The history of Tarawih The Fatimids executed its worshipers and disrupted

Its establishment due to crises, and its imams were Ibn Taymiyyah, the Jew Maimonides and the boys in the Two Holy Mosques

With each view of the holy crescent of Ramadan; Muslims exchange congratulations on his arrival and invocations in advance, evoking a group of sacrifices associated with him without the rest of the months, and at the forefront of these sacrifices is the Tarawih prayer and the accompanying recitation and contemplation of the Holy Qur’an, and a meeting of believers - of different ages and destinies - throughout its blessed nights in the rehab and mihrabs of mosques Full of remembrance of God Almighty

In this article; We will present a historical overview of this beloved ritual to the hearts of believers in the month of the Qur’an. We will briefly narrate how it began since the dawn of Islam, and we will see some of the social smears that it experienced - through its subsequent centuries - that almost brought it out of the sphere of worship (religion) into the circle of customs. (religion).

We will also reveal part of its influence on the history of Muslims and its various influences, doctrinally, jurisprudence, politically and socially. And we will discover - during all this - that many of our practices associated with this great ritual were not born today, but rather we inherited them from long periods of time.

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The scholar Ibn al-Mubarrad al-Hanbali (d. 909 AH / 1503 AD) - in his book 'Purely Right' - summarizes the origin of the origin of Tarawih prayer in Islam by saying: "Do not be under the illusion that Tarawih is from the position of Omar (Ben al-Khattab, d. 23 AH / 645 AD) - may God be pleased with him. May God be upon him - nor was he the first to put it down, rather it was fabricated from the time of the Prophet, peace be upon him, but Omar the first to gather people on one reciter in it, because they used to pray for themselves, so he gathered them on one reciter, and it was called 'Tarawih' [by this name] Because they rest in it after every four."

And before Ibn al-Mubarrad six centuries; Imam al-Tabari (d. 310 AH / 922 AD) specified for us the date of the issuance of Omar's order to gather people for Tarawih prayers. He said - in his history - that it was in the year 14 AH / 636 AD, "and he wrote this to the countries and ordered them to do so."

Omar assigned a reader to pray for men and another for women. But it seems that the mothers of the believers did not - due to their special status - witness the public Taraweeh of women, as is understood from the effect that says that “Dhakwan (Aba Amr d. 63 AH / 684 AD) is the mawla of [Lady Mother of the Believers] Aisha (d. 58 AH / 679 AD) - may God be pleased with him. On her authority - he used to lead her in… Tarawih prayers [while he was reading] in the Qur’an”; As in the narration of Imam Abu al-Qasim al-Asbahani, nicknamed "Qawam al-Sunnah" (d. 535 AH / 1140 AD) in 'The Life of the Righteous Ancestors'.

The books of jurisprudence, history, and translations have preserved for us the names of the reciters whom Omar assigned - at different times - to carry out this task. So I mentioned among the reciters of the men: Ubayy bin Ka’b Al-Ansari (d. 22 AH / 644 AD), who “used to pray twenty rak’ahs with them, then pray Witr with three, and he would reduce the recitation as much as he increased the rak’ahs”; According to Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 728 AH / 1328 AD) in 'Majmoo' al-Fatwa'.

Among the reciters of men was Muadh bin Al-Harith Al-Ansari (d. 63 AH/684 AD). As for the women’s reciters, they are: Tamim bin Aws al-Dari (d. 40 AH / 661 AD), who is also reported to have prayed it with men, as well as Suleiman Ibn Abi Hatmah al-Qurashi (d. after 43 AH / 664 AD), and Amr bin Harith al-Makhzumi (d. 85 AH / 705 AD).

One of the priorities

related to the history of Tarawih is the introduction of the rotation of the rows around the Kaaba; Abu Obaid al-Bakri al-Andalusi (d. 487 AH/1094 AD) narrates - in 'The Paths and Kingdoms' - on the authority of Imam Sufyan bin Uyaynah (d. 198 AH / 814 AD) that "the first person to turn the rows around the Kaaba at the time of Ramadan [the Umayyad governor of Mecca] Khalid bin Abdullah al-Qasri (d. 120 AH / 739 AD), and people were standing at the top ( beginning) of the mosque; [Q] he commanded the imams to come forward and pray behind the shrine, and he circled the rows around the Kaaba.”

The jurisprudential rule of Tarawih has been established - according to Sunni scholars - as a “sunnah” and not an “imposition”, and they cited it as a typical example of a “good heresy” legally among those who say it; But some of these scholars held that “it is not permissible to leave it in the mosques… because it [became] a slogan [for Muslims], so it is attached to the obligatory sufficiencies or the Sunnahs that have become a slogan… such as the Eid prayer”; According to a jurisprudential summary decided by Imam Taj al-Din al-Subki (d. 771 AH / 1370 AD) in 'Tabaqat al-Shafi'i'.

It is also recommended by the scholars - according to Imam Abu Bakr al-Bayhaqi (d. 458 AH/1067 AD) in “Shu`b al-Iman” - that “the lights of mosques are increased during the month of Ramadan by hanging lamps in them ; They also say that "the first thing that Omar Ibn Al-Khattab did was when he gathered people in Tarawih"; According to the historian of Medina Nour al-Din al-Samhoudi (d. 911 AH / 1505 AD) in 'Wafa al-Wafa Akhbar Dar al-Mustafa'.

In this regard, Imam al-Nawawi (d. 676 AH / 1277 AD) - in 'Tahdhib al-Asmaa wa al-Lughat' - narrated that Ali bin Abi Talib (d. 40 AH / 661 AD), may God be pleased with him, "passed by mosques in Ramadan with lanterns blooming, and he said: May God light his grave on Omar's grave. Just as our mosques are illuminated!!

Although the masses of Muslims followed the path of the Companions in establishing the Tarawih ritual in Ramadan; Opinions appeared that denied its legitimacy as an “age heresy”; As you can see Shiite sects with the exception of some imams of Zaidi. Al-Maqrizi (d. 845 AH / 1441 AD) - in 'Al-Moawa'at wa al-I'tibar' - attributed to the regular sect of the Mu'tazilites saying that "Taraweeh prayers are not permissible."

UndefinedFamous imams

The classes and social groups from which the Tarawih imams came from have varied throughout the periods of Islamic history. Among them were the masters of scholars, great readers, famous travelers and merchants, and even sultans and even brushes working in mosques. Its imam was assumed by the "Sheikh of the Interpreters" Imam al-Tabari, the "Sheikh of the reciters" of his time, Abu Bakr Ibn Mujahid al-Baghdadi (d. 324 AH / 936 AD), and the "Sheikh of Preachers" Imam Ibn al-Jawzi (d. 597 AH / 1201 AD).

Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi (d. 463 AH/1072 AD) - in "History of Baghdad" - tells that this Ibn Mujahid listened one night to the voice of his contemporary and his compatriot al-Tabari - as he led people in Tarawih in his mosque in Baghdad - and said to one of his students: "I did not think that God Almighty created human beings It is better [to] read this reading!!

Imam Ibn Asaker (d. 571 AH / 1175 AD) - in 'History of Damascus' - mentions that his Sheikh, the reciter Abu al-Fath al-Ansari al-Maqdisi (d. 539 AH / 1144 AD) was "praying Tarawih in the Ali Ibn al-Hassan Mosque" in Damascus.

And this is Abu Jaafar Ibn al-Fanaqi al-Shafi’i al-Qurtubi (d. 596 AH/1200 AD) “People flocked to pray behind him to seek his blessings and to listen to his good voice, and when he was next to him in Makkah he was one of the alternates in reciting Tarawih in Ramadan…, and his reading softened inanimate objects with reverence.” ; According to Ibn Jubayr al-Kinani al-Andalus (d. 614 AH / 1217 AD) in his book his journey.

Among the imams of Tarawih who had an important role in Islamic scientific history: Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah al-Harrani ; His student, the historian Ibn al-Wardi al-Ma’arri al-Kindi (d. 749AH/1348AD), said while translating him in his history: “I prayed Tarawih prayers behind him in Ramadan, and I saw his recitation with reverence, and I saw on his prayer the tenderness of a footnote that takes in the gatherings of hearts.”

Remarkable diversity

And among its imams was also the famous traveler jurist al-Maqdisi al-Bashari (d. 380 AH / 991 AD); He told us - in his book “The Best of Taqasim” - about his visit to Yemen, and he said that the people of Aden “seal in Ramadan in prayer, then pray and kneel, and I prayed Tarawih with them in Aden, so I prayed after the peace, and they were surprised by that!!”

It seems that some of the Taraweeh imams were from the category of merchant scholars , such as Abu Ali Al-Hilali Al-Hourani, the reciter, the merchant (d. 546 AH / 1151 AD), and the great Meccan merchant Al-Khawaja Jamal Al-Din Ibn Sheikh Ali Al-Jilani (d. 824 AH / 1421 AD), who “memorized the Holy Qur’an.” He prayed Tarawih in the Hanafi shrine [in the Great Mosque of Mecca] in the year eighteen sixteen.” According to the historian of Makkah Al-Mukarramah, Taqi Al-Din Al-Fassi Al-Makki (d. 832 AH / 1429 AD) in 'The Precious Decade in the History of the Faithful Country'.

Al-Fassi also tells us that among the Tarawih imams were those who belonged to the category of the Farrash who was entrusted with the service of the Grand Mosque, and among those mentioned by Ahmed bin Abdullah Al-Douri Al-Makki (d. Ramadan.”

Among the princes scholars whom history has preserved for us in the register of Tarawih imams: Sultan Alamkir Aurangzeb (d. 1118 AH / 1706 AD), who ruled India for 50 years, during which he was described as “and he has no equal in his time of kings in good conduct”; According to his contemporary, the loving historian al-Dimashqi (d. 1111 AH / 1699 AD) in 'A summary of the impact on the notables of the eleventh century'. Al-Mohebi added that Aurangzeb, “with the capacity of his power, used to eat in the month of Ramadan a loaf of barley bread from the earnings of his oath, and he prayed Tarawih with the people, and he had good blessings and very good deeds!!”

Among the strangest stories of famous “imams” is what was reported by the historian Ibn Shakir al-Ketbi (d. 764 AH / 1363 AD) - in “Fawat al-Wafeat” - that the great Jewish rabbi, Musa bin Maimun al-Qurtubi (d. 601 AH / 1204 AD) “became a Muslim in Morocco [under duress during the days of the state]. Al-Muwahhidun], memorized the Qur’an and worked in jurisprudence, and when he came [by sea to Palestine in the year 560 AH / 1165 AD] from the west, he prayed with those in the boat Tarawih in the month of Ramadan” when he caught up with them during their journey.

Then this Maimonides quickly moved from Palestine to Egypt, and when he was reassured by the residency in it, he returned to his original religion and became a “head of the Jews” there and a judge for their judges in the year 573 AH / 1177 AD, which they call “Al-Najid”, during the days of the Sultanate of Salah al-Din (d. 589 AH / 1193 AD).

And proficiency. One of the examples of the skilled Taraweeh imams who used to complete the Qur’an in one night and so on; Judge of Judges in Damascus Abu al-Hasan Imad al-Din al-Tarsusi al-Hanafi (d. 748 AH / 1347 AD), who "memorized the Qur'an in the least period of time, even praying Tarawih in three hours and two-thirds of hours in the presence of a group of notables"; According to Muhyi al-Din al-Qurashi (d. 775 AH / 1373 AD) in 'The Shining Jewels in Tabaqat al-Hanafi'. Although the concept of "clock" among the ancients is different - in its temporal amount - from its concept today; The possibility of historians exaggerating the short time of the seals remains.

And Imam Shams al-Din al-Jaziri (d. 833 AH / 1430 AD) - in “Ghaya al-Nahiya fi Tabaqat al-Qura’a” - narrates that the reciter Kamal al-Din Abu al-Hasan al-Hamiri al-Iskandar al-Maliki (d. 694 AH / 1295 AD) used to “pray Tarawih every night at the end of the entire month.” As the reciter Abu Muhammad Yaqoub bin Yusuf Al-Harbi (d. 587 AH / 1191 AD) used to “pray Taraweeh with people in Ramadan every night with half a conclusion”; According to al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (d. 852 AH / 1448 AD) in 'Lisan al-Mizan'. ‎

We find some of its imams dedicating a conclusion for each ten nights of Ramadan. And the Andalusian historian Ibn Bashkwal (d. 578 AH / 1182 AD) told us - in his book 'The Connection' - that Abu al-Qasim Khalaf bin Yahya al-Fihri al-Tulatili (d. 405 AH/1015 AD) "was living in al-Nashareen ( the carpenters neighborhood), and he is the imam of the 'orphan mosque' in Rutbah. , [and] he used to perform nine intercessions ( 18 rak'ahs) in his mosque in the month of Ramadan according to the madhhab of Malik, and he would complete three seals in it: the first on the night of the tenth, the second on the night of twenty, and the third on the night of twenty-nine.”

Many of the Taraweeh imams used to pray the seven readings and sometimes the ten. Among them is Abu Ali al-Hilali al-Hourani - the advanced he mentioned to Ibn Asaker in 'History of Damascus' - who "went to pray in the mosque of Damascus the Tarawih prayer and read in it several narrations that he mixed, and repeated the different letter ( the pronunciation) in it" among the readers.

Imam al-Dhahabi (d. 748 AH / 1347 AD) - in 'History of Islam' - says that Abu al-Abbas al-Bardani al-Baghdadi, the blind (d. 621 AH / 1224 AD) "was reciting in Taraweeh with gays for the sake of fame," as well as the reciter Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Maqdisi. Al-Shafi’i (d. 885 AH / 1480 AD) who “prayed Tarawih for the people in Ramadan with the entire Qur’an, each tenth of it [reciting] by an imam of the ten [reciters]”; According to Imam al-Sakhawi (d. 902 AH / 1496 AD) in 'The Brilliant Light'.

Among its famous imams who stayed for decades while leading the people there was Abu Ali al-Hasan bin Dawood al-Qurashi, the Umayyad al-Kufi (d. 352 AH / 963 AD). He was "the author of melodies, and he prayed Tarawih in the mosque of Kufa for forty-three years." As the historian Taj al-Din Ibn Anjab al-Sa'i (d. 674 AH / 1275 AD) tells us about him in 'Al-Durr al-Thamin fi Asma al-Musannaf'een'.

As well as Abu Abdullah Al-Nisaburi Al-Muzaki (d. 392 AH/1001 AD), who Al-Dhahabi informs us - in the 'History of Islam' - that he "prayed Tarawih with the people for sixty-three years with the seal." Likewise, Karim al-Din Abu Jaafar al-Abbasi al-Khatib (d. 574 AH / 1178 AD), who "sermons at the Qasr Mosque [in Baghdad] and prays Tarawih prayers for about fifty years"; According to Kamal al-Din Ibn al-Fawti al-Shaibani (d. 723 AH / 1323 AD) inundefined'

Majma' al-Adab fi Mujam al-Aqab. Special Tarawih It was a social custom associated with Ramadan to select distinguished imams - strong memorization, quality of performance and beautiful voice - to pray Tarawih with sultans and people of social standing.

An example of this is what was reported by Imam al-Dhahabi - in 'Birds of the Nobles' - that the Abbasid Caliph "Al-Mustahhir Allah (d. 512 AH/1118AD) asked someone to pray with him; his choice fell on the judge Ibn al-Dawas; [and] from His great admiration for him was at the beginning of Ramadan, and he started in Tarawih, so he recited in the first two rak’ahs a verse by a verse, and when he greeted, the Mustahir said to him: We increased the recitation! part" of the Qur'an.

The reciter Abu al-Khattab, the writer, Shafi’i al-Baghdadi (d. 497 AH / 1104 AD) "would pray Tarawih with the Commander of the Faithful, who remembered in God"; According to al-Dhahabi - in 'History of Islam'. Al-Hafiz Ibn Asaker tells us that Zain al-Qudah Sultan bin Yahya al-Qurashi al-Dimashqi (d. 530 AH / 1136 AD) “prayed Tarawih in the regular [school] [in Baghdad] and the Abbasid caliph took over him.”

And it was stated in the 'Tail of Tabaqat al-Hanbali' by Imam Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali (d. 795 AH / 1393 AD) that the reciter Aba al-Qasim Hebat Allah Ibn al-Hasan al-Ashqar al-Baghdadi (d. 634 AH / 1237 AD) "was leading the Caliph al-Zahir (the Abbasid caliphate 623 AH / 1226 AD), and he arranged him as an imam in Tarawih prayers, and permission for people to enter the prayer” with them at the Caliph’s Palace Mosque in Baghdad

And in Andalusia; Translated by Ibn Abd al-Malik al-Marrakchi (d. 703 AH / 1303 AD) - in 'The Tail and the Complement' - by Ibn Muqatil al-Qaisi al-Granati (d. 574 AH / 1178 AD); He says that he was "a memorizer of the Book of God Almighty, a regulator of his readings, a good tone with it, choosing to lead the Tarawih prayers at the Great Mosque of Granada."

Al-Marrakchi also says that the Sultan of the Almohad state, Al-Mansur Yaqoub bin Yusuf (d. 595 AH / 1199 AD) listened one day to the recitation of the reciter Abu al-Hasan al-Fahmi al-Qurtubi (d. 617 AH / 1220 AD) “and he took in his heart his good tone and good manners, so he brought him close and extracted, and ordered him to teach his children and read a party of Tarawih in Ramadan.

Abu Bakr al-Ansari al-Qurtubi (d. 614 AH / 1217 AD) was "a good voice, summoned by the Emir to pray Tarawih." According to Golden in the 'History of Islam'. Abu al-Hasan Ibn Wajib al-Qaisi al-Balansi (d. 637 AH / 1239 AD) was described as “one of the best people in reciting the Qur’an, and therefore he was appointed for Tarawih prayers by the governors”; According to Marrakchi.

Imams for

the imams . In the translation of Ibn Al-Wazir Al-Balani (d. 624 AH / 1227 AD) it was stated that “Taraweeh prayed with the rulers, and he was one of the people of recitation and verification by recitation, one of the good reciters of the reciters”; As in the 'Supplement to the Book of Prayer' by Ibn Al-Abar Al-Quda'i Al-Balancey (d. 658 AH / 1260 AD).

And the Andalusian minister Lisan Al-Din Ibn Al-Khatib (d. 776 AH / 1374 AD) - in 'Al-Ihtaaat Fi Granada News' - spoke about his contemporary reciter Muhammad bin Qasim Al-Ansari Al-Jyani (d. after 776 AH / 1374 AD) and said that he had a "good tone [Q], so he broke into the descent (  Thrones) of the Kings, and prayed Tarawih at the Al-Hamra Palace Mosque in Granada.

And the judge of judges, the historian Ibn Khalkan (d. 681 AH / 1282 AD) - in 'Deaths of Notables' - stated that the Ayyubid minister Safi al-Din bin Shukr al-Damiri (d. 630 AH / 1233 AD) "wanted a reader of the school he established in Al-Mu'izz Cairo to pray Tarawih, So two people were chosen for him, one named Ziada and the other Murtaza

Even senior scholars sometimes chose others to lead them in Tarawih; Omar Bin Suleiman Abu Hafs Al-Muadab (d. after 250 AH / 864 AD) said: “I prayed with Ahmed bin Hanbal (d. 241 AH / 855 AD) in the month of Ramadan Tarawih and Ibn Umair used to pray in it”; According to “Tabaqat al-Hanbali” by Ibn Abi Yala al-Hanbali (d. 526 AH / 1132 AD).

Al-Sakhawi translated - in “Al-Lu’a Al-Alami” - by the reciter Badr Al-Din bin Taqi Al-Qabbani (d. 844 AH / 1440 AD) and said that he “was leading our sheikh [Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalani] in Tarawih at the Mankotomariya school [in Cairo] until he died.”

Al-Khatib Al-Baghdadi mentioned that Imam Al-Qanabi (d. 221 AH / 836 AD) - one of the great narrators of al-Muwatta’ on the authority of Imam Malik bin Anas (d. 179 AH / 795 AD) - was one of his students by Ibn Abbad al-Nasa’i known as Al-Jalaji (d. 287 AH / 900 AD). ) So, “[Imam] presented him in Tarawih prayer, and he liked his voice.”

In contrast; Some of the eminent imams preferred to pray it themselves and in their homes. “Al-Shafi’i (d. 204 AH/819 AD) did not pray Tarawih with people [in the mosque], but he used to pray in his house and conclude sixty recitations in Ramadan!” According to Ibn Asaker - in 'The History of Damascus'.

A good voice has always been one of the criteria for choosing among the Tarawih imams when there are several in the same country or neighborhood. Rather, Sharaf al-Din bin Yahya al-Hamzi, known as Kabrit al-Mawlawi (d. 1070 AH / 1659 AD), says - in his book 'The Journey of Winter and Summer' - that "one of the beauties of the Levant is the revival of the holy nights of Ramadan, and the establishment of Tarawih with the best performance that inherits activity. With good voices, they begin with the maqam of Iraq and end with the maqam of lovers!!”

Among the imams of Taraweeh who were meant in the past for their good voice or the beauty of their performance in the readings: the reciter Abu Al-Barakat bin Al-Assal Al-Hanbali (d. 509 AH / 1115 AD), who “was one of the good reciters, described with good performance, and a good tone, intended in Ramadan - to hear his reading in Tarawih prayers. - from faraway places" in Baghdad; According to Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali in 'Taqalat Tabaqat al-Hanbali'.

Also among them is Ahmed bin Hamdi Abu Al-Mudhaffar Al-Muqari (d. 576 AH / 1180 AD), who “was one of the reciting reciters … with many recitations …, and the mother … in the mosque of Ibn Jarda [in Baghdad], and people used to go to him and listen to his reading in Tarawih”; As Al-Khatib Al-Baghdadi narrated in 'The History of Baghdad'.

Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalani translated - in ‘Al-Durar Al-Katina fi A’ayan the Eighth Hundred’ – by Shams Al-Din Al-Zari’i Ibn Al-Basal Al-Maqri (d. 738 AH / 1338 AD) “He had a very good voice, and people used to go to him to pray behind him in Tarawih and crowded” in his mosque.

The reciter Muhammad bin Ali Al-Shirji Al-Makki (d. 827 AH / 1424 AD) "was a good voice by reciting, and when he used to pray Tarawih in the Sacred Mosque, the congregation increased to hear his recitation"; According to the historian Al-Fassi Al-Makki in 'The Precious Decade in the History of the Faithful Country'.

Enchanting tones

Al-Maqrizi tells us - in 'Al-Mawwa'at wa'l-I'tibar' - that the imam of the "Baqara School" in Cairo, Zain al-Din Abu Bakr al-Nahwi (d. after 746 AH / 1345 AD) "people used to go to him in the month of Ramadan to hear his reading in Tarawih prayers because his voice was kind, and his voice was kind, His tone, his good performance, and his knowledge of the seven and ten readings and the oddities.”

Imam al-Sakhawi says - in 'The Brilliant Light' - that Nasir al-Din Abu al-Khair Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Khazraji al-Akhmaimi al-Hanafi (died after 891 AH / 1486 AD) "mothered in Taraweeh at Al-Hakim Mosque [in Cairo] and others and people crowded to hear him and pray behind him."

Al-Sakhawi also tells us that Ahmed bin Muhammad al-Balqini al-Shafi’i al-Qahiri (d. 838 AH / 1435 AD) “had a very good voice in the Qur’an, and people would rush to hear it - especially during the prayer of Ramadan - from remote places, so that the street narrowed them down.”

It seems that the Taraweeh imams with singing voices, with their good singing of the Qur’an, tempted the masses even among non-Muslims, as we find - in Al-Khatib Al-Baghdadi - in the story of Imam Ali bin Abdullah Al-Bardani (d. after 375 AH / 984 AD) who “was called ‘Mustabans’”, One of them asked him about the source of his strange nickname, and he replied: “I was praying with the people of Tarawih in the month of Ramadan, and some Christians heard my recitation.

A good voice alone was not a factor of comparison among the Tarawih imams; Rather, perhaps reducing one of them in his Taraweeh was popular with groups of worshipers, including that Ahmed bin Abdullah Al-Douri Al-Makki (d. 819 AH / 1416 AD) “used to lead people [in the Great Mosque of Mecca] the Tarawih prayer in Ramadan, and behind him would pray the congregational prayer behind him.” A lot because of its dilution, and they call its prayers boiled!! According to El Fassi in 'The Precious Decade'.

Al-Dhahabi informs us - in 'History of Islam' - that Abu Bakr Ibn Hubaish alundefined-

The legality of Tarawih; But the political ban on its establishment supported by the power of the sultan had a stronger impact than those group opinions, which remained limited in time and place. The Fatimids - the founders of the Ismaili Shiite state - were known for prohibiting Tarawih prayers in periods of their rule, which included the Islamic West, Egypt, the Levant and the Hijaz.

The Fatimids addressed their followers - while they were still in the process of organizing before the establishment of the state - saying to them at the beginning of Ramadan after the launch of their call in Tunisia: “Ramadan has come, and our doctrine is not to pray Tarawih because it is not from the Sunnah of the Prophet, peace be upon him, but it was enacted by Omar, and we We lengthen the recitation in the last evening prayer, and we recite the lengthy surahs, so that is instead of Tarawih.” As narrated by Ibn Adhari al-Marrakchi (died after 712 AH / 1312 AD) in 'The Maghreb Statement in the News of Andalusia and the Maghreb'.

The tribe of Ibn al-Jawzi (d. 654 AH / 1256 AD) - in 'Mirrat al-Zaman' - tells us that the Caliph of the Fatimids, al-Mansur Ismael bin al-Qaim by the command of God (d. 334 AH / 946AD) violated the biography of his father and grandfather in governance, so he "established Tarawih and Sunan" in Tunisia before the introduction of their caliph From it to Egypt in the year 362 AH / 973 AD.

And the historian Ibn Saeed Al-Antaki (d. 458 AH/1067 AD) stated - in his history - that in the year 370 AH / 981 AD, the second Fatimid Caliph in Egypt, Al-Aziz Billah (d. 386 AH / 997 AD) prohibited Tarawih prayers in Egypt, so “this was great for all Sunni Muslims.” .

But his successor, al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah (d. after 411 AH/1021 AD) allowed it to be re-established temporarily and then prevented it for ten years until the death penalty for those who prayed it; Al-Maqrizi said - in 'Ita'az al-Hanafa' - that in the year 399 AH / 1011 AD, the ruler ordered "the killing of Rajaa bin Abi Al-Hussein (d. 399 AH / 1010 AD) because he prayed Tarawih prayers in the month of Ramadan."

In Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, Sheikh Al-Salih Abu Al-Qasim Al-Wasiti (d. 4-5 AH/10th-11th century AD) was beaten to the point of death because he objected to “the Sultan [Fatimi’s] order to stop Tarawih prayers”; According to Ibn Asaker.

Then the Fatimid ruler allowed the establishment of Tarawih in mosques again in the year 408 AH / 1018 AD, and he issued an official decree that was read in the mosques of Egypt and others, and it continued until his death; And this cycle of prohibition and permission for Tarawih was one of the examples of the moody decisions of the ruler, with which his volatile era was known for his attitudes and decisions.

Multiple motives and

in the eastern wing of the Abbasid Caliphate; The Assassins - a faction of the Ismaili Shiites that broke away from the mother Fatimid state in Egypt - prohibited Tarawih prayers in the areas they controlled in Persia and Khorasan, and then allowed it to be held at the end of the lifetime of their existence there.

The historian Ibn Taghri Bardi (d. 874 AH / 1469 AD) - in 'The Shining Stars' - stated that in the year 608 AH / 1211 AD, "the Messenger of Jalal al-Din Hassan (d. 618 AH / 1221 AD), the owner of the [Castle] of Alamut, telling the Caliph [Nasir al-Abbasid] (d. 622 AH / 1225 AD)] that they repudiated the esotericism, built mosques and mosques, and prayed Tarawih in the month of Ramadan, so the Caliph and the people were pleased with that.

Perhaps the interference of the authority in the rituals of worship in mosques - including Tarawih - was a result of the calculations of the political conflict with regional opponents rather than a real conviction of a particular sectarian choice. Imam al-Dhahabi tells us - in 'History of Islam' - that "in Ramadan [the year 494 AH / 1101 AD] God ordered the memorizer to open the Qasr Mosque [in Baghdad], and to pray Tarawih there, and to recite the basmalah out loud, and this was not a custom; rather, they left ( the Abbasids) Pronouncing the basmalah in the mosques of Baghdad, in violation of the Shiites [Fatimid] people of Egypt.”

It was not only political decisions motivated by sectarian prejudices that disrupted the Tarawih prayers; History books list some public crises from epidemics or wars that occurred in some Islamic countries with the advent of Ramadan, and as a result, the group’s prayers - including Tarawih - stopped completely or partially.

Ibn al-Jawzi reported - in the events of the year 439 AH / 1048 AD - that “in Ramadan the price went up in Baghdad, and a book came from Mosul that the price increased so much that they ate dead meat, and death increased so much that he counted all those who prayed Friday and they were four hundred.” And if Friday prayer is disrupted in Ramadan - and it is an obligatory ritual to be performed in text and unanimously - then it is a fortiori for the worshipers to stop performing Tarawih when it is supererogatory.

In the Islamic West, the Moroccan historian Abu al-Abbas al-Nasiri (d. 1315 AH / 1897 AD) - in his book 'The Investigation of the News of the Far Maghreb Countries' - presents us with an explicit text regarding the disruption of Tarawih due to the security turmoil; He says that "when Sultan Abdul Malik bin Zaidan (Al-Saadi, Sultan of Morocco, d. 1040 AH / 1629 AD) was killed his brother Al-Waleed bin Zaidan (died 1045 AH / 1634 AD) was killed and the strife became great in Fez until Friday and Tarawih prayers were suspended from the Qarawiyyin Mosque for a while, and he did not pray there one night. Destiny is only one man out of the intensity of terror and wars!!

One of the strangest features of establishing Tarawih in the Great Mosque of Mecca was the multiplicity of its mihrabs and groups according to the jurisprudence schools, and it is another scene of the historical rupture of the unity of Muslims as a result of the felony of sectarian and sectarian fanaticism , even as they gather in the sanctuary of their Kaaba and their united qiblah, and perform a unified ritual ritual, and within a sect. One (four Sunni schools of thought)!!

That is why it was customary in those days for “the Imam of the Shafi’is to pray in Maqam Ibrahim, facing the door of the Kaaba, then the Imam of the Hanafis facing the Ismail stone towards the gutter, then the Imam of the Malikis between the Yamani and Shami corners, then the Imam of the Hanbalis opposite the Black Stone”; According to the description of Mujir al-Din al-Ulaimi al-Hanbali (d. 928 AH / 1522 AD) in his book 'The Galilee'.

It is a custom that began at least since the year 497 AH / 1104 AD, and it did not disappear until after the Al Saud family completed their control of the Hijaz in the year 1344 AH / 1923 AD; In the year 497 AH / 1104 AD, Imam Abu Taher al-Salafi (d. 576 AH / 1180 AD) made the pilgrimage. He described the multiplicity of niches of the sects in the Great Mosque of Mecca and how they are arranged in performing prayers. He said that the Shafi’i imam is “the first to pray among the imams of the sanctuary  before the Malikis, Hanafis and Zaidis.” "; According to Al-Fassi in 'Healing the Love with News of the Sacred Country'.

And after centuries of the testimony of the Salafi; The historian of Madinah Al-Samhoudi spoke about the tradition of the plurality of doctrinal mihrabs and its spread in the countries. He said that its occurrence in the Prophet’s city was - in its origin - by the endeavor of the Hanafi jurist Tughan Sheikh Al-Muhammadi (d. 881 AH / 1476 AD). 860 AH / 1456 AD)", noting that "this matter spread to the honorable city from the honorable Mecca."

Ibn Jubayr - on his journey - depicts for us the manifestations of the celebration of Ramadan in Mecca as he witnessed it; He says that when Ramadan entered the year 579 AH / 1183 AD, "the celebration took place in the Sacred Mosque for this blessed month until the sanctuary shimmered with light and brightened it, and the imams scattered to establish Tarawih groups (according to the jurisprudential school) Each group has appointed an imam for it in a district. From the sides of the mosque, and there is almost no corner or side of the mosque left without a reader praying in congregation behind him, so the mosque trembles to the sounds of recitation from every side. There may be multiple imams of Taraweeh prayers of the same jurisprudential school, for example, the Malikis said that they “gathered to three reciters who took turns reading”!

And from the Grand Mosque in Mecca, the multiplicity of mihrabs moved to Al-Aqsa Mosque and others, as “the same happened in Bait Al-Maqdis and the Mosque of Egypt”; According to Samhoudi. This plurality also moved to the Al-Khalil Mosque - peace be upon him - in Palestine; According to Al-Ulaimi Al-Hanbali in Al-Anas Al-Jalil.

Organizational control

It seems that the emergence of this phenomenon in Al-Aqsa - with regard to Tarawih in particular - was not much later than the date of its appearance in the Great Mosque of Mecca if it was not synchronized with it, with evidence that Imam Ibn Al-Arabi Al-Maliki (d. 543 AH / 1148 AD) witnessed this matter in Al-Aqsa when he visited him at the end of The eighties of the AH 5th / AD 11th century.

Ibn al-Arabi says in his interpretation of “Ahkam al-Qur’an”: “I saw at the door of the tribes - close to it - an imam from the twenty-eight imam, who used to pray Tarawih in Ramadan in the Turks, and he recited in every rak’ah, praise be to God, and say He is God, One, until the Tarawih is completed. relieving them and desiring its bounty.”

As the Andalusian traveler Judge Abu Al-Baqa Al-Balawi (d. after 767 AH / 1365 AD) tells us about his Ramadan observations in “Al-Aqsa Mosque… the greatest mosques in the world” when he visited it on his journey to the East, and describes the large number of Taraweeh groups in it; He says: "I have enumerated the places of intercession and the Tarawih prayer in the holy month of Ramadan, so we found about forty places!"

And sometimes the authorities intervene to organize the “chaos” of the multiple Tarawihs in one mosque, and what results from this multiplicity of the voices of the reciting imams and the confusion of the listening worshipers.

Therefore, Imam Ibn Katheer (d. 774 AH / 1372 AD) mentions - in 'The Beginning and the End' - that there were many niches in the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus for the four schools of thought, but in his time the authority intervened to unite them "in the Tarawih prayer, [Q] the people gathered on a reader One, and he is the great imam in the mihrab presented at the pulpit.” He also refers to another incident of the authority’s intervention that preceded that by more than a century in the year 635 AH / 1237 AD.

And it was stated in the book “The Mufkadt al-Khalan” by Shams al-Din Ibn Tulun al-Dimashqi (d. 953 AH / 1546 AD) that in Ramadan in the year 926 AH / 1520 AD, the Ottoman ruler of Damascus ordered “the imam of the Hanafis in the Umayyad Mosque… to go ( pray Tarawih) in the cabin one night… and [the imam prays it]. ] Al-Shafi’i one night, and this was done, and the Tarawih was left in the Hanafi mihrab, and this was not easy for the Shafi’i fanatics” who did not accept the decision with ease.undefined

Leading the Boys

One of the funny things that have been associated - for centuries - with the month of Ramadan is the “leading of the boys” for Tarawih in some of the mosques of major metropolises and in the Great Mosque of Mecca in particular; Although “in the Tarawih prayer behind the boys there was a difference” among the scholars regarding its validity; As Ibn al-Dhiya al-Hanafi (d. 854 AH / 1450 AD) says in 'The History of Mecca and the Sacred Mosque'.

One of the oldest examples of this historically is what the traveler al-Maqdisi mentioned that the people of Shiraz “perform Tarawih … and offer the boys in it,” and what Ibn al-Jawzi (d. 595 AH / 1199 AD) said - in “Al Muntazim” - about choosing the Sultan of the Buyids in Baghdad in the year 395 AH/1006 AD Both Abu Al-Hussein bin Al-Rafa, Abi Abdullah bin Al-Zajji and Abi Abdullah bin Al-Bahloul - and they were “one of the best people in reading” - to be the official imams of “Taraweeh prayers and they are juveniles ( not adults), and they took turns praying [People] for them in Tarawih prayer.”

It has become a custom in the Hijaz and Egypt for a child to lead people in Tarawih if he has completed memorizing the Qur’an and has completed twelve years of age. Therefore, we find in 'The Journey of Ibn Jubayr' abundant information about the boys' leading prayers in Tarawih in the Great Mosque of Mecca and the accompanying celebrations, which made some of them decide That from “Beauties of Islam: Friday in Baghdad and Tarawih prayers in Mecca”; According to Judge Abi Ali al-Tanoukhi (d. 384 AH/995 AD) in 'Nashwar al-Mahazarah'.

Ibn Jubayr mentioned that “the night of the twenty-first, one of the sons of the people of Makkah was sealed…; when they finished it, the boy stood up to them as a sermon, then the aforementioned boy’s father summoned them to [a feast in] his house Then after that the twenty-three night, and the seal was in it. One of the left-handed Meccans, a boy who did not reach the age of fifteen years The imam attended the child and prayed Tarawih and sealed, and the people of the Grand Mosque gathered to him, men and women, while he was in his mihrab.

The custom of leading children in Tarawih prayers in the Haram extended to the era of the traveler Ibn Battuta (d. 779 AH / 1377 AD) and beyond; As he informs us - on his journey - that each jurisprudential school has its own niche for its companions, and that “in every odd night of the last ten nights of Ramadan they seal the Qur’an, and the seal is attended by the judge, the jurists and the great ones, and the one who seals them is one of the sons of the great people of Makkah. A seal for which a minbar decorated with silk was erected, candles were lit, and he gave sermons. When he finished his sermon, his father called the people to his house and fed them many foods and sweets .

And it was mentioned in the translation of the Shafi’i judge Jalal al-Din al-Balqini (d. 824 AH / 1421 AD) that he “memorized the Qur’an and prayed Tarawih with it when he was young”; According to Ibn Hajar's 'Removing the Insult from the Judges of Egypt'. Also, Imam Ibn Hajar himself was the mother of people in Tarawih in the Great Mosque of Mecca, when he was twelve years old in the year 785 AH/1383 AD “on the conduct of the habit” in the children who complete the memorization of the Qur’an; According to Al-Sakhawi in 'Al-Jawahir and Al-Durar in the translation of Sheikh Al-Islam Ibn Hajar'.

Al-Sakhawi mentions that his sheikh, Ibn Hajar, after he became a great imam, “attended one of the nights of Ramadan at Al-Hakim Mosque to pray behind Ibn Al-Quwaiz, as he prayed Tarawih for the people after he sealed the Qur’an on the usual children.” Rather, Al-Fassi informs us - in “The Precious Contract” - that the judge and mufti of Mecca Muhib Al-Din bin Dhahirah (d. 827 AH / 1424 AD) “memorized the Holy Qur’an… and prayed Tarawih in the year seven hundred and ninety-nine (799 AH / 1397 AD)”, and he was ten years old at that time. Just because he was born in the year 789 AH / 1387 AD.undefinedQuantities

and compositions As for the amounts of the Tarawih rak`ahs historically, they differed according to the choices of the jurisprudential schools; And if we take what the matter has settled in the Two Holy Mosques, we will find that the number of its rak’ahs has been different in them for more than a thousand years, and the matter was not united in them until the middle of the fourteenth century AH under Saudi rule.

The Meccans, according to Ibn Battuta, used to pray the “usual Tarawih, which is twenty rak’ahs,” and then follow it with the three rak’ahs of the Witr. Medina performs thirty-nine rak'ahs, three of which are for the Witr."

Al-Sakhawi informs us - in “The Nice Masterpiece” - that at the end of the eighth century AH / 14 AD, the modernist Hafiz Zain al-Din Abdul Rahim the Iraqi Kurdish (d. 806 AH / 1403 AD) was one of the teachers of the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina, and on his hands the custom of civilians in the number of civilians changed Tarawih rak'ahs; He used to pray Tarawih with people after the evening prayer twenty rak'ahs and pray Witr with three, and when it was at the end of the night, people prayed sixteen rak'ahs. He followed the example of the imams in the Prophet's sanctuary.

As for the number of taraweeh rak’ahs in Egypt’s mosques, it ranged between free doctrinal jurisprudence and binding official governmental determination. In this regard, Al-Maqrizi says in 'Al-Mawā`iz wa-l-I'tibar': "And the people of Egypt still prayed it six (6 Tarawih: 12 rak'ahs) until the month of Ramadan in the year two hundred and fifty-three (253 AH/867 AD)". In this year, the Abbasid authorities in Baghdad appointed Arjouz (or: Azgur ibn Ulgh al-Turki (d. after 254 AH/868 AD) as governor of Egypt, so he “ordered that Tarawih be prayed in Ramadan five Tarawih ( 10 rak’ahs).”

The general books of jurisprudence and the explanations of the Prophet’s hadith have clarified the rulings and quantities of Tarawih prayer, as some scholars singled out them in their own literature, most of which seem to have only come to us from its title. Among those works are: The book “The Excellence of Tarawih” by Al-Hafiz Abi Bakr Muhammad bin Al-Hassan Al-Naqash (d. 351 AH / 962 AD); The “Kitab al-Tarawih” by Imam Hussam al-Din al-Shahid (d. 536 AH / 1141 AD); And “Kitab al-Taraweeh” by the Mufti of Khwarizm Abu al-Abbas Ahmed bin Ismail al-Tamrtashi al-Hanafi (d. approximately 600 AH / 1203 AD).

Among these books are also: the book “Taraweeh Prayers” by the hadith scholar Ibn Abd al-Hadi al-Jama’ili al-Hanbali (d. 744 AH / 1343 AD); And “Lighting of Lamps in Tarawih Prayers” and “Sunshine of Lamps in Tarawih Prayers” both by Judge Taqi al-Din al-Subki al-Shafi’i (d. 756 AH / 1355 AD); And “Establishing the Proof of the Quantity of Tarawih in Ramadan” by Abu Al-Diya’ Al-Ghaithi Al-Shafi’i (d. 975 AH / 1567 AD).

Such widespread celebration,

then, throughout Islamic history; The interest of Muslims in Tarawih prayer has remained great and comprehensive, as it is the most prominent feature of their celebration of Ramadan , as all groups and segments in Muslim societies, men, women and children, accepted the shades of their faith. The singers who live there pray Tarawih in the month of Ramadan in those mosques together, and the imams lead them and their number is large, as well as the singing men!!

In his book 'Al-Moawa'at wa'l-I'tibar, al-Maqrizi describes the Shamma'in market in Mamluk Cairo, and the great popularity of candles and lanterns that he witnessed during the nights of Ramadan; He mentions that "there was a great season in the month of Ramadan due to the large number of processional candles that were bought and bought. Drawing on boys' rides to pray Tarawih, and during the nights of the month of Ramadan, what the eloquent can't describe it!"

As Abu al-Barakat al-Suwaidi al-Baghdadi (d. 1174 AH / 1760 AD) - in 'The Musk Waffle in the Meccan Journey' - recounts his Ramadan memories in Damascus when he visited it; Describing the Tarawih prayer in the Umayyad Mosque and the social hospitality that accompanied it, he says: “It is strange for them that women mix with men… at the time of Tarawih, and once I prayed Tarawih in the Umayyad [mosque] and I saw people sitting between the rows talking, and the children shouting and screaming and playing so that they confused them.” to the devotees!!

However, performing Tarawih was not free from disturbances that were worse and more bitter than the clamor and screams of children in its majestic spiritual space. The historian of Damascus diaries Shihab al-Din al-Budairi (d. 1175 AH / 1761 AD) records - in his book 'Damascus Daily Incidents' - that on Monday [from the year 1173 AH / 1759 AD] the blessed Ramadan was confirmed, and the third night of it - and the people in Tarawih prayers - became a disturbing earthquake. The people interrupted the Tarawih prayer, and the people fled and trampled upon each other, and their minds were astonished!!

And if the tragedies have their share of disturbing the peace of the crowds gathering for Tarawih; The poets took their share of the funny literary employment on those occasions, including what the modernist Qutb al-Din al-Yunni (d. 726 AH / 1326 AD) - in 'The Tail of the Mirror of Time' - says that the poet Jamal al-Din al-Masry known as Ibn al-Jazzar (d. 679 AH / 1278 AD) " He spent a night in the month of Ramadan with the companion Bahaa al-Din Ahmad ibn Hanna (the Mamluk vizier d. 677 AH / 1278 AD) He prayed Tarawih with him and on that night the imam recited Surat al

- An’am in one rak’ah! Qudra ** especially in one rak’ah,

so don’t call me present except ** on the night of “Al-Anfal” and “Al-Ma’idah”!