Proof of 20 Rakats of Taravih from the Actions & Sayings of Tabayin!

Proof of 20 Rakats of Taravih from the Actions & Sayings of Tabayin!

1. Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Ubaydullah bin Abdullah Ibn Abi Mulayka Madani who met three Sahaba used to lead people in 20 Rakats of Taravih. Sayyiduna Nafi' bin Umar reports that: "Ibn Abi Mulayka used to lead us in 20 Rakats of Taravih in the month of Ramazan." {Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah; 2:285}

2. Sayyiduna Feroz Abu Bakhtari used to lead people in 20 Rakats of Taravih. Sayyiduna Khalf narrated from Sayyiduna Rabi and praised him. He said regarding Sayyiduna Abu Bakhtari that he used to lead us in 5 'Tarvihat' of 20 Rakats Taravih and 3 Rakats as 'Witr'." {Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah; 2:285}

3. Sayyiduna Ali bin Rabi' bin Nazala al Kufi used to lead people in 20 Rakats of Taravih and 3 Rakats of 'Witr'. It is narrated from Sayyiduna Saeed bin Ubayd that Sayyiduna Ali bin Rabi' used to lead peolpe in 5 'Tarvihat' of 20 Rakats of Taravih along with 3 Rakats as 'Witr'." {Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah; 2:285}

4. During the period of Amir ul Mu'minin Sayyiduna Umar bin Abdul Aziz {d. 101 A.H}, people used to offer 36 Rakats of Taravih followed by 3 Rakats of 'Witr'! Sayyiduna Dawud bin Qays narrated that: "I have seen people offering 36 Rakats of Taravih apart from 3 Rakats of 'Witr' in Madinah during the period of Sayyiduna Umar bin Abdul Aziz and Sayyiduna Abban bin Usman." {Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah; 2:285}

From the above mentioned Hadith, we come to know that the people of Madinah used to offer 36 Rakats in Taravih, but those 36 Rakats were not totally Taravih! In-fact, the extra 16 Rakats were offered by the people of Madinah such that after each 'Tarviha' , they used to offer 4 Rakats of Voluntary {'Nafl'} prayer! This was because, the people of Makkah used to perform 'Tawaf' of the Ka'ba after each 'Tarviha' i.e. 4 Rakats of Taravih which the people of Madinah could not do so, therefore, they started praying 4 Rakats of Voluntary prayers instead of the 'Tawaf'. In this way, 4 extra voluntary prayers offered after each 'Tarviha' sums up-to a total of 16 Rakats of Voluntary prayers apart from 20 Rakats of Taravih resulting in a total of 36 Rakats! And when 3 Rakats of 'Witr' are added, the total reaches 39 Rakats! Therefore, one statement of Imam Malik bin Anas is of 39 Rakats of Taravih. Imam Jalaluddin Suyuti Shafai' writes: "For the people of Madinah, 36 Rakats are 'Mustahab' {'Recommended'} in order to comply with the people of Makkah. Because, the people of Makkah used to offer a 'Tawaf' in between each two 'Tarviha' and used to offer 2 Rakats of doing Tawaf and after the fifth 'Tarviha' they did not used to offer prayers.! Therefore, the people of Madinah tried to become equal to the people of Makkah in practice and added 4 Rakats in place of their each 'Tawaf'!" {Al Hawi lil Fatawa; 1:336}

5. Sayyiduna Suwayd bin Ghafala was from the great Tabayin. He came to Madinah on the day on which the Beloved Prophet  was buried. He met a large number of Sahaba and passed away at the ripe old age of 130 years! Whenever he used to lead people in Taravih prayers, he used to offer 20 Rakats of Taravih! Sayyiduna Abu Khusayb Nafa'a bin Muslim al Ja'fi al Kufi said: "Suwayd bin Ghafala used to lead us in Taravih Prayers and used to offer them with 5 'Tarviha' of 20 Rakats during the month of Ramazan." {Sunan al Kubra; H# 3619; 3:188} All the Narrators of this Hadith are 'Thiqa' {Trustworthy & Strong}.

The following Tabayin used to Offer 20 Rakats of Taravih as mentioned in the Books of Hadith!

1. Sayyiduna Ibn Abi Mulayka who happened to meet 30 Sahaba of the Beloved Prophet . 2. Sayyiduna Shatayr bin Shakl . 3. Sayyiduna Yahya bin Saeed Ansari . 4. Sayyiduna Saeed bin Feroz Abu Bakhtari . 5. Sayyiduna Harith Hamdani . 6. Sayyiduna Ata' bin Abi Rabah , the Muhaddith & Mufti of Makkah! 7. Sayyiduna Saeed bin Abi Hasan , the brother of Sayyiduna Hasan Basri ! 8. Sayyiduna Abdur Rahman bin Abu Bakr . 9. Sayyiduna Umar bin Abdul Aziz . 10. Sayyiduna Suwayd bin Ghafala and 11. Sayyiduna Imran al 'Abdi .

Imam Badruddin Mahmud Ayni Hanafi said: "The people who reported 20 Rakats of Taravih include Sayyiduna Shatayr bin Shakl , Sayyiduna Ibn Abi Mulayka , Sayyiduna Harith Hamdani , Sayyiduna Ata' bin Abi Rabah , Sayyiduna Abu Bakhtari , Sayyiduna Saeed bin Abi Hasan , the brother of Sayyiduna Hasan Basri , Sayyiduna Abdur Rahman bin Abu Bakr and Sayyiduna Imran 'Abdi !" {Umdat ul Qari Sharh Sahih il Bukhari; 8:246}

Imam Badruddin Ayni writes with refference to the Muhaddith, Imam Ibn Abdur Birr that: "The report regarding 20 Rakats of Taravih narrated by Sayyiduna Ubay bin Ka'ab is the correct one! There is no difference of Opinion between the Sahaba regarding it!" {Umdat ul Qari; 8: 246}

From the above mentioned proofs from authentic sources, we come to know that offering 20 Rakats of Taravih was the combined position of Sahaba and Tabayin! And it has been the practice of the Muslim Ummah to offer 2o Rakats as Taravih in the month of Ramazan since then!