[lalffibra]

Does the below make sense? If not... why ?

Taraweeh Prayer - What happens in Makkah ? by Dr. Wasiullah

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5gpRqSR-io


Below is a translation of his speech..


Question posed: Does 20 Raka'ah Taraweeh take place in Makkah ? Please respond with the reference of hadith.


Dr. Wasiullah Abbas answers in the video: The narration about Makkah is that 20 Raka'ah taraweeh takes place only in Masjid Al-Haram.. only.. But, in other Masjids of Makkah city, alhamdulillah my children (4 sons) are all Huffaaz (memorizers of Quran) and they lead the Taraaweeh prayers. So, In other masjids, 8 + 3 = 11 raka'ah taraaweeh takes place, that's it.. Also, in Riyadh 8 + 3 = 11 Raka'ah taraaweeh takes place.. In very rare cases, maybe someone prays 20, but never heard anyone doing it.. The question is, "Why was 20 raka'ah sanctioned only for (Masjid Al-Haram in) Makkah ?" You might be knowing about King Abdul Aziz ibn Saud. He decided to revive the Sunnah (of 8 raka'ah) in Masjid Al-Haram. And he sought advice from the leading Scholars (who were Hanbali) at that time. And indeed I have experienced that from amongst the Maalikis, Shafi'is, Hanafis and Hanbalis. The Hanbalis have the least ta'assub (fanatical sectarianism) towards their madhab. For example, when I was pursuing secondary education over there. One Hanbali book says, "Nayyarain" (i.e. facing towards the Sun and the Moon and passing urine/stool is not permissible). But a famous Hanbali Scholar said that, this Ruling is against the Hadith and there is no proof of it from Hadith. But, (nayyarain) is only not allowed only while facing the Qiblah. He rejected that Ruling outright. Although the Book was of from his own madhab. So what I mean to say is that, King Abdul Aziz wanted to implement 8 raka'ah taraaweeh, but the Scholars gave a fatwa with wisdom. They replied that, Masjid Al-Haram is a global location where people from all parts of world will arrive. Some people want pray 20 and some people want to pray 10. So, you can authorize two Imams, the first Imam will pray 8 + 2 = 10 and the second Imam will pray 8 + 2 = 10. Whoever wants to offer 10 raka'ah, he can do so and then he can offer 1 raka'ah Witr to leave the congregation. And whoever wants to offer 20 (raka'ah) he can do so. So this is an advise of wisdom for the Haramain (two Holy mosques) and its existence is not bad at all.. And the Imam himself, you can see on Television, I think they show it, the Imam never strictly adheres to 20 Raka'ah. They perform (10 raka'ahs) and then leave.. This happens most of the times.. But, the Sunnah way that we believe is 8 + 3 = 11, and our beloved Messenger (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) never prayed more than that. And the 20 raka'ah that is attributed to Umar (radhiallahu anhu) is not true. Because when he ordered Ubay Ibn Ka'ab (radhiallahu anhu) to lead the people in Masjid An-Nabawi, he ordered him to pray 8 raka'ah.. Sometimes, Hazret Ubay ibn Ka'ab (radh.) used to pray 36 raka'ah and this is proven from Qiyaam Ul Layl (marazi) and others. So the Ruling that can be derived is that if you are willing and if you pray 8 + 3 = 11 and leave, then inshallah, you will get the virtue of performing the Sunnah of Rasoolullah sallallahu alaihi wasallam and the virtue of following the Hadith, "Whoever prays during the nights in Ramadan with faith and seeking his reward from Allah will have his past sins forgiven.(Bukhari, Muslim)." But, if someone wants to pray more, then he should not have an aqeedah or belief 20 (raka'ah) is Sunnah. And even me, myself, I am living in Makkah since so many years, sometimes I increased (the raka'ah) and sometimes I decreased, but I never prayed 20.. And I am saying this with full conviction that I deliberately never prayed 20 (raka'ah).. Sometimes, I increased and sometimes I decreased.. And we believe that its allowed to increase the number. Lets say you pray 8 raka'ah and left, then if you go home and feel like praying more.. you can start praying more (raka'ahs), no problem with that. But, to have an aqeedah or belief that taraaweeh is not less than 20 (raka'ah), then this aqeedah is against the Sunnah of Rasoolullah sallallah alaihi wasallam..


Wa Maa Alainaa Illal Balaagh..

Also,

Dr. Wasiullah Abbas is a learned Scholar (PHD) who is giving you evidences to show what exactly is happening in Makkah (Masjid Al-Haram). He is also giving lectures in Masjid Al-Haram since several years.


He clearly asked you to see it yourself. You may also watch the Taraaweeh prayers LIVE on TV. The Imam leaves the place after offering 10 Raka'ah.


This cannot be called as Cheating because the number of Rakah's for Taraaweeh are not fixed in number. You can pray any number of Raka'ah's. 8, 10, 14, 16, 18, 20, 24, 36... anything.. no problem.. The Imams in Makkah are not forcing you to pray 20..