IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE MOST GRACIOUS, THE MOST MERCIFUL.
THE FIRST SERMON OF THE MONTH OF RAMADAN, DATED 9/5/1445 AH (15/3/2024) CE
TOPIC: IMPORTANCE OF PERFORMING TARAWIH PRAYERS IN THE MONTH OF RAMADAN .
THE FIRST SERMON
Praise be to Allah alone, who has made the month of Ramadan a month of forgiveness, guidance, mercy, and glad tidings for the believers who work with their faith. Allah says in His clear revelation: (شَهْرُ رَمَضَانَ الَّذِي أُنْزِلَ فِيهِ الْقُرْآنُ هُدًى لِلنَّاسِ وَبَيِّنَاتٍ مِنَ الْهُدَى وَالْفُرْقَانِ فَمَنْ شَهِدَ مِنْكُمُ الشَّهْرَ فَلْيَصُمْهُ وَمَنْ كَانَ مَرِيضًا أَوْ عَلَى سَفَرٍ فَعِدَّةٌ مِنْ أَيَّامٍ أُخَرَ يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ بِكُمُ الْيُسْرَ وَلَا يُرِيدُ بِكُمُ الْعُسْرَ وَلِتُكْمِلُوا الْعِدَّةَ وَلِتُكَبِّرُوا اللَّهَ عَلَى مَا هَدَاكُمْ وَلَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ) “The month of Ramadan is that in which the Quran was revealed as guidance for the people and clear proofs of guidance and criterion. So whoever sights [the new moon of] the month, let him fast it; and whoever is ill or on a journey – then an equal number of other days. Allah intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship and [wants] for you to complete the period and to glorify Allah for that [to] which He has guided you; and perhaps you will be grateful.” (Surah Al-Baqarah: 2/185). We praise Him, glorify Him, and put our trust in Him. May peace and blessings be upon the Prophet, his family, his companions, and those who follow them in righteousness until the Day of Judgment.
After that,
O servants of Allah, I advise you and myself to have taqwa (God-consciousness) of Allah, both in secret and in public, as it is the ultimate goal of all acts of worship and all obligations and prohibitions. Allah, the Exalted, says: (يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ اتَّقُواْ اللّهَ حَقَّ تُقَاتِهِ وَلاَ تَمُوتُنَّ إِلاَّ وَأَنتُم مُّسْلِمُونَ) “O you who have believed, fear Allah as He should be feared and do not die except as Muslims [in submission to Him].” (Surah Al-Imran: 3/102)
Dear Brothers in faith, this is the first meeting in the blessed month of Ramadan, which we have been waiting for. We thank Allah Almighty for this blessing. Ramadan is the month of forgiveness, mercy, goodness and blessings. The topic of our sermon today revolves around: The importance of performing Tarawih prayers in the month of Ramadan as one of the duties of this blessed month
Dear Muslims, it is from the grace of Allah Almighty upon us and upon the people that He made the month of Ramadan a season of obedience and worship. Just as Allah made it obligatory for us to fast the month of Ramadan, the Messenger of Allah – may Allah bless him and grant him peace – enjoined on us the night prayers of Ramadan, and he – may Allah bless him and grant him peace – said: “Whoever prays Ramadan out of faith and seeking reward, his previous sins will be forgiven” (Narrated by Al-Bukhari (37). And Muslim (759): During the month of Ramadan, Muslims are busy during the day with fasting and during the night with prayer.
Tarawih prayer is an emphasized Sunnah, and it is one of the acts of worship that carries many beautiful Ramadan memories, including gathering, unity, listening to the Qur’an in sweet voices, supplication, qunut prayers, …and many wonderful spiritual and faith-based acts of worship.
On the authority of Jabir, may Allah be pleased with them both, when he mentioned the times of the Prophet’s prayer – may Allah bless him and grant him peace – he said: “And the Ishaa prayer, sometimes he delays it, and sometimes he hastens it. If he sees them gathered, he hurries, and when he sees them slow down, he delays it.” [Al-Bukhari 1/141 and Muslim 646]
In some countries, the people have become accustomed to the practice of delaying the Ishaa prayer in Ramadan by half an hour or so from the beginning of its usual time, so that people can break their fast calmly and prepare for the Isha and Tarawih prayers. There is nothing wrong with this action, provided that the Imam does not delay the prayer to such an extent that it is difficult for those praying behind him. In this case, it is best to refer to the mosque congregation and agree with them on the time of prayer, as they know best what suits them.
The night prayer in Ramadan was called Tarawih prayer because when the Salaf, may Allah have mercy on them, would rest after every two or four rak’ahs in their effort of lengthening the prayer, taking advantage of the season of great reward and keenness towards the reward mentioned in Prophet’s (peace be upon him) saying: “Whoever prays Ramadan out of faith and seeking reward, will be forgiven.” Whatever his previous sins” [Narrated by Al-Bukhari].
If the matter of Tarawih prayer revolves between praying at the beginning of the night with the congregation, and praying at the end of the night alone, then praying with the congregation is better, because it is counted as a complete night’s prayer. The Prophet, may AllaH bless him and grant him peace, observed it with his companions in the mosque for several nights, then delayed coming out to pray with them, for fear of being enjoined on them. It was also proven on the authority of Aisha. Narrated `Aisha the mother of the faithful believers: One night Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) offered the prayer in the Mosque and the people followed him. The next night he also offered the prayer and too many people gathered. On the third and the fourth nights more people gathered, but Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) did not come out to them. In the morning he said, “I saw what you were doing and nothing but the fear that it (i.e. the prayer) might be enjoined on you, stopped me from coming to you.” And that happened in the month of Ramadan. (Al-Muwatta).
His companions observed it after him, and his nation received it with acceptance. He said: “Whoever stands with the imam until he departs, it will be recorded for him to have spent a night in prayer.” And he said: “Whoever prays Ramadan out of faith and seeking reward, his previous sins will be forgiven.” Agreed upon.
It is an established Sunnah, and a Muslim should not abandon it.
As for the number of its rak’ahs: Nothing has been proven about it from the Prophet, and the matter regarding that is broad. Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, said: “He may pray twenty rak’ahs, as is well-known from the mazhab of Ahmad and al-Shafi’i, and he may pray thirty-six, as is the view of Malik, and he may pray eleven rak’ah and thirteen rak’ah, and each is good, so the number of rak’ahs increased or decreased depends on the length or shortness of the standing.
When Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, gathered people to pray behind Ubayy as Imam and he prayed twenty rak’ahs for them. And the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, some of them performed less and some of them performed more, and there is no specific number stipulated by the law.
Many Imams (i.e., Imams of mosques) in the Tarawih prayer they observe it in a manner that they wouldn’t be able to understand, nor attain tranquility in bowing or prostrating, whereas tranquility is a pillar of solat, and what is required in prayer is the presence of the heart before Allah Almighty, and to receive admonition from the words of Allah when they are recited, and this could not be achieved in the disliked hasty manner. Praying ten rak’ahs with lengthy recitation and tranquility is better than twenty rak’ahs with hasty and the disliked manner. Because the heart and soul of prayer is that the heart turn to Allah Almighty, and perhaps a little is better than a lot. Likewise, recitation with tarteel is better than speed, and permissible speed is one in which none of the letters are omitted. If some letters are omitted for the sake of speed; This is not permissible, and it is forbidden, but if he recites a clear recitation that will benefit those praying behind him, then its good.
Among its rulings are: If you miss the Ishaa prayer, and you get to the mosque while the imam is praying Tarawih, it is better for you to join him with the intention of observing ishaa prayer, and when he does the tasleem, you will complete your prayer. Thus, do not pray alone, nor with another group, so that two groups will not be held at the same time, thus causing confusion and interference in the voices. Because the most likely opinion is that: It is permissible for the one observing obligatory prayer to pray behind the one observing the voluntary prayer, based on the evidence of the hadith of Muadh bin Jabal, may Allah be pleased with him, that he used to pray the evening prayer with the Prophet, peace be upon him, and then he would return to his people and lead them in that prayer. It is a voluntary prayer for him and for them it is obligatory.
Al-Nawawi, may Allah have mercy on him, favored the permissibility of this, as he said: If the Isha prayer is performed behind the Tarawih prayers: it is permissible. If the imam says the salutation, he stands for the remaining two rak’ahs, and it is better for him to complete them alone. If the imam stands for the other two rak’ahs of Tarawih, and intends to follow him a second time in his two rak’ahs: there are two opinions regarding its permissibility, as for one who starts independently and then intends to become a follower, the more correct opinion is its soundness.
As for what you missed from Tarawih, if you want to perform it, you should even the witr prayer you met the imam on, then complete what you missed, then pray the Witr prayer. The meaning of to even the Witr prayer of the imam is that you should not do the tasleem with him during the Witr prayer, but rather stand up and perform a rak’ah and then say the tasleem.
It has been proven that when Omar gathered the companions for Tarawih prayer, they would pray twenty rak’ahs, and in one rak’ah they would recite about thirty verses from verses of Al-Baqarah, that is, approximately four or five pages, so they would complete Surah Al-Baqarah in eight rak’ahs, and if they read it in twelve rak’ahs, they saw that it more relaxed.
This is the Sunnah in Tarawih prayer. If the recitation is shortened, the number of rak’ahs is increased to forty-one rak’ahs, as some imams said. If one prefers to limit it to eleven or thirteen, the recitation and the pillars are increased. Tarawih prayer does not have a limited number, but what is required is that you pray it at a time that you will be able to get peace of mind and patience for at least an hour or so.
There is nothing wrong for the imam to read directly from the Qur’an during the tarawih prayer in Ramadan, because that is an opportunity for the people praying behind him to listen to all of the Qur’an, and because the legal evidence from the Qur’an and Sunnah has indicated the legitimacy of reading the Qur’an during prayer, and this ruling applies to both reading it from the Qur’an and by heart. It has been proven on the authority of Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her that she ordered her slave, Dhakwan, to lead her in prayer in the night prayers of Ramadan, and he was reading from the Qur’an. Al-Bukhari, may Allah have mercy on him, mentioned it in his Sahih, as a suspended narration and confirming it.
THE SECOND SERMON:
Praise be to Allah, we praise Him, we seek His help, we seek His forgiveness, and we seek refuge in Him from the evils of ourselves and from the evils of our deeds. Whoever Allah guides, none can mislead him, and whoever He leads astray, none can guide him. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone, with no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.
As for what follows:
honorable servants of Allah, Ramadan is the month of mercy, doubling of rewards, and atonement for sins and transgressions. The winner among us is the one who takes advantage of it in performing acts of obedience and worship. One of the best things a servant can do to draw closer to his Lord in this blessed month is charity that raises his status and zakat that purifies his soul and his wealth.
Concerning the virtue of generosity and giving in the blessed month of Ramadan, it was narrated on the authority of Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “The best charity is charity in Ramadan.”
On the authority of Ibn Abbas, he said: The Prophet (ﷺ) was the most generous of all the people, and he used to become more generous in Ramadan when Gabriel met him. Gabriel used to meet him every night during Ramadan to revise the Qur’an with him. Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) then used to be more generous than the fast wind.
Finally, do not forget your brothers in Palestine in your prayers, while they are under the bullets and bombings of the Zionist enemy and they are fasting Ramadan under the Zionist siege and starvation, and do not forget them in your charity and donations, especially in this blessed month. Ask Allah to grant them victory, because Ramadan is the month of victory for Muslims.
Supplication:
“O Allah, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer of existence, the Possessor of Majesty and Honor, and the One who cannot be harmed. We invoke You against the unjust oppressors, the occupying Jews who transgress in Palestine and all Muslim lands, and against those who support them openly, obey them in falsehood, allow them to commit evil, extend their influence, and assist them in their oppression. We ask You, O Allah, not to grant them any success, for they are treacherous. Do not rectify their actions, for they are corrupt. Do not fulfill their desires or hopes, for they are unjust. Create divisions between them and what they desire and seek. Do not elevate them, O our Lord, except to bring them down and cause them to fail, for they are futile. Do not raise a banner for them, and do not grant them any objective or goal. Humiliate them and make them a lesson and a sign for the people. O Allah, send peace and blessings upon our Master Muhammad, his family, his companions, and those who follow them in righteousness until the Day of Judgment. And grant them abundant peace.”