Miscellaneous Questions Regarding Taraaweeh

Q: Salaah-188: When there is no Haafidh to listen (and correct) the Haafidh leading the Taraaweeh salaah, can someone stand with the Qur'aan open behind the Imaam? Can the Imaam stand with a Qur'aan open before him? I have performed like this but our Imaam refuses to accept it and maintains that the salaah like this will not be valid. The Molvi of the Ahle Hadith however says that it is is permissible. What is the ruling?

Answer: When a person sits behind the Imaam with an open Qur'aan to correct him, he will either have to be holding the Qur'aan on his hand, have it on his lap or on a little table. He will also have to be constantly turning pages. Furthermore, when making Ruku and then Sajdah, he will have to move it away and then get it back afterwards. The Qur'aan and the follower will then be the teachers and the Imaam will be the student. Because all of this amounts to Amal Kahtheer (an excessive act). the salaah will be nullified.

Hadhrat Abdullaah bin Abbaas RADI. says. "Ameerul Mu'mineen (Hadhrat Umar RADI. prohibited us from looking into the Qur'aan when leading People in salaah and instructed that only people who have come of age should lead the salaah.

This is according to the view of Imaam Abu Haneefah RAH. Hadhrat Sa'eed bin Musayyib RAH. Hadhrat Hasan Basri RAH. Hadhrat Sha'bi RAH. and also Allaama Ibn Hazam RAH. whom the Ghayr Muqallideen regard as one of their leaders.

However, salaah will not be invalid if one is reciting from memory and relying on one's memory but at the same time looking into a Qur'aan that is open on the very page where one is reciting.

Those who say that it is permissible to recite while looking in the Qur'aan derive their opinion from a Hadith of Hadhrat Aa'isha RADI. that Imam Bukhaari RAH. has narrated in one of his headings and without a chain of narrators. The Hadith says: "Hadhrat Aa'isha RADI.'s slave Dhakwaa RAH. used to lead her in salaah using the Qur'aan. It is however wrong to deduce from this narration because it cannot be confirmed whether Hadhrat Dhakwaan RAH. had already memorised the Qur'aan or whether he was reading directly from the Quraan without committing it to memory first. It is also unlikely that someone as knowledgeable as Hadhrat Aa'isha RADI. would use someone who recites Qur'aan like a child to lead her in an Ibaadah as important as salaah. By quoting this narration, Imaam Bukhaari RAH. did not intend to make the deduction that one can look into the Qur'aan as an Imaam, but intended to prove that a slave can lead a free person in salaah, even if it be his master or mistress.

The fact of the matter is that this happened during the time when there was only one copy of the Qur'aan in book form. Hadhrat Abu Bakr RADI. has this copy prepared upon the advice of Hadhrat Umar RADI. Hadhrat Abu Bakr RADI. kept his copy with him and then passed it on to his successor Hadhrat Umar RADI. when he passed away. Hadhrat Umar RADI. the placed it in the custody of his daughter Hadhrat Hafsah RADI. During those times there was no trend of reciting the Qur'aan from a written script. The Sahabah RADI. and their students knew the Qur'aan by heart Looking into that one copy of the Qur'aan and reciting from it was a unique opportunity and something regarded as an honour. This narration refers to that unique opportunity. Hadhrat Dhakwaan RAH. therefore would not recite from the Qur'aan itself, but had learnt it and would only compare what he had learnt with the script of the Qur'aan. This interpretation ties in with the trend of the time and the caution of Hadhrat Aa'isha RADI. in the matter. This narration does not prove that it is permissible to recite while looking in the Qur'aan, but proves that those who do use it for this purpose have little knowledge of the Ahadeeth.

Fatawa Rahimiyyah vol.2