How to Muslim
Taraweeh is the night prayer of Ramadan, prayed after Isha. It is two rak'ahs at a time, as many as you can manage, and in most mosques it is where you will hear the Quran read from start to finish across the month.
Whoever stands in prayer during the nights of Ramadan out of faith and hoping for reward, his previous sins will be forgiven.
Taraweeh comes from a word meaning "to rest". It is the nightly voluntary prayer of Ramadan, and it takes its name from the short pause worshippers take after every four rak'ahs.
It is strongly encouraged, not obligatory. Missing a night is not a sin.
Every night of Ramadan, after you have prayed Isha and its two sunnah rak'ahs, and before you pray Witr. The window runs until dawn.
Always in sets of two, with a tasleem after each. The totals you will meet:
Both are prayed across the Muslim world and you are not doing anything wrong by following either. There is no obligation to match your imam's total: if you leave after eight and he continues, your prayer stands.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) prayed it in the mosque for a few nights, then stopped going out to it. Later, Umar found people praying scattered around the mosque, some alone and some in small groups, and gathered them behind a single imam, Ubay ibn Ka'b.
That is the practice mosques still follow. Taraweeh is one of only a handful of voluntary prayers offered in congregation at all. (Sahih al-Bukhari)
The four obligatory rak'ahs of Isha, then the two sunnah rak'ahs after it. Taraweeh does not start until Isha is done.
Intend in your heart to pray two rak'ahs of Taraweeh. Nothing is said out loud.
Two rak'ahs, exactly like any other two-rak'ah prayer:
Carry on two at a time. After every four, take the short break the prayer is named after: sit, catch your breath, make dua or say some dhikr, then stand for the next set.
Witr closes the night. Its window is the same: any time between Isha and dawn.
One rak'ah on its own is enough, and five, seven, nine or eleven are all reported. Three is the usual choice.
If you know you will not be getting up again before dawn, pray Witr now with the congregation.
If you do expect to pray again later in the night, leave Witr until then. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said prayer at the end of the night is witnessed, and that is better. (Sahih Muslim)
This is where Taraweeh is meant to be prayed, and it is one of the few voluntary prayers offered in congregation. The imam usually reads about one juz a night so the Quran is completed across the month.
If you are new and nervous about going, the rows are the easiest place in the world to blend in. Everyone is facing the same way.
Completely valid, alone or leading your family. Nobody has to be a scholar to lead it, only to know a few surahs.
Yes. If you have not memorised much, holding a copy or a phone to read from while you stand is permitted, and it is how many people get through longer readings at home.
Either. The mosque, in the women's section, or at home, whichever you will actually concentrate in.
Join the row anyway, but intend Isha rather than Taraweeh. When the imam gives salam after his two rak'ahs, stand back up and finish the remaining two of your Isha on your own. Then join the next set of Taraweeh.
Sit. On a chair or on the floor, for part of it or all of it. A voluntary prayer prayed sitting is still a prayer, and twenty rak'ahs standing is not more virtuous than eight you can actually finish.
They are the same kind of prayer, at different points of the night. Taraweeh is the name for it in Ramadan, prayed early in the night in congregation. Tahajjud is the night prayer through the rest of the year, after you have slept.
Nothing is owed. It is voluntary, and Ramadan is long. Come back the next night rather than writing the month off.
New to all of this? Start from the beginning.
Where to take this further.
A curated hub of Sunni videos, books, and dawah resources.
islamic-library.org · FreeResearch-driven answers to the doubts and questions Muslims actually have.
yaqeeninstitute.org · Free