Reading through the opinions of the famous scholars of Madh-hab and how they understood and interprete the Islamic evidences, we found that:
The Hanafiyyah are of the opinion that solaat Taraawiih is of twenty rak’ah.
The Shaafi’iyyah and Hanabillah also hold to the view that the rak’ah is twenty rak’ah.
While the Maalikiyyah are of the opinion that solaat Taraawiih is thirty-six(36) rak’ah. Imam Maalik suggested to the people of Madeenah to pray four extra rak’ah individually during each tarwiihah(the rest period between each of the four rak’ah) to make up for the tawaaf that people of Makkah used to perform during the rest periods.
Reference: Al-‘Urf Al-Shadhi Vol 1 page 229. It is also reported in Tirmidhi, one of the six most authentic books of hadeeth, that Imam Shaafi’i had always seen people in Makkah performing twenty rak’ah in solaat Taraawiih.
Some people went to extreme and erroneously interpreted solaat layl(Tahajjud) as solaat Taraawiih, thus, concluding the Prophet only prayed eight rak’ah in solaat Taraawiih and regard those who pray twenty rak’ah as innovators. They declare the ahadeeth which
buttress twenty rak’ah as weak so as to find a way for their erroneous claim. Meanwhile, they lack the fiqh (understanding) of the hadeeth they seek to use as an evidence.
And the hadeeth is: Narrated by Abu Salama ibn Abdur-Rahman (radiya Allahu anhu). He says, That he asked Aaisha How was the prayer of Allah’s Messenger in the month of Ramadhan?‛ She replied, He used not to pray more than eleven rak’ah whether in Ramadhan or in any other month. He used to offer four rakat, let alone their beauty and length, and then four rak’ah, let alone their beauty and length. Afterward, he would offer three rakat. I said, ‘O Allah’s Messenger! Do you go to
bed before offering the witr prayer?’ He said, ‘My eyes sleep, but my heart does not sleep.’
Reference: Sahih al-Bukhari; Vol. 4, Book 56, Hadith 769.
To properly understand this hadeeth, you need to consider the following points:
1: In this Hadith, the mother of the believer Aaisha(may Allah be pleased with her) says about Salat Al-Layl (Tahajjud) and Salat Al-Layl and Tarawiih aren’t the same prayers. The Prophet prayed Salat Al-Layl the whole year round, but there was never the same congregation as was found in the 3 days of Ramadhan (as we mentioned above). Nor did the Khulafa Rashideen (may Allah be pleased with them) gather and perform their own congregation. The Prophet never led the congregation of the companions in Salat Al-Layl.
2: If you give the hadeeth of Abu Salama a critical look, Aaishah uses the phrase, in Ramadan or in any other month‛. Pay heed! She is talking about a Solaat that is
performed all around the year; not only in Ramadhan. We all know that Tarawiih is only performed in the month of Ramadhan. That means she is not talking about Tarawiih; she is talking about Salat Al-Layl (Tahajjud). As explained by some scholars.
3: Both Aaishah and Abu Salamah Ibn Abdi Rahman were alive during the reign of Umar, Uthman and Ali. If Aaishah and other Sahaabah knew this hadeeth to be about solaat Taraawiih, why did they not correct Umar about it when he established twenty rak’ah in congregation during his reign?!
4: All of them continued to perform solaat Taraawiih in this way including Umar, Uthman, Ali, and even Aaishah. But there is no recorded protest by Aaishah or any other sahaabah in the books of hadeeth or Islamic History about it. Never did she nor any of the sahaabah stopped people from it or warned them about this “bid’ah”.
5: Certainly, no Muslim will believe that Aaishah and others did not oppose Umar for the fear of reprisal; nor can we believe that the narrator of the hadeeth, Aaishah herself and others did not properly understand the meaning of this hadeeth. Most certainly Aaishah knew this hadeeth did not pertain to solaat Taraawiih. She knew that this hadeeth was related to solaat tahajjud which is also called solaat layl. This is why she or any other did not oppose Umar.
6: When we look at the complete hadeeth, we notice that Aaisha explained how the Prophet used to perform these eleven rak’ah. The hadeeth says that he used to perform four rak’ah, then four rak’ah, then three rak’ah (the Prophet used to perform four rak’ah as well) and throughout the year.
Everyone knows that solaat Taraawiih is basically performed in twos and not four rak’ah at a time. Often, the proponents of eight rak’ah for Tarawiih do not mention the full hadeeth which then creates
confusion and misunderstanding in the minds of common Muslims.
If we are to apply this hadeeth to solaat Taraawiih, then we would have to perform solaat Taraawiih throughout the year and perform it four, four, and three rak’ah as witr.
CONCLUSION:
The narration which says the Prophet used to pray eleven rak’ah and make them very lengthy, so much so that it used to take him most of the night. Indeed, one night in which the Prophet solla Allahu alayhi wa sallam led his companions in praying Taraawiih, he did not end his prayer until just before dawn, and the Sahaabah feared that they would miss suhoor. The Sahaabah loved to pray behind the Prophet and they did not feel that it was too long.
The scholars thought that if the Imam made the prayer so long, this would be too difficult for the members of the congregation and that might put them off. So they thought that the imam should make the recitation shorter and increase the number of rak’ah. The point is that the one who prays (including witr) twenty-three, twenty-one, thirty-six, eleven rak’ah in the manner narrated from the Prophet is doing well and is following the Sunnah.
Whoever makes the recitation shorter and increases the number of rak’ah is also doing well. A person who does either of these two things is not to be denounced. Taraawiih is a naafil(supererogatory) prayer and not an obligation. You can pray eleven, thirteen rak’ah if that is what your strength can afford or those you are leading, if you have strength to pray more than 21 or 23 rak’ah, you can also do so, just make it two-two rak’ah with odd number of witr and make sure the recitation of the Qur’an is pronounced in a good and correct manner.
The misunderstanding of what the Ijmaa’u(unanimous consensus of the sahaabah) entails would make an individual to conclude that praying eight or less is in contrary to Ijmaa’u. There was neither Ijmaa’u on any specific rak’ah, rather the Ijmaa’u was on the legitimacy of certain Rak’ah which is 20. That is the undisputable truth and fact. Claiming Ijmaa’u for a specific rak’ah is an extreme. Likewise, restricting the number to certain rak’ah.
Ibn Taymiyah said: “If a person prays Taraawiih according to the madhhabs of Abu Haneefah, al-Shaafi’iy and Ahmad, with twenty rak’ahs, or according to the madhhab of Maalik, with thirty-six rak’ah, or with thirteen or eleven rak’ah, he has done well, as Imam Ahmad said, because there is nothing to specify the number. So the greater or lesser number of rak’ah depends on how long or short the qiyaam (standing in the prayer) is.
Reference: Al-Ikhtiyaaraat, page 64.
Also, we might not differentiate between tahajjud of Ramadhaan and solaatu Taraawiih since the legitimate time for solaatu Taraawiih is between Ishai and Fajr, one can make eight or ten or twenty rak’ah after ishai, take a rest, and before sahuur make another eight or ten rak’ah, including solaat witr, all these make solaatu Taraawiih.
[Extracted Pg 57-62: Fiqh Ramadhan in Accordance With The Four Madh-hab by Ibn Taofeeq Abdul Azeez]