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The Difference Between Tarāwīḥ And Qiyām Al-Layl | Shaykh Muḥammad Ibn Ṣāliḥ Al-ʿUthaymīn

The Questioner: May Allāh bless you. He has another question, this listener who referred to his name with the letters ʿayn mīm; he says which will receive more reward, the Qiyām al-Layl prayer or the Tarāwīḥ prayer? And will the Qiyām al-Layl prayer not be considered valid unless an individual goes to sleep and then wakes up? And are there different characteristics in the Qiyām al-Layl prayer that differ from the Tarāwīḥ prayer and should it be prayed two by two with the final unit of prayer being one; please benefit us in this regard?

Shaykh Muḥammad ibn Ṣāliḥ al-ʿUthaymīn: “This questioner believes that there is a difference between Tarāwīḥ and Qiyām al-Layl. In reality, there is no difference between them both so Tarāwīḥ is considered from the night prayer (Qiyām al-Layl) and it is for this reason that we consider the Muslims to be establishing Qiyām al-Layl from the very first night of Ramaḍān.

And the statement of the Prophet (): ‘Whoever stands up for the night prayer in Ramaḍān out of true faith and seeking Allāh's pleasure, whatever has preceded from his sins will be forgiven.’ This includes Tarāwīḥ since it is considered from the night prayer (Qiyām al-Layl) without a doubt.

However, what has become customary among the people is that the prayer in which the recitation, bowing and prostration has been lengthened is considered the night prayer (Qiyām al-Layl) whereas whatever involves less than that is considered Tarāwīḥ. This is an understanding based upon customs and this understanding is not based upon the legislation of Islām.

Rather, the understanding supported by the Islāmic legislation is that Qiyām al-Layl and Tarāwīḥ are the same. They are both considered to be prayer which is performed at night, however the Qiyām al-Layl is well-known among the people to involve lengthening the bowing and prostration because it usually occurs at the end of the night.

And the end of the night is an appropriate time for the lengthening of the prayer in order to enable the people to supplicate for whatever they wish for since the end of the night is the time when supplications are answered according to the statement of the Prophet (): ‘Our Lord descends to the heavens of this world during the last third of the night when He says: ‘Who will call upon Me so that I might respond to him? Who will ask of Me so that I might give to him? Who might seek My forgiveness so that I might give it to him until the appearance of Fajr?’

And [as for] the statement of the questioner, does the night prayer (Qiyām al-Layl) only occur after sleeping? We say that this question is based upon what has preceded; since the questioner thinks that there is a difference between Tarāwīḥ and Qiyām al-Layl. So then if we had said that Qiyām al-Layl is the night prayer and that it includes Tarāwīḥ then we wouldn't have received this question’”

Translated By: Abul-Layth Qāsim Mutiva