Ramaḍān is the month in which the Qurʾān was revealed (Qurʾān 2:185) — a season of fasting by day, prayer by night, and abundant Qurʾān and charity. Its gates of mercy are opened, and in it lies a night better than a thousand months.
Making the most of the month
- • Fasting the days — the pillar (see the Fasting lesson).
- • Tarāwīḥ — the night prayer in congregation, a confirmed sunnah.
- • Qurʾān — recite and complete it; it was the month of its revelation.
- • The last ten nights — seek Laylat al-Qadr and increase worship.
- • Iʿtikāf — secluding in the masjid for worship, especially the last ten nights.
- • Charity — the Prophet ﷺ was most generous in Ramaḍān; and Zakāt al-Fiṭr before Eid.
Compare the schools — Tarāwīḥ
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Ramaḍān
How many rakʿahs is Tarāwīḥ?
Hanafi: Twenty rakʿahs — the established practice since ʿUmar (رضي الله عنه).
Other schools
Maliki: Twenty (with thirty-six being the historic practice of the people of Madīna).
Shāfiʿī: Twenty rakʿahs.
Hanbali: Twenty rakʿahs.
Ṣalāt al-tarāwīḥ — al-Mawsūʿa al-Fiqhiyya. Note: some scholars, citing ʿĀʾisha’s report of the Prophet praying eleven, favour eight rakʿahs — both are within the sunnah, and quality of standing matters more than number.
Evidence
“The month of Ramaḍān in which the Qurʾān was revealed, a guidance for mankind…”
Qurʾān 2:185
“Whoever fasts Ramaḍān out of faith and seeking reward, his past sins are forgiven” — and likewise whoever stands its nights in prayer.
Bukhārī 38 / Muslim 760 ṣaḥīḥ
“Seek Laylat al-Qadr in the odd nights of the last ten of Ramaḍān.”
Bukhārī 2017 / Muslim 1169 ṣaḥīḥ
Classical references
Hanafi: al-Hidāya · Radd al-Muḥtār
Maliki: al-Risāla · Mukhtaṣar Khalīl
Shāfiʿī: Minhāj al-Ṭālibīn
Hanbali: al-Mughnī · Zād al-Mustaqniʿ
Related lessons
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