Praying al-Tarawih alone during Ramadan Fatwa No: 86870
- Fatwa Date:4-1-2004
If I pray al-Tarawih in Ramadan alone should I raise my voice?
Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions. The person who prays alone at night has the choice to raise his voice in reading or read silently. Of the Hadith by Ayisha (Radiya Allahu Anha) when she was asked: 'Was the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) reading loudly (while praying) at night?' She said: 'Yes, he might raise (his voice) or he might not'. Narrated by Ahmad and others with a correct record. For that (reason), Ibn Qayyim said in 'Zad Al Ma'ad' (book): The Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) was sometimes reading silently while praying at night, and reading loudly at other times. But it is not permissible to read loudly if that is causing inconvenience and disturbance to others who are praying or reading (Qur'an); as narrated by Malik in the 'Muwatta': Narrated by others from Al Bayadi that the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) appeared to the people while they were praying and raising their voices while reading, and (the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam)) said: The person who is praying is talking confidentially to his Lord, so one should realize his words of discourse. And let not a group of you raise their voices over the other group while reading the Qur'an. Also Abu Dawood narrated from Abu Saeed Al Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: The Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) stayed in the mosque (I'tikaf) and heard them (the people) raising voices loudly in reading the Qur'an. He unveiled the curtain and said: All of you are in an intimate discourse with Allah, so let not a group of you disturb the other group, and do not raise your voices in reading over one another-or he said: in prayer. Ibn Abdul Bar said in the 'Al Tamheed': The Hadith of Al Bayadi and (that of) Abu Saeed both are correct. Allah knows best.