1) Imam Abu Haneefa Rahimaullah
The hadeeth of Aisha which states 8+3 Rakaah was Practice of Prophet peace be upon him is also mentioned in Muwatta Muhammad bin Al Hassan As-Shaybaani under the heading
“قيام شهر رمضان و ماء فيه من الفضل”
“Qiyam in the month of Ramadan what are the virtues”
Shaykh Abdul Hayy Lakhnavi hanafi states in its Haashiya
“قوله قيام شهر رمضان ويسمى التراويح”
Qiyam in the month of Ramadan means Taraweeh .
Al-Sarkhasi Hanafi said:
فإنها عشرون ركعة سوى الوتر عندنا .
It is twenty rak’ahs, apart from Witr, in our view. [Al-Mabsoot, 2/145]
2) Imam Malik Rahimahullah
Imam Malik said
الذي آخذ به لنفسي في قيام رمضان هو الذي جمع به عمر بن الخطاب الناس إحدىٰ عشرة ركعة وهي صلاة رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم و لا أدري من أحدث هذا الركوع الكثير
I choose 11 Rakah of standing in Ramadhan and Umar bin al Khattab Gathered people on this prayer and this is the Prayer of Messenger of Allah peace be upon him, and I don’t know from where people innovated these so many more Rak`ah [Kitab Al tahajjud no: 890 by Abdul Haq Al Shabeeli (d 581 h)]
Right after that Abdul Haq Shabeeli quoted narration of Ibn al-Qasim from Imam Malik that taraweeh is 36 rakah]
This stance of Imam Malik is also quoted by Allamah al Ayini Hanafi, he said
وقيل إحدى عشرة ركعة وهو اختيار مالك لنفسه واختيار أبي بكر بن العربي.
“it is said that the taraweeh is 11 rakah. and Imam Malik and Abu Bakar al-Arabi chooses these rakah for themselves” [Umda tul qari 11/126 under the hadeeth 2010]
Qadi Abu Bakr Al-Arbi Al-Maaliki[468 h to 543 h] said:
والصحيح أن يصلي إحدى عشرة ركعة صلاة النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم وقيامه ، فأما غير ذلك من الأعداد فلا أصل له ولا حدّ فيه
And the correct (view) is that 11 rakaat should be prayed. This was the prayer and Qiyaam of the prophet sal Allahu aleyhi wasallam. Any numbers apart from that has no reality in it and Hadd in it.[عارضة الأحوذي 4/19 ح806]
According to Shaykh Ibne Tamiyah stance of Malaki Madhab is 36 Rakah or 11 or 13 rakah as said by Shaykh in Al-Ikhtiyaaraat, p. 64
Abul Abbas Qurtubi al Maaliki (d 656 h) Rahimaullah said
There is difference of opinion among the scholars regarding the Qiyam, Imam Malik said it is 36 rakah…..
وقال كثير من أهل العلم :إحدىٰ عشرة ركعة أخذاً بحديث عائشة
A large number of people of knowledge have said that it is 11 Rakaah and the evidence is the hadeeth of Aisha (Radhi Allahu Anha)”.[Al Mufim min Talkhees Kitab Sahih Muslim 2/390]
3) Imam ash-Shaf’ee rahimahullah
Imam Shaf’ee (rah) said after saying 20 is better
أذهب إلى عشرون ركعة قال: وليس في شيء من هنا حد ينتهي إليه؛ لأنه نافلة فإن أطالوا القيام وأقلوا السجود فحسن، وهو أحب إلي، وإن أكثروا الركوع فحسن.
There is no problem in this (prayer) and there is no limit, because this is nafil prayer, If Rakat are less and Qiyam is long then it is good and i like this view, and If There are More Rak`ah even that is good.[Mukhtasar Qayam ul Layl al Maroodhi page 222]
4) Imam Ahmad bin hanbal rahimahullah
Ishaq bin Mansoor asked regarding Rakah, he said: 40 Raka`ah are narrated in this case, this is only nafil prayer [Mukhtasir qiyam al layl page 202]
B) Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in Majmoo’ al-Fataawa (23/113):
But the correct view is that all of that is good, as was stated by Imam Ahmad (may Allaah have mercy on him). There is no set number of rak’ahs for qiyaam during Ramadaan, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did not set a number. End quote.
C) Tirmidhee said same that Imam Ahmad did not set the number of Rakah “ولم يقض فيه بشيء”
There is another hadith which states
Ubayy Ibn Ka’b narrated that I prayed 8 Raka’ah and Witr in Ramadan and when I told the prophet pbuh about it, he pbuh remained silent. Hence this became the agreed Sunnah. (Sunnat-ur-Ridhaa)[Musna Abi Yala 3/236 hadeeth no.1801]
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In Short :
Opinion -1.
Traweeh is 11 or 13 rakah is Sunnah and their evidence is the hadeeth of Aisha ra,Jabir ra and the athaar of Umar ra, This is one of the opinion of Imam Malik, Abu Bakar al-Arabi, and a Large number of scholars at the time of Abul Abbas al Qurtubi and scholars like sh-Al alBani , Shaykh.Maqbil & Abdul Mannan Noorpuri etc.
Opinion -2.
Taraweeh is 20 rakah and their evidence is authentic athaar of Tabien, this is the opinion of Imam Shafiee who even said praying more rakah is also allowed and less rakah is also allowed, This is the opinion of Ibn Abdul Barr, Ibn Qudamah and Hanafi school etc.
Opinion -3.
One can pray as much as you want because the hadeeth says “’The night prayers are Two by two, then when you fear that dawn is about to break, pray Witr with one rak’ah” in this hadeeth Prophet peace be upon him did not set the number of the rakah. This is the opinion of Imam Ahmad, Imam Ibn Taymiyah, sh Abul Aziz Ibn Baz, sh Muhammad bin Saalih Ibn Uthaymeen etc.
Daleel : Saheeh Bukhari Volume 1, Book 8, Number 461: Narrated Nafi’:
Ibn ‘Umar said, “While the Prophet was on the pulpit, a man asked him how to offer the night prayers. He replied, ‘Pray two Rakat at a time and then two and then two and so on, and if you are afraid of the dawn (the approach of the time of the Fajr prayer) pray one Rak’a and that will be the witr for all the Rakat which you have offered.” Ibn ‘Umar said, “The last Rakat of the night prayer should be odd for the Prophet ordered it to be so.
So from this Sahi hadeeth we come to know that there is no specified number of rakaat in Qiyaam ul Layl and hence we find a lot of Authentic evidences of variant number of Rakaats in taraweeh. When we read the practice of the Salaf us saliheen which include the Sahaba, tabiyeen and taba-e-tabiyeen,we find that some of them prayed 11 Rakaat , some prayed 13 rakaat, some prayed 19 rakaat, some prayed 23, some prayed 36 and some even prayed 39 rakaat also.
As far as the practice of Prophet Muhammad Sal Allahu Aleyhi wasallam is concerned, it is 8 Rakaat + 3 = 11
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AT LEAST PRAY, 11, 20, 36 OR 40. DO NOT WASTE YOU TIME ON DEBATES.
