Ramadan Is (Almost) Here!: Part 8 – The Importance of Qiyaam in Ramadan

Please read the disclaimer before reading the post!

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Assalamu3alaikum!

Among the things that are recommended to do in Ramadan, the virtue of Qiyaam (prayers) during this holy month is something that unfortunately is taken very lightly, or in some cases, completely deviated from the Sunnah of the Prophet (PBUH).

Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported:

The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) used to urge (the people) to perform (optional Tarawih) prayer at night during the month of Ramadan. He did not order them or make it obligatory on them. He (PBUH) said, “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.” (Muslim, Riyadh us-Saliheen) (1)

What we need to do is establish prayers as much as possible during this month. And what better than praying the Taraweeh every night? The importance of Taraweeh is stated in the hadith above. Even though Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) did not pray it every night BECAUSE he did not want to make it a mandatory practice to us.

How ironic. Praying 5 times a day is a burden on some. Imagine if Taraweeh was made obligatory too? Subhan’Allah!

(At this point, the Aalima said while Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) did this out of the fear of making Taraweeh obligatory, it doesn’t mean we don’t pray Taraweeh. Unfortunately, certain sects of Islam consider Taraweeh an innovation (bid’ah)  because of this. This is a wrong practice and may Allah guide those people.)

The reward of establishing Taraweeh too is mentioned in the hadith above. If all of us pray with utter sincerity, inshaAllah Allah will forgive us. And the blessings for Taraweeh isn’t limited to that.

In another hadith:

‘Amr ibn Murrah al-Juhani said: “A man from Qudaa’ah came to the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and said, ‘O Messenger of Allaah! What do you think if I testify that there is no god except Allaah, and that you, Muhammad, are His Messenger, and I pray the five daily prayers, and fast in the month (of Ramadaan), and pray at night in Ramadaan, and pay zakaah?’ The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: ‘Whoever dies on that will be among the siddeeqeen (those who tell the truth) and the martyrs.’” (Albani) (2)

Both the hadiths above are crystal clear on what exactly is the importance of praying Taraweeh in Ramadan, even though it is not obligatory on us to pray.

The words Taraweeh/Tahajjud/Qiyam-ul-Layl (Prayer of the night) all mean the same. Though what people do is refer to the prayers directly after Isha as Taraweeh (ONLY during Ramadan) and the prayers after midnight as Tahajjud (regardless of the month).

(PS: Going into semantics isn’t necessary, just wanted to clear doubts!)

Now we have established it’s importance, we’ll move on to the duration and the number of rak’ahs prayed during Taraweeh.

The number of rak’ahs is eleven, ie

11 = 8 rakahs in twos + (2+1) witr

and it is preferable not to exceed this number, following the practice of the Messenger of Allaah (PBUH), because he never did more than that in his life.

Narrated Abu Salma bin `Abdur Rahman:

I asked `Aisha, “How is the prayer of Allah’s Messenger (PBUH) during the month of Ramadan.” She said, “Allah’s Messenger (PBUH) never exceeded eleven rak`at in Ramadan or in other months; he used to offer four rak`at– do not ask me about their beauty and length, then four rak`at, do not ask me about their beauty and length, and then three rak`at.” Aisha further said, “I said, ‘O Allah’s Messenger (PBUH)! Do you sleep before offering the witr prayer?’ He replied, ‘O `Aisha! My eyes sleep but my heart remains awake’!’
(Sahih Bukhari) (3)

What a wonderful hadith! Not only it debunks the 20 rak’at prayers that are held so ceremoniously everywhere, it even hints on praying the Witr late into the night!

Before I get slandered by people for the 20 rak’at comment, I would point out that most of the 20 rak’at hadiths are proven da’eef (weak). Even though 20 rak’at prayers are held in Masjid ul Haram, they do it for a lot of reasons. Firstly, people from all walks of life, Islamic sects pray in the Haram. If the Imam were to pray only 8 (which they used to once upon a time), they’d noticed that after the 8 raka’at there were mini congregations forming within the Haram which continued to pray among themselves. To avoid this, the Haram has sanctioned the 20 rak’ats Taraweeh.

If you have ever seen the Taraweeh prayer telecasted live from Makkah, you’ll notice that the Imam WILL change after 8 rak’ats of prayer. What does that mean? That we are recommended to pray 8 rak’ats, not 20 🙂

Moreover, Masjid ul Haram is such a magnificent masjid! It houses hundreds and thousands of people at one point of time. And therefore due to its vastness and the huge number of people who are trying to pray at the same time, not everyone gets place/time to start their Taraweeh with the Imam. So if one ends up missing a few rak’ats, they can always make up behind the imam!

It isn’t a bad thing to pray extra prayers. Its the intention (as usual) behind it. One can pray 20 rak’ats throughout the day instead. Why do we need to do something that wasn’t even recommended by Prophet Mohammed (PBUH)? When there is a Sahih hadith telling us not to go to such extremes, we still end up doing that. And then in those 20 rak’ats, the length of every rak’at shortens which is again the opposite of what we should be doing.

We should increase the length of our prayers by reciting as much as we remember. Every act of the Salah, from reciting the surah, to rukoo and the sujood, we should lengthen them.

Now to explain the miscellaneous issues related to Taraweeh:

1) Women can and should try to pray Taraweeh in congregation if a masjid is nearby.

2) Reading from the Mus’haf/Qur’an during Taraweeh is not bid’ah. Since it is a nafl prayer, the majority of the scholars have consented that the reading from the mus’haf during the taraweeh is possible. This is great news for people like me whose first language isn’t Arabic. So while the Imam recites the surah I make sure I read the translation and understand what the Imam is reciting!

3) The number of Rakat’s for Taraweeh is 11, which can be prayed from the time Isha starts till before Fajr.

4) Delaying the witr till late is recommended

5) It is better to pray Taraweeh in a congregation.

6) If the Imam is known to lengthen the prayer by a considerable amount, one can always sit during his recitation.

7) One can shorten his Taraweeh (if he or she is praying alone) if they are unable to withstand long periods of standing.

For a more detailed explanation of the virtues of Taraweeh I would recommend you all to read this link on IslamQA. The excerpt on this page is taken from Qiyaam Ramadaan by al-Albaani and I would request you all to read this as it has a lot of sunnah and recommended things to do when praying in Ramadan! http://www.islamqa.com/en/ref/3452/qiyaam

Jazakkallah Khair

 

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This brings us to the end of  the Ramadan series. While I won’t be ending my blog here, I will still update it with other relevant topics in Islam 🙂

 

References:

1) http://sunnah.com/riyadussaliheen/9/198
2) Sahih Al Targheeb wat-Tarheeb Lil-Albani Vol 1 H. 993
3) http://sunnah.com/bukhari/19/28

Bid’ah of Sha’baan

Please read the disclaimer before reading the post!

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Assalamu3alaikum everyone!

While I’m still working on part 4 of the Ramadan Is (Almost) Here! series, I realised that I need to blog about this very important topic.

Yesterday I was grocery shopping with my mum where I saw this lady stocking up on sweets and packing them in gift bags. I didn’t find this weird but my mum commented. She said “Do you know why she’s doing this? She’s going to distribute the sweets because it’s the 15th of Sha’baan.” I got a little annoyed with my mum at this point. And I told her that there’s absolutely no way of knowing that and what you’re doing is wrong. She says “I don’t think so.” And then we got busy doing other stuff. After a few minutes I saw the same lady with another bag filled with pamphlets which had ‘Mid Sha’baan’ written in bold letters.

Mums are awesome, aren’t they? ^_^

Anyhow, I will cover this very, very briefly.

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Bid’ah of Sha’baan

The practice of spending the 15th night of Sha’baan in prayer and fasting the following day is an innovation. This night has various names. South Asians call it Shab-E-Baraat while Arabs call it Laylatul Bara’ah/An Nusf Min as-Sha’baan. The apparent significance of this night is that Allah (SWT) gives gives the knowledge to the Angels, about what is going to happen in the following year, for example, who is going to die, who will be born, who will be ill and how much food people will have in the year, etc. The supporters of this act of worship highlight that there is a hadith that does signify this night. But what they fail to point out that one of the narrators from the chain of this hadith may not be reliable.

It is very important to know who the narrators of any hadith are. Because in this chain of narrators there might be one who was known to fabricate hadiths or maybe is proven to be unreliable by the scholars. Hence one must be very careful and vigilant whilst researching for hadiths on the web as we may not be very informed about what is fabricated and what isn’t.

Coming back to the topic, the scholars regarded celebrating this day as an innovation (bid ‘ah).  What is narrated concerning the virtue of praying, fasting and worshipping on the fifteenth of Sha’baan (al-nusf min Sha’baan) does not come under the heading of da’eef (weak), rather it comes under the heading of mawdoo’ (fabricated) and baatil (false). So it is not permissible to follow it or to act upon it, whether that is in doing righteous deeds or otherwise.

Even if we assume that the hadeeth is da’eef (weak) and not mawdoo’ (fabricated), the correct scholarly view is that weak ahaadeeth should not be followed at all, even if they speak of righteous deeds or of targheeb and tarheeb (promises and warnings). The saheeh reports are sufficient and the Muslim has no need to follow the da’eef reports. Nothing is known in Islam to suggest that this night or day is special, either from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) or from his companions.

The following is a very detailed explanation that follows this night:

Muhammad ‘Abd al-Salaam al-Shuqayri said: Imam al-Fatni said in Tadhkirat al-Mawdoo‘aat: Among the innovations that have been introduced on “Laylat an-Nusf”  (mid-Sha‘baan) is al-Salaat al-Alfiyyah, which is one hundred rak‘ahs in which Soorat al-Ikhlaas is recited ten times in each rak‘ah, offered in congregation; they pay more attention to this than to Jumu‘ah and Eid prayers, although there is no report concerning it, except da‘eef (weak) and mawdoo‘ (fabricated) reports, and we should not be deceived by the fact that these reports were quoted by the authors of al-Qoot and al-Ihya’ and others, nor should we be deceived by what was mentioned in Tafseer al-Tha‘labi, that it is Laylat al-Qadr. End quote.

Al-‘Iraaqi said: The hadeeth about the prayer on Laylat al-Nisf (mid-Sha‘baan) is false. Ibn al-Jawzi narrated it in al-Mawdoo‘aat (which is a compilation of fabricated hadeeths):

Chapter on the hadeeth, prayer and supplication on Laylat al-Nisf:

The hadeeth, “When the night of ‘nisf Sha‘baan’ (mid-Sha‘baan) comes, spend the night in prayer and fast on that day” was narrated by Ibn Maajah from ‘Ali. Muhashiyyah said: (It was also narrated) in al-Zawaa’id. Its isnaad is da‘eef (weak) because of the weakness of Ibn Abi Basrah, of whom Ahmad and Ibn Ma‘een said: He fabricates hadeeth. End quote.

Praying six rak‘ahs on Laylat al-Nisf with the intention of warding off calamity, having a long life and being independent of people, and reciting Ya-Seen and offering du‘aa’ in between that — there is no doubt that this is something that has been introduced into the religion and is contrary to the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). The commentator on al-Ihya’ said: This prayer is well known in the books of later Sufi masters, but I have not seen any saheeh report in the Sunnah to support it and the connected du‘aa’. Rather this is the action of some shaykhs. Our companions said: It is makrooh to gather on any of the nights mentioned in the mosques or elsewhere. Al-Najm al-Ghayti said, describing spending the night of al-Nisf min Sh‘baan (mid-Sha‘baan) praying in congregation: That was denounced by most of the scholars of the Hijaz, including ‘Ata’ and Ibn Abi Mulaykah, the fuqaha’ of Madinah and the companions of Maalik. They said: All of that is an innovation (bid‘ah) and there is no report to suggest that the Prophet spent that night in praying in congregation or that his Companions did that either. Al-Nawawi said: The prayers of Rajab and Sha‘baan are two reprehensible innovations. End quote from al-Sunan wa’l-Mubtada‘aat, p. 144

Al-Fatni (may Allah have mercy on him) said, after the comments quoted above: The common folk are so infatuated with this prayer that they stored up a lot of fuel for it and many evils resulted from it, and many transgressions are committed which we do no need to describe. (It is so bad that) the close friends of Allah feared His punishment and fled into the wilderness. The first time this prayer occurred was in Bayt al-Maqdis (Jerusalem) in 448 AH. Zayd ibn Aslam said: We never saw any of our shaykhs or fuqaha’ saying that Laylat al-Baraa’ah (15 Sha‘baan) had any superiority over other nights. Ibn Dihyah said: The hadeeths about the prayer on Laylat al-Baraa’ah are fabricated and one has an interruption in the isnaad. Anyone who acts upon a report which is known to be false is a servant of the Shaytaan.

End quote from Tadhkirat al-Mawdoo‘aat by al-Fatni, p. 45

See: al-Mawdoo‘aat by Ibn al-Jawzi, 2/127; al-Manaar al-Muneef fil Saheeh wa’l-Da‘eef by Ibn al-Qayyim, p. 98; al-Fawaa’id al-Majmoo‘ah by al-Shawkaani, p. 51

Some people use the word al-Sha‘baaniyyah to refer to the last days of Sha‘baan, and say, “These are the days of bidding farewell to food,” and they take advantage of these days to eat a lot before Ramadan begins. Some scholars say that this idea was originally taken from the Christians, who used to do that as their fasting period (Lent) approached.

To sum up, there is no celebration in Sha‘baan and there is no special act of worship to be performed in the middle of it or during the last days of the month. Doing that is an innovation that has been introduced into the religion. 

What about fasting on the 15th as it is one of the White Days (Ayyam Beedh)?

Fasting on the 13th, 14th and 15th of every month in the Lunar/Hijri calender was recommended* by the Prophet (PBUH). These days are called White Days or Ayyaam Beedh.

*(These are voluntary/nafl fasts)

It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: “My close friend [the Prophet (PBUH)] advised me to do three things which I will not give up until I die: fasting three days of each month, praying Duha, and sleeping after Witr. (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 1124; Muslim, 721.)

It was narrated from Jareer ibn ‘Abd-Allaah (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Fasting three days of each month is fasting for a lifetime, and ayaam al-beed are the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth.” (Narrated by al-Nasaa’i, 2420; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Targheeb, 1040.)

There is broad scope in the command to fast three days, as it says in the hadeeth of ‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her), but the best days of the month for fasting are the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth, as it says in the other saheeh ahaadeeth.

Now what if someone who is fasting on these 3 days? Is he committing Bid’ah?

No.

Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid says:

 If a person wants to pray qiyaam on this night as he does on other nights – without doing anything extra or singling this night out for anything – then that is OK. The same applies if he fasts the day of the fifteenth of Sha’baan because it happens to be one of the ayyaam al-beed, along with the fourteenth and thirteenth of the month, or because it happens to be a Monday or Thursday. If the fifteenth (of Sha’baan) coincides with a Monday or Thursday, there is nothing wrong with that (fasting on that day), so long as he is not seeking extra reward that has not been proven (in the saheeh texts). And Allaah knows best.

Every deed is based on our intention. And Allah knows them the best.

May Allah forgive us all.

Ameen!

References

1. http://islamqa.com/en/ref/154850
2. http://islamqa.com/en/ref/49675
3. http://islamqa.com/en/ref/8907
4. http://islamqa.com/en/ref/69781