al-Tarawih Akthar min Alf Aam fi al-Masjid al-Nabawi

al-Tarawih Akthar min Alf Aam fi al-Masjid al-Nabawi (Tarawih for Over a Thousand Years in the Prophet's Mosque) is a historical and jurisprudential study by the Saudi scholar and judge Atiyya Salim (d. 1420 AH / 2000 CE) detailing the historical development, congregational forms, and number of rak'ahs of the Tarawih prayer in the Prophet's Mosque in Medina across Islamic history al-Tarawih Akthar min Alf…+1.

Background and Composition

The work was originally composed as a serialized historical and legal inquiry published across multiple installments in Majallat al-Jami'ah al-Islamiyyah (Journal of the Islamic University of Medina) while Salim was serving as a judge in the Grand Court of Medina al-Tarawih Akthar min Alf…+1. It was subsequently included among his collection of independent treatises titled Majmu'at al-Rasa'il al-Madaniyyah al-Tafsir wa al-Mufassiru…. Salim framed the treatise as a response to contemporary debates regarding those who restricted the Ramadan night vigil to eight rak'ahs, aiming to demonstrate through historical documentation how the practice in Medina had continuously unfolded over more than a millennium Sharh Bulugh al-Maram li ….

Scope and Structure

The treatise traces the chronological evolution of the Tarawih prayer in Medina through distinct historical eras:

• The Prophetic Era and the Early Caliphate: The author examines the foundational texts for night prayers in Ramadan, the Prophet's leading of congregational prayers on select nights before discontinuing them out of concern that the prayer might be made obligatory, and the continuation of individual and small-group prayers under Abu Bakr al-Tarawih Akthar min Alf…+1.
• The Era of the Rashidun Caliphs: It documents Umar ibn al-Khattab's unification of the worshippers behind a single prayer leader (Ubayy ibn Ka'b), the practices under Uthman ibn Affan and Ali ibn Abi Talib—including Ali's leading the prayer for twenty nights—as well as the introduction of qunut and supplications upon concluding the recitation of the Quran (khatm) al-Tarawih Akthar min Alf…+1.
• The Umayyad, Abbasid, and Classical Eras: The work charts the increase of the prayer in Medina to thirty-six rak'ahs (thirty-nine or forty-one including witr) during the time of Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz and subsequent centuries, explaining that the residents of Medina added rak'ahs to match the virtues of the circumambulations (tawaf) performed by worshippers in Mecca between rest periods (tarwihat) Sharh Bulugh al-Maram li …+1.
• The Later Centuries and Ottoman Period: It documents the division of the prayer into twenty rak'ahs performed early in the night after the Isha prayer and sixteen rak'ahs performed in the final third of the night—known as the Sitta Ashriyyah—which were announced from the minarets al-Tarawih Akthar min Alf…+1. The book also describes the proliferation of multiple concurrent imams in the mosque for different legal schools (Hanafi, Shafi'i, and Maliki) and various official groups, including designated imams for the governor, the judge, the eunuch guardians (Aghas), the mufti, the military commander, women, and prominent families al-Tarawih Akthar min Alf…+1.
• The Saudi Era: The book discusses the transition beginning in 1344 AH (1925–1926 CE), where multiple concurrent congregations were abolished in favor of unified prayer behind a single imam al-Tarawih Akthar min Alf…. It outlines the succession of appointed imams, the adjustment of the late-night prayer (qiyam) to ten rak'ahs restricted to the last ten nights of Ramadan, and contemporary organizational practices, including prayer timing and the completion ceremony of the Quran al-Tarawih Akthar min Alf…+1.

Method and Sources

Salim combined classical jurisprudence and historical chronicles with firsthand oral testimonies al-Tarawih Akthar min Alf…+1. For classical periods, he cited hadith collections, legal manuals such as al-Shafi'i's Kitab al-Umm and Ibn Qudamah's al-Mughni, and historical travelogues such as those of Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulsi al-Tarawih Akthar min Alf…+2. For the late Ottoman and early Saudi periods, he relied on interviews with elderly residents and mosque functionaries who had witnessed the transition between eras, as well as his own observations of contemporary practices in the Prophet's Mosque al-Tarawih Akthar min Alf…+1.