The Ruling on Resting After Every Four Rakaʿāt in the Tarāwīḥ Prayer
Imām Muḥammad ibn Ṣāliḥ al-ʿUthaymīn:
The tarāwīḥ prayer is aptly named because the people performing it would lengthen their rukūʿ, their sujūd, and their standing, such that upon praying four rakaʿāt, they would rest (linguistically tarāwīḥ means to rest, relax or seek repose). They would pray four (rakaʿāt) then rest, then another four and rest, then three (i.e. witr). The evidence for this is the ḥadīth of ʿĀʾishah (رضي الله عنها) who said: “The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) would not exceed eleven rakaʿāt [of night pray…
The muʿadhdhin should pronounce the iqāmah when he sees the imām. Jābir ibn Samurah (رضي الله عنه) reported: “Bilāl would pronounce the adhān when the sun declined. However, he would only pronounce the iqāmah when he saw Allāh’s Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) emerging [from his house]. Once Bilāl saw Allāh’s Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم), he would pronounce the iqāmah.”1
In another version of this Ḥadīth, Jābir (رضي الله عنه) narrated: “The muʿadhdhin of Allāh’s Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) would pronounce the iqāmah when he saw Allāh’s Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) emerging [from his ho…
