
more than that, saying that they are sinners.
This is undoubtedly wrong. How can they be sinners, when the
ProphetSAWS (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), upon being
asked about night prayers, said that they areto be done two by two,
and he did not specify anyparticular number? Of course the one who
asked him about the night prayer did not knowthe number, because if he
did not know how to do it, it is even more likely that he did not know
the number. And he was not one of those who served the Prophet (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) so that we might say that he knew
what happened inside his house. Since the Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) told him how to do it but did not say how many
times, it may be understood thatthe matter is broad in scope, and that
a person may pray one hundred rak'ahs then pray Witr with one rak'ah.
With regard to the words of the Prophet (peace andblessings of Allaah
be upon him), "Pray as you have seen me praying", this does not apply
in absolute terms even for these people. Hence they do not say that a
person should pray Witr with fiverak'ahs sometimes and with seven
rak'ahs sometimes and with nine rak'ahs sometimes. If we understand it
in absolute terms, then we would have to pray Witr with five rak'ahs
sometimes and with seven rak'ahs sometimes and with nine rak'ahs
sometimes.:->

What can a woman who is menstruating do on Laylat al-Qadr?

I was wondering what a woman can do on laylat al-qadr if she is
menstruating at that time. can she earn extra rewards for engaging
herself in worship? if so, what is permissible for her to do so that
night?.
Praise be to Allaah.
A woman who is menstruating may do all acts of worship apart from
praying, fasting, circumambulating the Ka'bah and doing i'tikaaf in
the mosque.
It was narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) used to stay upat night during the last ten nights of
Ramadaan. Al-Bukhaari (2401) and Muslim (1174) narrated that 'Aa'ishah
(may Allaah be pleased with her) said: "When the last ten nights of
Ramadaan came, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
would refrain from marital relations, stay up at night and wakehis
family up."
Staying up at night is not only for prayer, rather it includes all
kinds of acts of worship. This is how the scholars interpreted it.
Al-Haafiz said: "Staying upat night" means staying up to do acts of worship.
Al-Nawawi said: spendingthe night staying up to pray etc.
He said in 'Awn al-Ma'bood: i.e., in prayer, dhikr and reciting the Qur'aan.
Praying qiyaam is the best act of worship that a person can do on
Laylat al-Qadr. Hence the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) said: "Whoeverspends the night of Laylatal-Qadr in prayer
out of faith and in hope of reward, his previous sins will be
forgiven." (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 1901; Muslim, 760).
Because the woman who is menstruating is not allowed to pray, she can
spend the night in doing other acts of worship apart from prayer, such
as:
1- Reading or reciting Qur'aan. See question no. 2564 .
2- Dhikr – such as saying Subhaan-Allaah, Lailaaha illa-Allaah,
al-Hamdu Lillaah, etc. She can repeat the words "Subhaan-Allaah
wa'l-hamdu Lillaah, wa laa ilaaha ill-Allaah, wa Allaahu akbar (Glory
be toAllaah, praise be to Allaah,there is no god but Allaah and Allaah
is Most Great)" and "Subhaan Allaah wa bi hamdihi, subhaan Allaah
il-'Azeem (Glory and praise be to Allaah, glory be to Allaah the
Almighty)" etc.
3- Istighfaar (praying for forgiveness), by repeating the phrase
"Astaghfir-Allaah (I ask Allaah for forgiveness)."
4- Du'aa' (supplication) – she can pray to Allaah and ask Him for
what is good in this world and in the Hereafter, for du'aa' is one of
the best acts of worship. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him) said, "Du'aa' is 'ibaadah (worship)." (Narrated by
al-Tirmidhi, 2895; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani inSaheeh
al-Tirmidhi, 2370).
The woman who is menstruating can do these acts of worship and others
on Laylat al-Qadr.
We ask Allaah to help us to do that which He loves and which pleases
Him. May Allaah accept our righteous deeds.

1a] Should Taraweeh prayer be offered individually or in congregation? Is completing the Qur’aan in Ramadaan bid’ah?

1a]
became caliph, he united them behind one imam, Ubayy ibn Ka'b, who
united the people in one congregation on the orders of 'Umar ibn
al-Khattaab (may Allaah be pleased with him). 'Umar (may Allaah be
pleased with him) was one of the Rightly-Guided Caliphs, of whom the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "I urge you
to adhere to my Sunnah and the way of the Rightly-Guided Caliphsafter
me; cling tightly to it." So what he did was Sunnah but he said, "What
a good innovation this is," because it was an innovation in the
linguistic sense, as they were doing something that they had not done
during the life of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him), i.e., gathering to do this, but itis Sunnah in
the shar'i sense."
Majmoo' al-Fataawa, 22/234, 235
For more information, please see question no. 21740 and 45781
Secondly:
Completing the Qur'aan inRamadaan, whether during prayer or outside
prayer, is something that is praiseworthy. Jibreel (peace be upon him)
used to review the Qur'aan with the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) every Ramadaan, and in the Prophet's last year he
reviewed it with him twice.

And Allaah knows best.

1] Should Taraweeh prayer be offered individually or in congregation? Is completing the Qur’aan in Ramadaan bid’ah?

1]
I have heard from some people that it is recommended to pray taraweeh
indivually as the prophet preyed it individually except 3 times, is
this true? I also heard that it is a bid'ah to recite the whole Quran
during taraweeh in ramadan as the prophet never did this, is this
true.
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
It is prescribed to offer the night prayers in Ramadaan in
congregation or individually, but it is better to do it in
congregation than to do itindividually. The Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) led his companions in offering these
prayers in congregation on several nights.
It is proven in al-Saheehayn that the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) led his companions in prayer (Taraweeh) for
several nights, then on the third or fourth night he did not come out
to them. When morning came he said: "Nothing prevented me from coming
out to you except the fact that I feared that it would be made
obligatory for you."
Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 1129. According to the version narrated by
Muslim (761): "But I feared that night prayers would be made
obligatory for you and you would not be able to do them."
Offering Taraweeh prayer in congregation is something that is
established by the Sunnahof the Prophet (peace andblessings of Allaah
be upon him). The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
stated the reason why he did not persist in offering this prayer in
congregation, which is that he feared that it might be made
obligatory. This reason cased to be applicable after the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) died, because when he
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) died, the wahy
(revelation) ceased and there was no longer any worry that it might be
made obligatory. Once thereason, which was the fear of it being made
obligatory, disappeared with the cessation of the wahy, then the fact
that itis Sunnah to offer this prayer in congregation resumed.
See al-Sharh al-Mumti' by Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen, 4/78.
Imam Ibn 'Abd al-Barr (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
This indicates that prayingqiyaam in Ramadaan is one of the Sunnahs of
the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and is
recommended and encouraged. It was not introduced by 'Umar ibn
al-Khattaab, rather he revived something that the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) lovedand approved of.
Nothing stopped him from doing itregularly except the fear that it
might be made obligatory upon his ummah. He (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) was kind and compassionate towards his ummah.
'Umar knew from the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him) that the obligatory duties would not be increased or
decreased after his death (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him),
so he revived this practice and enjoined it upon the people. That
happened in 14 AH, and 'Umar has the honour of being the one who
revived this Sunnah.
Al-Tamheed, 8/108, 109
After the death of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him), the Sahaabah (may Allaah be pleased with them) prayed Taraweeh
in small groups and individually, until 'Umar (may Allaah be pleased
with him) united them behind a single imam.
It was narrated that 'Abd al-Rahmaan ibn 'Abd al-Qaari' said: I went
out with 'Umar ibn al-Khattaab (may Allaah be pleased with him) one
night in Ramadaan to the mosque, and the people were scattered, with
one man praying by himself and another with a group of men following
his prayer. 'Umar said: "I think that if I gather thembehind one
reader, it will be better." Then he decided to unite them behind Ubayy
ibn Ka'b. Then I went out with him on another night, and the people
were praying behind their reader. 'Umarsaid: "What a good innovation
this is. But the prayer that they forget about and sleep is better
than the one they are offering." Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 1906.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah said, when refuting the view of thosewho
quoted 'Umar's words "What a good innovation this is" as meaning that
innovation (bid'ah) is permissible:
With regard to qiyaam in Ramadaan, the Messengerof Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) introduced thisto his ummah, and he
led them in prayer for a number of nights, becauseat his time they
used to pray in congregation and individually. But he did not persist
in leading them in one congregation, lest that be made obligatory for
them.When the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
died, sharee'ahwas established (and would not change after that). When
'Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him) became caliph, he united them
behind one imam,:->