How many units of Taraweeh should we really pray?

Billah.

[Silence]

Continuing in our journey through actually a summary of U originally in its original form in which Shin authored it is about five volumes roughly five volumes and it's going to be over over roughly about ,000 Pages we obviously are going through the gist of it the important aspects of it what is intended for everybody and this great book we have reached to the part of now we're going to start to discuss how the prophet sallallah Al wasam would pray at night his night time prayer this is what is referred to as the praying at night right this standing at night to pray also referred to asud right and the prayer of the night and all of these are names for a similar thing and that is those additional prayers that are prayed from the time of to the time of f all right anytime between there this is referred to as and contrary to popular belief a person does not have to sleep or have slept as a prerequisite to pray so some people are under the impression that in order for me to pray at night and for it to be counted as night prayer or or what have you it has to occur after I have slept some people say even a moment even a moment's sleep is enough to have that and that is not correct what's important about this tud is the timing of tud not necessarily what you have done or failed to do between those and so the timing is anywhere from all the way until that is the time of how much is a person to pray in well as a general rule that we took last week the prophet s said that prayer at night is to be performed in units of two meth it's to be performed in units of two this is if we take it as this companion understood it now imagine yourself asking the prophet S.I wasam you don't know what he prays at night you don't know how he prays at night this is why you're asking you go to him and you say oh my messenger of Allah how do I pray at night what is praying at night how much should I pray at night he says and he says to you prayer at night should be performed in units of Two And if you Fe if you feel that the dawn is approaching them pray one ra and it will make odd everything that you prayed before this is what he tells you what do you understand from this you understand from this that pray as much as you anywhere from two to a thousand however many units of two you can fit into those hours is what is permissible and this is the correct understanding this is a correct way to understand it that if an individual prays at night he is to pray units of two and he is to pray or she is to pray as much as they anywhere from two all the way to hundreds if you if you so desire that is that is fine now what did the prophet s. wasam used to pray well this is what is going to tell us about it's important for us to understand this concept because which we pray as a which is actually just it's according to our definition of what is is that's correct that's exactly what it is it's just referred to as for a number of reasons but one of the reasons is to distinguish that this is something that is done collectively in the Masid most usually with the Imam of the Masjid as a congregation only in the month of Ramadan that this is done consistently and so the same rules of apply to if you understand that you understand that the same rules of are the same rules of now how much should we pray in well we have what the prophet sallallah alai wasallam used to pray and that is the narration of which we'll get to here inshallah that the prophet Sall was would pray in Ramadan and outside of Ramadan 11 right and then another narration 13 which we'll discuss that discrepancy right this is what the prophet sallallahu alai wasallam prayed and we have no reason to believe that for those two or three nights that the prophet sallallah alaihi wasallam did lead that he prayed any more than that that's exactly how many he prayed with the companions but now if a person wishes to pray what the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam prayed then that is definitively what he prayed now where does the issue of 20 or eight come into play with regards to the different this is a a big issue of debate in many mosques should a person pray eight or pray 20 right the answer is all of that is fine the best thing to do is to pray what the prophet s wasallam prayed which is what we spoke about but it's all Al permissible to pray more right it's also permissible to pray more and it's been narrated that Omar and others of the companions prayed 20 this is where this number comes from this is where the imams of the various M got this number from also in Other M it's mentioned 40 and and other numbers and so it's not a set fixed number the best number the easiest number for everyone the number that we can all agree on is what the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam did but this doesn't mean that it is an innovation or it is Haram or it is not the Sunnah and all these other slurs that are being thrown out there by people who do not understand this issue do not understand the root of this issue and so if there is a Masid or an IM that prays 20 ra we pray 20 if it's 30 we pray 30 with the Imam if it's eight we pray eight with the Imam if it's 50 we pray 50 and there's no innovation being introduced here with this number right and so is this the best thing to do well that's a difference of it's an issue that depends on the community and depends on the Imam depends on what the people are comfortable with what they're used to but it doesn't mean that it is Haram or an innovation or or any of these words that people throw out there and believe it to be a simple Affair to brand something as such without Authority from Allah to do so so this is a very important issue it's an issue of we understand what the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam did and then we understand what the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam allowed or would have allowed right this is what true f is and understanding is what he allowed or what he would have allowed okay hypothetically based on the generalities of his statements Etc and so it's important for us to understand this issue we will get to a portion here where will discuss fasting he will discuss prayer Etc he will discuss and fasting and and Ramadan and so forth but it's important for us to to learn this the prophet Sall gave a general encouragement to pray with the IM whatever the IM prays during and so he said s. wasallam that which means whoever prays with the IM whoever prays with the IM until the IM is finished and concludes and leaves then this person will receive the reward of someone who prayed all night so this is a general encouragement that you pray with the Imam until he finishes in Ramadan in and this is why we always encourage people to pray the wi with the IM we notice that a lot of people in Ramadan they'll stand to pray with the IM and they'll pray with him until he reaches e ra right or 10 and then they'll leave because they're going to go pray at home by themselves and then pray with it after that this is not what is best this is actually the opposite of what is best what is best is to stay with the Imam until he completes and if you wish to pray after that in your home alone then that is fine as long as you do it in units of two also another thing that we need to be careful of and that is the issue of r that when I leave at8 ra it's almost an indicator that I'm going to pray at home alone so I have to be aware of this that I don't wear this as a badge or that I don't do this in order that people think that oh mashallah he's going to pray at home he's he's a heavy hitter at home by himself this is also very dangerous and something that we need to take into consideration and so when we pray the best thing to do is to pray with the Imam until he finishes makes wit we make wit along with the Imam and then if a person wishes to pray after that then they pray in units of two as the prophet said he.

[Silence]

Says he says the prophet Al wasam would never leave off praying the night prayer this is regardless of whether he was traveling or a resident and if he is was overwhelmed by exhaustion or was you know if he was tired particularly tired or if he was sick or ill or in pain from something or some injury then he would pray during the day 12 and when we say during the day we're speaking about between and which is he would pray 12 so if he missed it at night he would pray it in the day now 12 ra but he would pray at night 11 right notice this here he would pray in the narration OFA she tells us that he would pray 11 ra right that he would constantly pray 11 meaning that he would pray all of the the you know what what is eight two two two two then he would pray a and then he would pray one that would make 11 and other narrations 13 that 13 is incorporating the two of the two because he would pray just until would make the after which would seem he's making two right after F or that's incorporating the two of right this or that so it's 11 at night this is the correct understanding of that inshallah so he would pray 11 ra but if he would miss it purposely miss it notice the wording of thata says that if he would be particularly tired mean he would fall asleep and he wouldn't wake up or he was in some kind of he was Ill or some kind of circumstance that would make it difficult for him to pray at night he would get a full night's rest and he would pray the next day between F and he would pray 12 ra 12 not 11 why 12 well tells us why he says.

[Silence]

He says the reason that it was 12 and not 11 when he would make it up between and he says I heard Islam now this is speaking about his his main and the main conduit of Islam's works are is and also he was referred to as Islam in his time before his death and it's anomalous it's anomalous and often throughout Z throughout all the works of actually I can't really think of any book of in which he doesn't mention ISL except perhaps for his book AR which is about the soul that he spoke about and it's a difference of opinion whether this is actually his book or not but most of his books are going to be mentioning Islam in some way or shape or form right are quoting him as well mentions and he quotes him or he mentions his word without quoting him for political reasons and so this is found and it's anomalous that a person would try to distinguish between and IB Tam it's it is a contradiction and thought because anyone who is well aware of ib's works and well aware of's Works know that they're the same thing and you can't take one without the other right A lot of times people will to take the students of IB and reject and a lot of people speak bad of him without knowledge of doing so so we and we and we and we like and we and we all of these different Andi and all these other Scholars and we take their works and we rever them and we hold them in high esteem and rightfully so but then we scoff at even though he is either their direct she or the she of their she and so this is something which is which is very anomalous the reason that people do this is because had a lot of enemies because of the time that he came in because of the political landscape at the time and also because of his because of his General character he was a person that was described by that he was described by shabi in a in a portion where he documents The Life and Times of a lost portion from he mentions that IB Tam was very Fierce and he would come off as kind of harsh and even kind of pompous or arrogant this is how he would come off not that he was that but in debate right this is how he would come off so he described and he said he said that he May honor you and belittle you in the same Gathering right meaning that he's a very nice person he's a very good person but when debate starts or when issues are discussed he becomes very focused and because he would see things so clearly in his mind other people would perceive this to be something arrogant that he's arrogant or that he's boastful or that he is that this is pacity which is which it was not obviously I mean if you read truly his life and times you would see that he is very very humble individual right very humble individual however the way that people may perceive him especially when he would disagree with them or they would disagree with him is and that he would come off in this way and so he mentions something very important about in he says he says if had a bit of siasa and Gent ESS about him with his enemies with his antagonists if he was a little bit more gentle and he was a little bit more political in the way that he dealt with them he says if he had just added that characteristic he would have been somebody who everybody agreed upon and had gotten behind and endorsed his his opinions but because of that that kind of element or that air of harshness and that air of what people perceived to be that he was unapproachable or that he was somebody who was arrogant and this wasn't the case but this is how his enemies perceived him especially those whom who felt injured by him or personally attacked by him this is why he accumulated so many enemies and this is why or one of the main reasons that he had so many enemies there were so many rumors there were he was put in prison and so forth right this is the reason according to shamid this is correct and this is why most people are most or a lot of people we find are more willing to accept right even and accept their works even though they are saying the exact same thing that said many of them actually went to prison with him was imprisoned with was imprisoned with and some of them would deliberately try to find the M themselves imprisoned in order to spend time with in his two stints in prison the last of which he died and so it's important to understand this when we discuss IB a lot of people have been given these ideas about IB T that he is aim and that he is a V and that he is all of these things and that he literally describes Allah and Likens Allah to his creation all of these things these things are out outright lies and this is a collective of problems number one people read The Works of I Tamia and they do not understand what he's saying the works of IB Tamia honestly are very complicated he de deals with issues that are extremely complex and he deals them with them in a way that is almost scattered when you read him and Tam me his Works he comes off almost as scattered because he will speak about one issue but Branch off into many different issues sometimes for dozens or even hundreds of pages before he goes back and addresses the original issue and this is just because he would write how he would think so his works are very hard to understand and so if a person is not patient and is not ready and is not able to understand isia when they read They're going to be very they are going to be very unclear as to what it is he's actually saying another reason is because of these political things he had a lot of antagonists and enemies at the time of Scholars who were very very prominent and still are you know you know Taj subki and saf and all these other Scholars who have done a lot for Islam at the time even though they felt personally attacked by Tamia and in turn they attacked him and they attacked him in the harshest of ways and so it's important for us not to jump on someone else's bandwagon this is an important point it's important for us never to jump on someone else's bandwagon it is a fool who makes others other people's enemies his own for reasons that he doesn't understand right so you never want to just say oh well my said that Tami is terrible and then you go out to the world and speak about this right this is something that is very dangerous you don't want to do this and on the day of Resurrection you know you or when you're put in your grave you're not going to be asked about going to be asked about yourself and if Allah subhanahu waala says about and if excuse me the prophet Sall was says with regards to the people of the book right the priests and rabbis who do at the time clearly had physically and and physically and meaningfully changed the books of Allah subhanahu waala to control people to control the masses this is what they did Allah tells us that right that they would change the meanings and change the actual wording at times but yet in spite of this the prophet s. was tells us if the people of the book tell you of something do not deny it and do not accept it right how much more so a scholar of Islam such as Islam Tamia whose Works have filled the world and his students have completely changed the topography and the landscape of scholarship and there was a great Revival in the time of Sheik and so if you wish to separate between and you're going to have a problem because and for example the great they were the ones who bathed after he passed away if you wish to separate between and you're going to have an anomaly on your hands a problem why because spent most of his time and dedicated the remainder of his life from when he met until he died expounding upon the works of I Tami and documenting them right and so on and so forth and so it's important that we don't ever take on other people's battles and jump on some bandwagon not knowing what it is we're doing or saying right our words do have effects and so for a person not to say something is much more constructive if they don't have anything positive to say and so and also as another note there were some Scholars that came about in the 10th Century 11th century 12th century that have written books about even even and referred to them with very terrible names referring to them as as idiots and fools and donkeys and stupid and all of these words that are not used by the scholars of Islam the scholars of Islam even when they differ even when they refute one another they don't speak like this they don't talk this Scholars of Islam have respect and they follow the general gu guidelines of the Quran and tell my servants to say that which is best right whoever believes in Allah in the last days he's to speak with that which is good or remain silent right so this is an issue that we have to keep in mind and so whenever you hear these kinds of slurs or words or accusations or things that are really based on suspicion right this is when we have to stop and say it looks you know I'm seeing evidence of a Shan's handiwork in this speech and so I don't want to have anything any part of it right and leave scholarship for Scholars is very important say he says the fact that the prophet s. wasam would pray as 11 but if he missed it now again back to the wording purposely missed it because he's tired or whatever then he would pray at the next day between F and and in the time of D he would pray it as 12 rather than 11 Islam comments and says in this is an Evidence and an indication that that one wi that one of wi is something that if you purposely miss it you cannot make it up why because it's time has passed its appropriate time has passed he says this is very this is similar to praying two when you enter into the Masid if a person purposely doesn't do this and a purpose a person knowingly doesn't do this and you know then then leaves or or comes back later or whatever it is and and decides you know I won't do it now I'll do it in an hour the person cannot make this up why because its proper place has been has been it's it's been taken out of its proper place likewise the eclipse prayer if a person sees the eclipse and decides not to pray the eclipse prayer I'm busy now I'll pray it later the eclipse is over and then he goes and prays it he can't make up the eclipse prayer because it is supposed to be for the eclipse if that occasion has passed then he cannot make it up likewise which is when we pray a particular prayer to ask for rain right if a person says well I'll ask later I'll do later and then rain comes in the meanwhile they can't make this up because its time has passed he says and the reason is that the point of wi it's spirit is that it be the kind of cap or the crown that you you Crown the entirety of your prayer at night with and so if you pray it in the daytime it's self-defeating he says and the prophet sallam would pray at night 11 Al together as we mentioned he says or 13 this is what we discussed earlier the discrepancy found in the narration of he says all of the scholars and companions agree to the lower number which is 11 right and then some mention that extra number he says and that extra two ra that would have make it 13 this has been differed upon are these two ra part of the prayer at night or are they part of the fud Sunnah or what are they exactly this is something which has been a difference of opinion amongst the scholars and understanding and we just discussed that and we clarified it he says.

[Silence]

Now gives us a general ruling a general principle he says if we look at all of what the prophet S.I wasam would pray in the day and in the night starting from the five daily prayers with their respective Sunan and the nighttime prayers Etc if we add all of those together which he would always without fail pray we find that he would pray in every day and night 40 ra this was his word this is how much he would normally pray he would always pray these for and anything extra that is mentioned then that is something which is not consistent it's not something he consistently did it's something that he occasionally did right such as before or two before or four as opposed to two before right or two or or Etc right all of these are considered to be extra or for example two or four before that he would make sometimes occasionally there are some others that are mentioned such as six after sration is in right an encouragement to pray six after 222 this is a week narration inauthentic the only thing authentic with regards to pray after is right he.

[Silence]

Says then he says something very beautiful he says and so it's important and it is befitting of every servant to constantly try to pray this word that we have concretely from the prophet sallallah alaih wasallam of 40 collectively in the way that we just mentioned that a person should pray this and they should pray it until their death right he says and the reason for this is that how Swift and how quick the answered prayers come about when a person does such a thing and how often and reliably the the door is opened for a person who the proverbial door of Allah subana waala is answering for a person who knocks on that door 40 times every day and night and Allah another side issue that we'd to mention before we end and that is understanding Islamic scholarship in Islam there is a lot of propaganda and misinformation about Islamic scholarship okay this is an important issue it is of the utmost important because what I see is that we have been instilled and this comes from a very long history that the Muslim has okay especially in the last 200 years we need to understand this issue very well before we can continue There is an issue and there is an understanding that later Muslim centuries meaning especially the last 200 years when the Muslim Empire if you will and the Muslim fell apart and began to become unraveled this happened mainly because the Muslims started to slowly lean into the life of this world and prefer it over the Hereafter on an individual level this was a collective thing it's not just because we had bad leaders and it's not just because we had bad followers it was a it was a it was a collection of both elements that led to this and so when we see this we see that a lot of this came from influences foreign influences upon the Muslim Empire that the Muslims began to adopt technology from foreign non-muslim Nations and the these foreign non-muslim nations were very often Nations that were constantly at the gates of the Muslim empire trying to infiltrate it and wish to see the demise of the Muslim empire and so when they would when they would procure these Technologies into the Muslim world when we say technology we're speaking about everything from Factory to military to the way people dress and and customs and so forth they would likewise import the culture and certain ideas along with this technology right certain ideas because a technology is is built any invention it comes with a certain mindset along with it and that mindset could be in accordance with Islam and it could be not in accordance with Islam and so when this technology was imported a lot of the non-muslim and not just non-muslim but you know foreign influences that did not have the Muslim Empire best in best wishes at heart right what happened is the Muslim mindset began to change and so when we look at the Muslims around us especially Muslims that have come from other countries especially but not only we are seeing not Muslims as they originally are in the time of the greatness of Islam this is not what we're seeing we are seeing people that come from war torn ravaged colonized countries that have managed to cling on to what is left of what they know about Islam so when you meet a Palestinian you're meeting somebody who has come from hundreds of years of occupation by different countries and different influences when you meet somebody from Saudi Arabia or the Arab peninsula you're meeting someone who has only recent ly come out of the desert someone who is very new to technology and thought and their thought is rather behind because of the fact that they were either colonized or they were in a state of extreme ignorance far from cities and far from civilization etc etc when you meet someone from North Africa for instance Morocco or Algeria or Tunis or Libya you're meeting people that have been occupied for sometimes hundreds of years by the French or the Italians or and these occupational forces did not just occupy that land they occupied those people's minds right and so they would pass laws such as prohibition to speak the Arabic language sometimes in communist occupied lands and other places they would prohibit people from reading the Quran or praying they would prohibit people from fasting and we're seeing that even today even in China people are being prohibited from fasting and force-fed pork and forced women forced to live in houses with foreign men who are not Muslim and they call this you know education and re-education and all these fancy names which is not new to communist propaganda and and so the point here is that we're not seeing in the Muslims a reflection of true Islam as it was we are seeing the remnants and the residual pieces of Islam mixed with a lot of foreign influence this is important because there are number of ideas which we have been infected with that we have confused with with Islamic principles this happens when scholarship becomes weak right and so one of these principles is a general suspicion towards all Scholars and this is very dangerous as a matter of fact it's become almost a meme almost a laughing issue that you know imams and Scholars they usually are really fat and they're usually just laying around taking people's money and eating and tricking people and they're usually very very unworthy people and yes we do see some of that but that is not the origin of Islamic scholarship and often times we compare Muslim Scholars to Scholars of previous Nations Scholars of previous Nations people of the book we say well look at what those people did yes the scholars of the people of the book of previous Nations the scholars of the people of m al the people of Isa and all the way back we are it is taught to us that these people were a very a majority of of an evil people who exchanged the life of this world for the Hereafter and played with the revelations of Allah waala but that is not the case for scholarship of Islam the Islamic scholarship is not that way and this is one of the things that is particular to the prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam and that is that he said s he said that prophets do not leave behind an inheritance of gold or silver they rather leave behind an inheritance of knowledge and so whoever takes or is given a portion of this knowledge this person has taken a very huge portion of inheritance and a great Fortune meaning from Allah subhanahu waala and he said sallallah wasam he said sallam that the people of the children of Israel they were a people whom prophets were a constant fixture in their Community every time a prophet would pass away a a new Prophet would be appointed by Allah and ra raised up to take his place and carry on that mantle he says sallallah alai wasam indeed there is no Prophet after me what there will be is there will be Scholars and this is one of the aspects that the scholars of Islam mention is one of the particulars of the nation of Muhammad s. wasam that sets this nation aside from the rest of the rest of the nations of the prophets and Messengers and that is that the the the scholars of Islam they actually take the place of prophethood in previous Nations this is a great honor for Scholars this is also something that we have to understand and that is the essence of a scholar is that he or she is someone of Integrity someone of honesty someone of knowledge if he is a scholar now what happens is we start to we start to confuse real scholarship with people that masquerade as Scholars that's a different issue altogether most of the people that you meet that you probably think are Scholars are not okay scholarship has been defined by some Scholars as knowing more about Islam than you don't which is a lot of knowledge right knowing more of the Sunnah than you don't knowing more of the rulings of Allah than you don't knowing more of History than you don't that's a lot of information and that is we're speaking about decades and Decades of research and and learning in order to reach such a high level if a person really is a scholar and who tells us who is a scholar other Scholars tell us we don't tell them we don't know who is a scholar from who isn't most people confuse Scholars for people who wear fancy clothes and put the pens in their pocket and have the glasses on and the fancy robes and the fancy clothes and when they read the Quran they've got this very harmonous beautiful voice and that that is the epitome of scholarship that is not the epitome of scholarship ship real Scholars or people who have spent most of their lives engrossed in learning the essence of Islam and learning the spirit of Islam and carrying on the mantle of the Prophet sallallah wasam these people we essentially think of them as good there may be some bad apples but that is the exception not the norm one of the things that the foreign influence did in order to turn the Muslims in on themselves and to be able to weaken the Muslim resolve is to turn them against their own Scholars and we're speaking about true scholarship and in the last 200 years a lot of things have been affected including Islamic scholarship and yes there are countries that appoint Scholars right and they appoint these Scholars not based on their knowledge but they appoint them based on political reasons and political agenda and those people obviously their scholarship and their trustworthiness is is brought into question by a lot of things that they do but the point that I'm making here is we should not have this idea that whenever a scholar speaks if he truly is a scholar if he is someone who is respectable and known to be a person who is not a scholar of political scholar but a a real scholar of Islam the is that this person is trustworthy and this person is truthful and this person is pious and this person is not the other way around this is something that's important for us to understand we'll continue next week in.