Praying Tarāwīḥ In The Mosques Of The People Of Innovation| Shaykh ‘Abdullāh Al- Bukhārī
The Question: “This questioner says in a place where there
are aren’t any Mosques for the people of the Sunnah, yet there are [numerous]
Mosques for the people of innovation wherein they pray Tarāwīḥ incorrectly, which
is better; for the Salafīs
to pray by themselves in their homes or should they pray altogether in
congregation in those centers?”
Shaykh ‘Abdullāh ibn ‘Abdul-Raḥīm
al-Bukhārī: “It came in the question that they are praying Tarāwīḥ incorrectly. So if
their prayer is in a manner which is incorrect as it is mentioned, then how
could you pray with them?! They are praying incorrectly, would you pray
incorrectly behind them?! Even if they weren’t from the people of innovation; if an
Imām prayed incorrectly with the people,
it is not lawful for you to pray behind him.
And it is as if in his statement that they pray Tarāwīḥ incorrectly that
they mean that they oppose the Sunnah, or he intends by praying Tarāwīḥ incorrectly, then if the prayer was
incorrect and missing pillars, then it is not lawful to pray in that Mosque I’m sorry, [I mean]
behind them. It is not lawful to pray behind them because the prayer [behind
them] is incorrect.
Then what then is
obligatory upon you to do if it was a situation where there is no place for the
people of the Sunnah to pray at? Then you should return to your home and pray
with your family, you can combine the good of these two good actions; you have
established the Sunnah and encouraged your family as well and prompted them to
offer Tarāwīḥ prayer and like this.
However, if the
questioner intended with his statement that they prayed incorrectly that they
oppose the Sunnah in terms of number, pay attention, in terms of number;
meaning that they do not restrict themselves to eleven units of prayer. Meaning
that they add [units of prayer]. In this case it is not appropriate to use this
expression that they are praying incorrectly.
If the prayer was
correct and did not involve deficiencies in its pillars or obligations, instead
we should say that it is not consistent with the Sunnah according to the
opinion of some people of knowledge. Is this clear?
Here there is no harm
in the prayer. And praying with the people of innovation, May Allāh bless you, the people of knowledge
have already spoken regarding it. And from the speech of the scholars and their
verdicts is that prayer behind a religious innovator (mubtadi’) if his
innovation was something that causes disbelief, then it is not permissible to
pray behind him.
However, if his innovation was something that was merely
sinful, then prayer behind this individual is permissible even though it would
be better to pray behind someone who is not an innovator (mubtadi’).
And this type of situation calls for the people of the
Sunnah to provide places of prayer and Mosques where they can establish the
prayer upon the Sunnah. This encourages them and calls for them to establish
that according to their abilities and Allāh knows best.”
Originally published on June 29, 2016 by Masjid Al-Wahyain MN
