A man praying alone or a man praying with a little group behind him. "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. Muhammad al-Bukhari narrated regarding the Tarawih prayer in Sahih al-Bukhari: He (the narrator) has said that the Imam then said: ‘You must not perform prayer after late evening prayer during the times other than the month of Ramadan’. Then, after he came out, they would come and stand up behind him (for prayer), but he would leave them and go inside several times’. People behind would stand up (for prayer), but he would go inside and leave them. After Al-‘Atmah (late evening prayer, he would perform more prayers. Ī hadith from ( Shia) kitab al-kafi: ‘Abu ‘Abdallah, peace be upon him, has said that the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him and his progeny, would increase his prayer during the month of Ramadan. Shia Muslims regard Tarawih as bid‘ah, introduced after the death of Muhammad by Umar ibn al-Khattab, according to his own words. During the time when Umar was the caliph, he reinstated the praying of Tarawih in congregation. According to this tradition, Muhammad initially and briefly prayed the Tarawih in congregation during Ramadan, but discontinued this practice out of concern it would be mandated, yet he never forbade it. Other Sunni Muslims believe Tarawih is an optional prayer that may be performed at home. Some Sunni Muslims regard the Tarawih prayers as Sunnat al-Mu'akkadah. The Sunni prayer Tarawih has been mentioned in traditions as Qiyam al-Layl min Ramadan ("Standing of night in Ramadan") and Qiyam al-Ramadan ("Standing of Ramadan"). ( May 2018) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Please help improve this article by adding references to reliable secondary sources, with multiple points of view. This section uncritically uses texts from within a religion or faith system without referring to secondary sources that critically analyze them. Tarawih prayers are considered optional (sunnah), not obligatory. Sunni Muslims believe it is customary to attempt a takmil ("complete recitation" of the Quran) as one of the religious observances of Ramadan, by reciting at least one juz' per night in tarawih. But it is clearly mentioned in the Muwatta' before the said narration that when Umar assigned duty to Ubay ibn Ka'b and Tamim al-Dari to lead the Tarawih, he ordered them to offer 11 raka'āt (8 of tarawih and 3 of witr). According to the Hanafi school of Sunni Islam, the standard number of rakats is twenty referring it to a narration in Muwatta' Imam Malik which said that " In the time of Umar, the people used to offer 20 raka'āt". Tarawih prayers are prayed in pairs of two. This prayer is performed in congregation during Ramadan of the Islamic calendar, after Isha (and before Witr, which is also prayed following the imam who leads the prayer aloud in one or three rakats unlike how it is done in other eleven months). Tarawih prayers begin from the first Moon-sighted evening (start) to second Moon-sighted evening (last day of Ramadan).