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Worship & Prayer
Can you please explain the taraweeh prayer of 8 and 20 rak'ah?
Aisha narrated that the Prophet prayed eight rakah in the evening time and this hadith is in Sahih Bukhari. Now for this particular narration, Aisha, this is just her view. It doesn't mean that the Prophet didn't pray more rakah at different times when she wasn't there, which is a valid possibility. Or it also means that the eight rakah were specific for the tahajjud prayer, not for taraweeh. And so that's why you find that many masajid, many mosques, they'll pray 20 rakah based on various narrations from some of the sahaba. The key point being that whether you pray eight, whether you pray 20, just finish when the imam finishes, whatever the imam prays. Because we know the hadith of the Prophet Muhammad SAW in Sahih Muslim that whoever prays with the imam until the imam finishes, you will have the reward as if you prayed the entire night. So don't leave before the imam finishes and you will have the reward as if you prayed the entire night, regardless of how many rakah the imam prays. Praise.