10-21-2005, 11:08 PM
JazaakAllah Khair Sister Muslimah for the information
I always used to think that Taraweeh was always 20 rakaats. Some people pray 8, and that's ok too. And Tahajjud can be anything from 2 to 12 rakaats. However, as you mentioned, BOTH of these prayers are voluntary prayers, and the Qur'an certainly does not set a limit to the number. The fact that we have so many different hadeeths saying different numbers shows that different companions saw the Prophet (saw) praying different numbers of rakaats. this proves that it cannot be said to be bidah to pray as many rakaats as one wants, as long as they are between the Isha prayer, and the Fajr prayer. All these prayers come under the common term "Qiyam" used in the Qur'an. This is just my understanding, so please don't use this as a basis for your decisions. And Allah knows best.