Praying Taraweeh as well as Tahajjud in the Masjid‏

by MuslimGuy Wed Sep 09, 2009 2:08 pm

Praying Taraweeh as well as Tahajjud in the Masjid‏ Bismil10

7. Question: Could we still pray our tahajjud prayers in the last third of the night after we pray Taraaweeh and the Witr prayers in the masjid, or should we postpone our witr until after the last third?

<BLOCKQUOTE>Answer: It depends, if you are praying in the masjid and the Imaam is doing the witr, it is better for you to do the witr with him and when you return home you don’t pray the witr but you pray two raka’aat, two raka’aat etc. However, if you are praying behind an Imaam who doesn’t do the witr at Taraaweeh but he does the witr at Tahajjud it is better for you to do the Taraaweeh with him, and if you want to do more raka’aat when you go home, you do more and then return to Tahajjud with them (in the masjid) and do the Tahajjud and the witr there. If you cannot return for any reason you do whatever raka’aat you can do and then you do the witr on your own.

My advice is to always try and be in the masjid, as Imaam Ahmad in the book Masaail Abu Daawūd mentioned that Abu Daawūd as-Sajistani the imaam of the Sunan said “I asked Ahmad ibn Hanbal, is it more beloved to you that the man stands in his house in the last third of the night in Ramadaan or that he stands with the people in the masjid?” He (Ahmad ibn Hanbal) said, “No, the Sunnah of the Muslims is more beloved to me”, meaning that he prays in the masjid with the Believers. And ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab رضي الله عنه after he gathered the people with Ubayy ibn Ka’ab to lead them in Taraaweeh he came and said:

نعم البدعة هذه والتي ينامون عنها خير من التي يقومون

“What a great bid’ah” – meaning here the linguistic meaning it does not mean bid’ah in the religion because the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم had previously done the Taraaweeh – and then he said “and the one that sleeps at this time is better than the one who is doing it now”[29] which means that the prayer in last third of the night is better than praying at the beginning of the night, but if the people are sleeping this is good although some people say there is no sleeping as it is not from the sunnah. I do not know from where they get these statements as the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم did not specify certain times nor did he say “don’t sleep”. However, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said that “whoever prays at night and falls asleep let him go to sleep” [30] meaning he gets rest and when he awakes he continues, so how can they say that one cannot sleep?

It is better that it is in the last third (of the night). If all the people of the mosque agree to pray ‘Eeshaa then go home and return in the last third of the night this would be better, but if they cannot because some people are busy or some cannot stay awake then why don’t they pray at the beginning of the night, especially there in the West. We here in the East and especially in Saudi Arabia, the king Jazaahullaahu Khairan (may Allaah reward him) has given holidays to everyone Jazaahullaahu Khairan to allow them to be free for worshipping in the last ten nights of Ramadaan. May Allaah reward him for all whom he gave holidays to, whether they worship or they don’t – May Allaah reward him (on behalf of) all of them based on his intention. But in the West there isn’t this (free) time – the people are working and tomorrow morning they have to work and they go early in the morning. We cannot say “No, you have to stay awake all night.” Let them pray if they can stand for an hour before Fajr – that is best and if they cannot then they can do Taraaweeh after ‘Eeshaa together in the masjid and witr and then go to sleep. After that whoever awakes he may pray two raka’aat, two raka’aat as much as he likes. Wallaahu A’lam.

source: http://www.albaseerah.org/forum/showthread.php?t=4377</BLOCKQUOTE>

Praying Taraweeh as well as Tahajjud in the Masjid&#8207;