Shaykh Abu Abdir Rahmaan Yahyaa bin Alee Al-Hajooree was asked:
Question:
The Noble Shaykh Yahya al-Hajooree was asked regarding the narration that Umar bin al-Khattaab united the people upon twenty rak’ahs for Salaatu Taraweeh.
Answer:
“This narration is weak and while nothing from what has come of reports that Salaatu at-Taraweeh is twenty rakahs is authentic on the Prophet, alayhi as-salaatu was-salaam, and what has been [authentically] reported on Umar is that he lead them in prayer with eleven rak’ahs, as has been clarified by al-Allaamah Albany, may Allah have mercy upon him, in the treatise ‘Qiyaamul Layl’. And, The Mother of the Believers, ‘Aishah, may Allah be pleased with her, said that the prayer of the Prophet, alahyi as-salaatu was-salaam, after Ishaa to fajr was [altogether) eleven rak’ahs…”
The Noble Great Scholar, ash-Shaykh Albany Commented upon the following Statement of as-Sayyed Saabiq:
‘It has been established that the people prayed twenty rak’ahs in the time of Umar and Uthman and Alee’
Albany, may Allah have mercy upon him, commented by saying:
“As for [it occurring from] Uthman, then I am unaware of even a weak chain from anyone reporting that from him. And as for Umar and Alee, then it has been reported from them that, [however] with chains of narration which are weak, as I have clarified this in detail in my book ‘Salaatu Taraweeh’ And I am unaware of anyone proceeding me in that, whereas I clarified therein that those aforesaid narrations pertaining to this [matter] are from the type which cannot be supported by its other chains and [I clarified] that if anything was authentic from it, then it would have been for a certain purpose which no longer exists [now] because none from the Imaams [of the prayers] are left who lengthen the recitation [of the prayer] similarly to what the Salaf where upon, so much so that they [i.e. the modern Imams] had to divert away from it to shortening the recitation and to increasing the rak’ahs instead of lengthening [the recitation]. And [I clarified] that there is no consensus upon praying twenty rak’ahs …”
Translated by
AbdulFattaah Bin Uthman
Abu Fajr
