Tarawih... Shame on us!!

Bismillah irRahman irRahim

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

Photo taken from Dr. Bilal Philips's Facebook post

On the first of Ramadan this year, I went to offer Tarawih at a new place, not the usual place I offer Tarawih. This place is not a mosque but just used for Tarawih during Ramadan. Tarawih here is offered quite late and is meant for doctors, office workers, shop owners, etc who can’t make it to the Mosque for Tarawih (Because Tarawih at most of the mosques is around 8-8:30 PM and they generally shut the shops/clinic by 9:30 PM). Due to some unavoidable work, I was going to miss Isha and Tarawih at the nearest Mosque (or any Mosque for that matter) so I found out that I can catch Isha and Tarawih at this place at 10 PM. I was really glad to find this and was looking forward for Namaz.

When the Imam started with the Isha prayer, I was really pleased with his recitation, probably one of the best I have heard recently. Then came the shock, he started leading us in Tarawih and all the good recitation went for a toss! He was going 100 miles an hour and I was unable to catch anything! To add to that, before I could go in Ruku, he was up again and going to Sajdah! 4 Rakah went by and I had to tell him to slow down for Ruku at least. He was very receptive and the left over Tarawih was much better with Ruku and Sajdah.

This however, is not an exception, how often do we hear stories of speeding in Tarawih! There is something really wrong with us, we have made a joke of this blessed act of worship! Shame on us! 

We need to change ourselves

I spoke to the Imam after the namaz and what he said made complete sense to me. Most of the places where Tarawih speeding happens, its because of you and me! The Imams are not responsible! They speed up because the organisers ask them to speed up and the organisers do that because people like you and me ask the organisers to do this. In this example, the Imam told me that the organisers ask him to speed up because all the full time working people are praying behind him and they are all dead tired already!

So, we should stop blaming the Imam or the organisers and start reversing the flow. We should be the ones going to organisers and telling them that we want to actually offer Tarawih and not pretend to offer Tarawih.

But what about time, we can’t afford to spend 2+ hours in Tarawih

If that is the case, I have a series of suggestion for you - 

1. If you are a shop owner or own a clinic yourself, see if you can shut the clinic/shop early during Ramadan. I know quite a few people (most of my relatives) who are doctors; they end their day at work by 4 or 6, come home for Iftar and then offer Tarawih at a regular Mosque in peace. Don’t worry about the money, its Allah who gives and inshaAllah, he will give you multi-folds from places you can’t even imagine. Remember the Ayat - “And whoever fears Allah, for him Allah brings forth a way out, and gives him provision (rizq) from where he does not even imagine…”(Surah At-Talaq: 2/3)"
2. If you are an employee and can’t leave work early (or even if you are an owner but can’t shut the shop early for whatever reason), its a good initiative to organise Tarawih like the one I described but with few conditions
   1. Reducing the amount of Qur’an that is recited. Its ok if you don’t finish the entire Quran in Tarawih. Balance it out and I am sure you will agree that offering Trawih peacefully is more important than completing the whole Quran. Watch Mufti Menk’s take on it here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDAfD0UsD34
   2. Don’t compromise on Ruku and Sajdah. Even if you are adamant and want to complete the whole Quran speeding 100 miles and hour in Tarawih, at least ask the organiser/Imam to do the Ruku and Sajdah peacefully. It might increase the overall time by just 15 mins but it makes the world of a difference. “Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) entered the mosque and a person followed him. The man prayed and went to the Prophet and greeted him. The Prophet (ﷺ) returned the greeting and said to him, "Go back and pray, for you have not prayed." The man went back prayed in the same way as before, returned and greeted the Prophet who said, "Go back and pray, for you have not prayed." This happened thrice. The man said, "By Him Who sent you with the Truth, I cannot offer the prayer in a better way than this. Please, teach me how to pray." The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "When you stand for Prayer say Takbir and then recite from the Holy Qur'an (of what you know by heart) and then bow till you feel at ease. Then raise your head and stand up straight, then prostrate till you feel at ease during your prostration, then sit with calmness till you feel at ease (do not hurry) and do the same in all your prayers.” (Sahih Al Bukhari)
   3. Reducing the number of Rakah. Its ok to reduce the number of Rakah from 20 to 12 or 8. Prophet Mohammad PBUH did this (he prayed 8) and so its ok for us as well.

Conclusion

Tarawih is one of the best voluntary prayers that we can offer. The objective of which is to earn more reward and always remember that we are standing before Allah swt, having conversation with Him. Why do we want to hurry and reduce the reward (or make it zero)? Shouldn't we try to beautify this prayer so that we earn more reward? I understand the time constraints and other unavoidable reasons but there are ways to handle it if we really want to. May Allah swt make us His faithful worshiper and save us from making a joke of His religion…. Ameen!

"Whosoever performs (optional Tarawih) prayers at night during the month of Ramadan, with Faith and in the hope of receiving Allah's reward, will have his past sins forgiven.” (Sahih Muslim)

And Allah knows best.

Further Reading/Viewing

Mufti Menk on fast Tarawih - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDAfD0UsD34

Dr Zakir Naik on 8 vs 20 rakats - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGbYio5vRhU

Sh Aseem Al Hakim on fast Tarawih - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsajZCUQsVI

Is completing the whole Qur’an compulsory in Tarawih - https://islamqa.info/en/66504