4. Praying Taraaweeh At Home

By Asma bint Shameem

Sure it’s good that we pray Taraaweeh in the masjid in Jama’ah.

But sometimes we’re not able to do that for various reasons.

So how can we pray this beautiful Sunnah prayer at home?

Since Taraaweeh prayer is a kind of Night Prayer or Qiyaam al-Layl, we should read these rak’aat two by two as per the hadeeth.

The Prophet sal Allaahu Alayhi wa sallam said:

*"The night prayers are two by two”*(al-Bukhaari)

How many rak’aat should I pray?*

You can pray from two rak’aat to as many as you like.

That’s because there’s no ‘limit’ to the Night prayers.

When a man asked the Prophet sal Allaahu Alayhi wa sallam about the night prayer, (in the hadeeth above), he Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam did not specify a fixed number for the Night prayer; rather he left the matter open.

QUESTION
I only know small surahs. How can I read MORE of the Qur’aan?

Just because we’re not going to the masjid and not reading behind an Imaam does not mean that we can’t read the 
longer Surahs of the Qur’aan in our Taraaweeh at home.

Alhamdulillaah there’s a beautiful way to read as much Qur’aan in our Taraaweeh as we want.

How?

Read from the Mus-haf DIRECTLY.

Just hold the Mus-haf or *place it on a table or something* in front of you and read as much of it as you want in each rak’ah, directly from the Book.

Maybe you can read one page in one rak’ah and the second page in the second rak’ah.
Or read a bit more than that or a bit less; whatever Allaah enables you to do.

This way, you get to read Taraaweeh AND read more of the Qur’aan at the same time Alhamdulillaah.

It’s perfectly ok to read directly from the Qur’aan in non-obligatory Salah.

Someone asked Imaam az-Zuhri about reading from the Mus-haf in Ramadhaan.

He said:
“The best ones among us used to read from the Mus-hafs…”

Shaikh Ibn Baaz said:

“The Qur’aan and Sunnah indicate that Qur’aan should be recited in prayer, whether it is from the Mus-haf or from memory. It was proven that ‘Aa’ishah radhi Allaahu anhaa
told her freed slave Dhakwaan to lead her in praying qiyaam in Ramadhaan, and he used to read from the Mus-haf. Al-Bukhaari mentioned this in his Saheeh… “
(Fataawa Islaamiyah, vol.2 – Shaykh Ibn Baaz)

QUESTION

But I heard that too much movement like picking up the Mus-haf or turning the pages etc, will invalidate the prayer!

That is a weak opinion.
And the stronger and correct opinion is that it’s allowed to read from the Mus-haf directly in prayer.

How can I say that?

Proof:

1. Our Mother Aaisha radhi Allaahu anhaa used to do that.

Imaam al-Bukhaari said:

"Aa’ishah radhi Allaahu anhaa had a slave who used to lead her in prayer in Ramadhaan, *reading from the Mus’haf."
[al-Bukhaari (1/245)]

If it was good enough for Aaishah radhi Allaahu anhaa, then it’s good enough for us.

Imaam az-Zuhri said about reading from the Mus-haf in Ramadhaan.

“The BEST ones among us used to read from the*
*Mus-hafs…”

Imaam an-Nawawi said:

“If he reads from the Mus-haf that does not invalidate his prayer, whether he had memorized it or not.
Rather he *should* do that if he has not memorized al-Faatihah, and if he turns the pages sometimes whilst praying that does not invalidate his prayer. … This is our view and the view of Maalik, Abu Yoosuf, Muhammad and Ahmad.”
(al-Majmoo’, 4/27)

Shaikh Ibn Baaz said:

“The Qur’aan and Sunnah indicate that *Qur’aan should be recited in prayer, whether it is from the Mus-haf or from memory.*
It was proven that ‘Aa’ishah radhi Allaahu anhaa told her freed slave Dhakwaan to lead her in praying qiyaam in Ramadhaan, and he used to read from the Mus-haf. Al-Bukhaari mentioned this in his Saheeh… “
(Fataawa Islaamiyah, vol.2 – Shaykh Ibn Baaz)

2. Moving the pages and picking up the Mus-haf does NOT invalidate the prayer.

Proof

Abu Qutaadah al-Ansaari radhi Allaahu anhu said:

“The Messenger of Allaah
Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam
used to pray whilst he was carrying Umaamah, the daughter of Zaynab bint Rasool-Allaah Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam.
*“when he prostrated he put her down, and when he stood up he picked her up.”*
(al-Bukhaari 494 and Muslim 543).

Surely picking up a child while praying and then putting her down for sujood is MUCH MORE movement than simply flipping a page. Or picking up a Mus-haf.

And if the Prophet sal Allaahu Alayhi wa sallam picked up a child and put her down every time he went into sujood, then that *proves* that such movement does NOT invalidate the prayer.

Besides, if there’s such an issue, a person can easily avoid ALL movements by opening the Mus-haf to a particular page that he wants to recite, then place it on a table in front of him.

Then he can read the page on the right side for the first rak’ah and read the page on the left In the second Rak’ah.
This way he doesn’t move even an inch “unnecessarily” and yet he gets to read from the Mus-haf directly.

Conclusion
So whether it’s Sunnah or Nafl, go ahead and open the Mus-haf and read directly from it.
And benefit from the Book of Allaah.

May Allaah accept our ibaadaat, our duaas, our Taubah. Ameen.

And Allaah knows best.