3.1.10 Tahajjud And Tarawi.H

The word tahajjud is derived from hujud which means sleep, and tahajjud literally signifies the giving up of sleep (R.). The Tahajjud prayer is so called because it is said after one has had some sleep, and sleep is then given up for the sake of prayer. It is specially mentioned, even enjoined, in the Holy Qur’an itself in the very earliest revelations, but it is expressly stated to be voluntary. The following verses may be noted in this connection:

“O thou covering thyself up! Rise to pray by night except a little, half of it, or lessen it a little or add to it, and recite the Holy Qur’an in a leisurely manner … The rising by night is surely the firmest way to tread and most effective in speech” (73:1 — 6).

“Thy Lord knows indeed that thou passest in prayer nearly two-thirds of the night, and (sometimes) half of it, and (sometimes) a third of it, as do a party of those with thee” (73:20).

“And during a part of the night, keep awake by it, beyond what is incumbent on thee; maybe thy Lord will raise thee to a position of great glory” (17:79).

As the above quotation from the 73rd chapter shows, the Holy Prophet used to pass half or even two-thirds of the night in prayer. His practice was to go to sleep immediately after the ‘Isha’ prayers, and then he generally woke up after midnight and passed almost all this latter half of the night in Tahajjud prayers, sometimes taking a short nap, which would give him a little rest, just before the morning prayer. This practice he kept up to the last. While in the congregational prayers the recitation of the Holy Qur’an was generally short, in consideration of the children, women and aged people among the audience, the recitation in the Tahajjud prayers was generally long, and it is related in hadith that he used to stand so long reciting the Holy Qur’an that his feet would get swollen (Bu. 19:6).

The Tahajjud prayer consists of eight rak‘ahs, divided into a service of two at a time, followed by three rak‘ahs or witr. To make it easier for the common people the witr prayer, which is really a part of Tahajjud, has been made a part of the voluntary portion of ‘Isha’ or night prayer, and therefore, if the witr prayer has been said with ‘Isha’, Tahajjud would consist of only eight rak‘ahs. But if there is not sufficient time, one may stop after any two rak‘ahs (Bu. 19:10). The Holy Prophet laid special stress on Tahajjud in the month of Ramadzan, and it was the Tahajjud prayer that ultimately took the form of Tarawih in that month. He is reported to have said that whoever keeps awake at night to offer prayer in the month of Ramadzan, having faith and seeking only the Divine pleasure, his faults are covered (Bu. 2:27); and there are hadith showing that he used to awaken his wives to say prayers (Bu. 14:3). He is also said to have gone to the house of his daughter Fatima at night to awaken her and her husband ‘Ali for Tahajjud prayers (Bu. 19:5). Owing to the emphasis laid by the Holy Prophet on this prayer and the injunctions of the Holy Qur’an quoted above, the Companions of the Holy Prophet were very particular about Tahajjud prayer, though they knew that it was not obligatory, and some of them used to come to the mosque during the latter part of the night to say their Tahajjud prayers. It is reported that the Holy Prophet had a small closet made for himself in the mosque and furnished with a mat as a place of seclusion wherein to say his Tahajjud prayers during the month of Ramadzan, and on a certain night, when he rose up to say his Tahajjud prayers, some people who were in the mosque saw him and followed him in prayer, thus making a congregation. On the following night, this congregation increased, and swelled to still larger numbers on the third. On the fourth night, the Holy Prophet did not come out, saying he feared lest it be made obligatory, and that it was preferable to say the Tahajjud prayers in one’s own house (Bu. 10:80, 81). Tahajjud, except for these three days, thus remained an individual prayer during the lifetime of the Holy Prophet, the caliphate of Abu Bakr, and the early part of the caliphate of ‘Umar (Bu. 31:1). But later on, ‘Umar introduced a change whereby this prayer became a congregational prayer during the early part of the night, and was said after the ‘Isha’ prayer. He himself is reported to have said that it was an innovation, though the latter part of night during which people kept on sleeping was preferable to the early part in which they said this prayer (Bu. 31:1). Doubtless he had had this suggestion from the example of the Holy Prophet himself, who had said the Tahajjud prayer in congregation for three nights, and allowed the witr, which was also a part of Tahajjud, to be adjoined to the ‘Isha’ prayer. And though for the average man the change introduced by ‘Umar is welcome, nevertheless in the month of fasting (Ramadzan) Tahajjud in the latter part of the night and as an individual prayer is preferable.

Tarawih is the plural of Tarwihah which is derived from rahah and means the act of taking rest. The name Tarawih seems to have been given to this prayer because the worshippers take a brief rest after every two rak‘ahs. It is now the practice that the whole of the Holy Qur’an is recited in the Tarawih prayers in the month of Ramadzan. But to recite it in a single night is against the express injunctions of the Holy Prophet (Bu. 30:58). The number of rak‘ahs in the Tarawih prayers seems, at first, to have been eleven, being exactly the number of rak‘ahs in the Tahajjud prayers (including of course three witr rak‘ahs). It is stated that ‘Umar at first ordered eleven rak‘ahs, but later on, the number seems to have been increased to twenty rak‘ahs of Tarawih and three rak‘ahs of witr, now making a total of twenty-three. And this practice is now generally maintained throughout the Muslim world, the Ahl Hadith and the Ahmadis being almost the only exception. It is customary for the Imam to recite the whole of the Holy Qur’an in Tarawih during the month of fasting, whether the number of rak‘ahs be eight or twenty.