RAMADAN – CAN I PRAY TARAWEEH PRAYER AT HOME?

(All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the Realms; and Prayers and Peace of Allah be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his family and companions)

Ramadan is the blessed month in which we are required to perform and work the desired way as expected as this month is said to be full of blessings, mercy and forgiveness, every believer tries to acquire the maximum benefits possible and this is where today we would stress upon a matter which requires attention:

(Some believers are not sure that are they allowed to offer special Taraweeh Prayer of Ramadan at home and are there any special rules which shall be known to acquire the best practice)

For your knowledge Taraweeh prayers are ideal to pray in a Mosque with a Jama’ah and for those who are not in an easy access to the Mosque or for any other good reason you cannot join a Jama’ah, you are allowed to pray at home. Now comes the rules stated below which will help you to select the person who is more likely to be the Imam.

The Prophet (s) as you would know instructed us in an authentic hadith that the order for choosing the Imam for salaat is as follows:

1. The one who reads the Quran the most, i.e. the more someone has memorized the Quran the higher the choice of him leading a Jama'ah. This includes that the person should be able to recite the Quran properly with Tajweed rules. In the time of the Prophet (SAWS) and thereafter initially, this also included the one who had the most knowledge of the Quran as memorizing and knowledge of the Quran went hand in hand back then.

2. If they are same in that respect, then the one who has the most knowledge of Sunnah, i.e. scholar or most knowledge of the whole of Islam.

3. If they are the same in that respect, then the one who is the oldest in migrating for Islam, or highest in obedience to Allah, piety etc, should lead the prayer or the eldest in age if all other aspects are the same.

4. In a particular Mosque or a person's house, the person of the house or the Imam of the Mosque has the first right to lead the prayer even if another person has more knowledge etc about Islam. But if the local person allows the person of most knowledge to lead prayer in his house then that is fine.
However, remember that it is still ideal, more rewarding and advised to acquire more rewards and determination to pray Taraweeh in a Mosque.