Taraweeh Prayers in Ramadan

When Ramadan arrives, the nights change. After the day of fasting, the mosques fill again after dark, rows form behind a reciter, and the Qur’an is heard in the stillness of the night. This is the Taraweeh prayer — the night prayer of Ramadan — and it is one of the most beloved sights of the blessed month.

But where does this prayer come from? What exactly did the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) do on the nights of Ramadan, what did he promise to those who stand in prayer during them, and how did the practice take the shape we see today? The answers are found in the authentic hadith, and they are beautiful. In this guide we walk through the story of Taraweeh exactly as the narrations tell it: the promise attached to it, the nights the Prophet (ﷺ) led it in his mosque, the reason he then stopped coming out, and the night ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab gathered everyone behind a single reciter.

1. Ramadan: The Month in Which the Qur’an Was Revealed

Taraweeh belongs to Ramadan, so the story begins with the month itself. Allah describes Ramadan first and foremost as the month of the Qur’an:

“The month of Ramadan is the one in which the Qur’ān was revealed as guidance for mankind, and as clear signs that show the right way and distinguish between right and wrong.” (Quran 2:185)

This is the month in which guidance came down. The same verse goes on to speak of the fast, and of Allah’s gentleness with His servants:

“Allah intends (to provide) ease for you and does not intend (to create) hardship for you.” (Quran 2:185)

It is fitting, then, that the nights of this month are spent standing in prayer, listening to the very Book that was revealed in it. The days of Ramadan are for fasting — and our guide to the voluntary fasts in Islam covers the fasts beyond Ramadan — while its nights are for standing before Allah. And among those nights is the greatest night of the year, which you can read about in our Laylatul Qadr guide.

2. The Promise: Previous Sins Forgiven

The first thing the hadith tells us about the night prayer of Ramadan is its reward — and the reward is immense. Abu Huraira narrated that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:

“Whoever prayed at night the whole month of Ramadan out of sincere Faith and hoping for a reward from Allah, then all his previous sins will be forgiven.” (Sahih al-Bukhari 2009 — Sahih)

The same promise is recorded in Sahih Muslim, again from Abu Huraira:

“He who observed prayer at night during Ramadan, because of faith and seeking his reward from Allah, his previous sins would be forgiven.” (Sahih Muslim 759a — Sahih)

Notice the two conditions woven into the promise itself. The prayer is offered “out of sincere Faith” — believing in Allah and in what He has promised — and “hoping for a reward from Allah” — standing through the night with the heart turned towards Him, seeking what is with Him rather than the praise of people. A person who drags himself through the motions for show has not met the description; a person who stands, even briefly, with faith and hope has. Forgiveness of all previous sins is no small gift, and it is attached to these nights for the whole month. It is one of the clearest virtues of Salah that the texts describe, and it explains why generation after generation of Muslims have cherished the Ramadan nights.

3. Encouraged Warmly, Never Imposed

How did the Prophet (ﷺ) present this prayer to his Companions? Sahih Muslim gives us a precious detail about his manner. Abu Huraira reported:

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to exhort (his Companions) to pray (at night) during Ramadan without commanding them to observe it as an obligatory act, and say: He who observed the night prayer in Ramadan because of faith and seeking his reward (from Allah), all his previous sins would be forgiven.” (Sahih Muslim 759b — Sahih)

He exhorted them — he urged them, encouraged them, and stirred their desire with the promise of forgiveness — but he did not command them to observe it as an obligation. The night prayer of Ramadan was held out to them as an opportunity, not laid on them as a burden. This gentleness matters for understanding everything that follows, because the same concern — that this prayer should never become an obligation his community could not bear — is exactly why he later held back from leading it every night, as we are about to see.

4. The Nights the Prophet (ﷺ) Led the Prayer in the Mosque

So did the Prophet (ﷺ) himself pray this prayer with the people? Yes — and ‘A’isha, the Mother of the Believers, has preserved the account of those nights for us:

“‘A’isha reported that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) prayed one night in the mosque and people also prayed along with him. He then prayed on the following night and there were many persons. Then on the third or fourth night (many people) gathered there, but the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) did not come out to them (for leading the Tarawih prayer).” (Sahih Muslim 761a — Sahih)

Picture it: on the first night he prayed in the mosque and some people prayed behind him. Word spread. On the second night, the congregation had grown. By the third or fourth night, a crowd had gathered, waiting for him — and he did not come out. The narrator closes the account with a simple confirmation of the setting: “(He the narrator) said: It was the month of Ramadan.”

The fuller version of ‘A’isha’s report shows just how eager the people were. Each morning, those who had been there talked about it, and each night the numbers swelled further:

“So the mosque thronged with people on the third night. He (the Holy Prophet) came out and they prayed along with him. When it was the fourth night, the mosque was filled to its utmost capacity but the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) did not come out.” (Sahih Muslim 761b — Sahih)

The mosque was filled to its utmost capacity. Some of the people even began calling out, “Prayer,” hoping he would come. Yet he did not come out to them until he emerged for the morning prayer. Understanding the importance of Salah helps us feel why those Companions waited so eagerly: they knew who it was they would be praying behind, and they did not want to miss a single night of it.

5. Why He Stayed Away: A Mercy to His Community

When the Prophet (ﷺ) had completed the morning prayer, he turned to the people and explained himself. His words, recorded by ‘A’isha, remove every misunderstanding:

“I saw what you were doing, but I desisted to come to you (and lead the prayer) for I feared that this prayer might become obligatory for you.” (Sahih Muslim 761a — Sahih)

He had seen their eagerness; nothing of their devotion was hidden from him. He stayed away for one reason only: he feared that if he led this prayer night after night, it would be made obligatory upon his community. In the fuller narration, he added the concern that completes the picture:

“Your affair was not hidden from me in the night, but I was afraid that (my observing prayer continuously) might make the night prayer obligatory for you and you might be unable to perform it.” (Sahih Muslim 761b — Sahih)

“…and you might be unable to perform it.” This is the mercy of the Prophet (ﷺ) in action. He loved the prayer — he had stood in it himself and led his Companions in it — but he loved his community too, and he would not let his own practice become a weight they were forced to carry every night of Ramadan for the rest of time. So he withdrew, and the prayer remained what he had always presented it as: a door of forgiveness opened wide, which each person enters by choice, faith, and hope.

6. How the Practice Continued After Him

What happened to the night prayer of Ramadan after the Prophet (ﷺ) passed away? The narrations answer this too. Ibn Shihab, a sub-narrator of the hadith of Abu Huraira, added a note that has been preserved with the hadith itself:

“Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) died and the people continued observing that (i.e. Nawafil offered individually, not in congregation), and it remained as it was during the Caliphate of Abu Bakr and in the early days of ‘Umar’s Caliphate.” (Sahih al-Bukhari 2009 — Sahih)

Sahih Muslim’s narration ends with the same historical note:

“When Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) died, this was the practice, and it continued thus during Abu Bakr’s caliphate and the early part of ‘Umar’s caliphate.” (Sahih Muslim 759b — Sahih)

So the people kept praying at night in Ramadan — this never stopped — but they prayed individually, each person on his own or in small scattered groups, just as they had done in the later nights of the Prophet’s (ﷺ) own lifetime. This continued through the caliphate of Abu Bakr and into the early days of the caliphate of ‘Umar. The next chapter of the story belongs to ‘Umar.

7. ‘Umar Gathers the People Behind One Reciter

‘Abdur Rahman bin ‘Abdul Qari tells us what he saw one night when he went out with ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab:

“I went out in the company of ‘Umar bin Al-Khattab one night in Ramadan to the mosque and found the people praying in different groups. A man praying alone or a man praying with a little group behind him.” (Sahih al-Bukhari 2010 — Sahih)

The mosque was full of prayer, but it was scattered: one man alone, another with a small group behind him, each cluster reciting separately. ‘Umar considered the scene and spoke:

“In my opinion I would better collect these (people) under the leadership of one Qari (Reciter) (i.e. let them pray in congregation!)'” (Sahih al-Bukhari 2010 — Sahih)

And he acted on it:

“So, he made up his mind to congregate them behind Ubai bin Ka’b.” (Sahih al-Bukhari 2010 — Sahih)

Ubayy ibn Ka’b became the one reciter behind whom the whole congregation stood. Then ‘Abdur Rahman went out with ‘Umar again on another night, and the scene had been transformed: “the people were praying behind their reciter.” Seeing the united congregation, ‘Umar made a remark about what he saw, and then pointed to something even better than the sight before him — the prayer of the last part of the night:

“‘Umar remarked, ‘What an excellent Bid’a (i.e. innovation in religion) this is; but the prayer which they do not perform, but sleep at its time is better than the one they are offering.’ He meant the prayer in the last part of the night. (In those days) people used to pray in the early part of the night.” (Sahih al-Bukhari 2010 — Sahih)

8. The Early Night and the Last Part of the Night

That closing note of the narration carries a quiet lesson. In those days, the people prayed in the early part of the night — the congregation behind Ubayy gathered after the day’s fast had ended, prayed, and went home to sleep. But ‘Umar, standing there watching them, remarked that the prayer at the time when people are asleep — the prayer of the last part of the night — is better than the one they were offering.

In other words, the door the Prophet (ﷺ) opened does not close when the congregation disperses. The night of Ramadan is long, and its last portion, when the world is asleep and a servant rises alone before his Lord, holds a special place in ‘Umar’s own estimation as he expressed it that night. Those who wish to explore rising in the last part of the night further can read our guide to the Tahajjud prayer. Whether a person stands with the congregation in the early night, or rises in the depths of the night, or does both, the description that matters is the one the Prophet (ﷺ) himself gave: praying at night in Ramadan out of faith and hoping for reward from Allah.

9. What Taraweeh Means for Us Today

Step back and look at the whole story as the texts tell it. Ramadan is the month the Qur’an was revealed. For its nights, the Prophet (ﷺ) announced a promise that should make every believer’s heart move: whoever prays at night during Ramadan, in faith and seeking his reward from Allah, has all his previous sins forgiven. He encouraged this prayer warmly but never imposed it. He led it in his mosque for some nights, and the people flocked to him until the mosque could hold no more; then, out of fear that it would become obligatory and too heavy for his community, he stopped coming out — while the people continued it on their own. After him, the practice carried on individually through Abu Bakr’s caliphate and into ‘Umar’s, until the night ‘Umar saw the scattered groups and gathered them all behind Ubayy ibn Ka’b, one reciter for one congregation.

That is the Taraweeh we inherit: a prayer of the mosque and of the home, of the congregation and of the solitary last watch of the night, entered not by compulsion but by faith and hope. Whoever stands in it stands inside a story that runs, narration by narration, from the Prophet’s (ﷺ) own mosque to the mosques of today.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is the Taraweeh prayer? A: Taraweeh is the night prayer performed during Ramadan. In the hadith, the Prophet (ﷺ) described it as praying at night in Ramadan, and he said: “He who observed prayer at night during Ramadan, because of faith and seeking his reward from Allah, his previous sins would be forgiven” (Sahih Muslim 759a — Sahih).

Q: What is the reward of praying at night in Ramadan? A: The reward stated in the hadith is the forgiveness of all previous sins, for the one who prays “out of sincere Faith and hoping for a reward from Allah,” as the Prophet (ﷺ) said in the narration of Abu Huraira (Sahih al-Bukhari 2009 — Sahih).

Q: Did the Prophet (ﷺ) lead Taraweeh in the mosque? A: Yes. ‘A’isha reported that he prayed one night in the mosque and people prayed along with him, and again on the following night when there were many persons; but on the third or fourth night, when the people had gathered, he did not come out to them (Sahih Muslim 761a — Sahih).

Q: Why did the Prophet (ﷺ) stop leading the night prayer in Ramadan? A: He explained it himself the next morning: “I saw what you were doing, but I desisted to come to you (and lead the prayer) for I feared that this prayer might become obligatory for you” (Sahih Muslim 761a — Sahih). He also feared the community might be unable to perform it if it became obligatory (Sahih Muslim 761b — Sahih).

Q: Who gathered the people to pray Taraweeh behind one imam? A: ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab. Finding the people praying in scattered groups one Ramadan night, he decided to collect them under one reciter and congregated them behind Ubayy ibn Ka’b (Sahih al-Bukhari 2010 — Sahih).