Salat al-Tarawih - al-Albani
- Author died
- 1420 AH
- Editions
- Maktabat al-Ma'arif lil-Nashr wa-al-Tawzi'
Salat al-Tarawih (The Tarawih Prayer) is a legal and hadith treatise by the Syrian-Albanian scholar Nasir al-Din al-Albani (d. 1420 AH / 1999 CE) examining the legal status, congregational practice, and prescribed number of units (rakʿahs) of the nightly Ramadan vigil prayer .
Background and Composition
The work originally formed the second treatise within al-Albani's multi-part refutation series titled Tasdīd al-iṣābah ilā man zaʿama nuṣrat al-khulafāʾ al-rāshidīn wa-l-ṣaḥābah . Al-Albani authored this series in response to a polemical tract titled al-Iṣābah fī al-intiṣār li-l-khulafāʾ al-rāshidīn wa-l-ṣaḥābah, written by a contemporary defender of praying twenty rakʿahs, which al-Albani criticized for relying on fabricated and weak narrations . Salat al-Tarawih was subsequently published as an independent, comprehensive study on the subject .
Contents and Core Arguments
Al-Albani establishes the legitimacy and recommendation of performing Tarawih in congregation based on three proofs: the Prophet's ﷺ tacit approval, his own congregational practice, and his explicit explanation of its virtues . He maintains that:
- Congregational legitimacy: Performing Tarawih in congregation is an established Sunnah rather than a blameworthy innovation . The Prophet ﷺ refrained from continuing it in congregation only out of concern that it might become obligatory upon his community, a contingency that ceased with his death and the finalization of the Sharia . He explains that the Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab's remark— نعمت البدعة هذه ("What an excellent innovation this is")—referred solely to the linguistic meaning of innovation, denoting the reintroduction of a collective gathering behind a single imam, rather than a religious innovation in the Sharia .
- Number of rakʿahs: The Prophet ﷺ prayed eleven rakʿahs, and reports attributing twenty rakʿahs directly to him are very weak .
- Narrations regarding the Companions: What is authentically established from Umar ibn al-Khattab—via the narration of al-Sa'ib ibn Yazid in Malik ibn Anas's al-Muwatta'—is that he ordered Ubayy ibn Ka'b and Tamim al-Dari to lead the people in eleven rakʿahs . Al-Albani grades all chains attributing twenty rakʿahs to Umar and Ali ibn Abi Talib as defective (maʿlūlah) and incapable of strengthening one another, rejecting the claim of scholarly consensus (ijmāʿ) on twenty rakʿahs .
- Ruling on exceeding eleven rakʿahs: Al-Albani argues against increasing beyond eleven rakʿahs, asserting that adherence to the Prophet's practice is mandated by the hadith صلوا كما رأيتموني أصلي ("Pray as you have seen me pray") . However, he clarifies that he does not declare someone an innovator or misguided who performs more if the Sunnah was not evident to them and they were not following whims . He also notes that praying fewer than eleven rakʿahs, even down to a single rakʿah of Witr, is permissible .
Reception and Editions
The book prompted widespread debate among contemporary scholars. Ismail al-Ansari wrote a direct rebuttal titled Taṣḥīḥ ḥadīth ṣalāt al-tarāwīḥ ʿishrīn rakʿah to defend the authenticity of the twenty-rakʿah reports and their acceptance across the legal schools . Other critics argued that restricting the prayer to eleven rakʿahs and labeling additions as impermissible departed from broad juristic precedent and the widespread historical practice of the Muslim community .
A standard edition of the work was published in Riyadh by Maktabat al-Ma‘arif in 1421 AH (2000 CE), spanning 132 pages .
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