Some people say that performing Tarawih in congregation is a Bid`ah (innovation in religion) because it was introduced in the reign of `Umar (May Allah be pleased with him). But this is not correct because it is established that the Prophet (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) did not continue it out of fear that it will be made obligatory; otherwise he would have carried on with it. When the fear that this practice be made obligatory was over, `Umar (May Allah be pleased with him) gave it the form of a Nafl prayer and revived the mode of performing it collectively, and thus fulfilled the desire of the Prophet (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam). In spite of all these facts, it is still permissible for one to perform Tarawih individually in the late hours of the night. Since ordinary people are not capable of performing it individually, the step taken by `Umar (May Allah be pleased with him) is perfectly correct. If this had not been done, the majority of the people will have remained deprived of the blessings and reward of Qiyam-ul-Lail, which would have been a great deprivation indeed.
Posted on: Mon, 29 Jul 2013 00:11:44 +0000
Trending Topics
© 2015