بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
The prophet (ﷺ) said: "Verily he among you who lives long after me will see great discord, so you must hold to my Sunnah and to the Sunnah of the Khulafā ar-Rāshidīn (the rightly guided caliphs) after me (i.e. Abu Bakr, Umar, 'Uthmān, 'Alī). Cling to it firmly [literally: with your molar teeth]. Beware of newly invented matters [in the religion], for verily every bidah (innovation) is misguidance." (Abū Dawūd 4607. Declared Sahīh by Shu'ayb Al-Arnāūt, al-Tirmidhī, Al-Albānī)
Imām Māliks report:
وَحَدَّثَنِي عَنْ مَالِكٍ، عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ يُوسُفَ، عَنِ السَّائِبِ بْنِ يَزِيدَ، أَنَّهُ قَالَ أَمَرَ عُمَرُ بْنُ الْخَطَّابِ أُبَىَّ بْنَ كَعْبٍ وَتَمِيمًا الدَّارِيَّ أَنْ يَقُومَا، لِلنَّاسِ بِإِحْدَى عَشْرَةَ رَكْعَةً قَالَ وَقَدْ كَانَ الْقَارِئُ يَقْرَأُ بِالْمِئِينَ حَتَّى كُنَّا نَعْتَمِدُ عَلَى الْعِصِيِّ مِنْ طُولِ الْقِيَامِ وَمَا كُنَّا نَنْصَرِفُ إِلاَّ فِي فُرُوعِ الْفَجْرِ
Yahyā related to me from Mālik from Muhammad ibn Yūsuf that as- Sā’ib ibn Yazīd said, “Umar ibn al-Khattab ordered Ubayy ibn Ka’b and Tamīm ad-Dārī to lead the people in Qiyām with eleven rak’ah. The reciter of the Qur’ān would recite one hundred ayāt (in each rak’ah) until we would be leaning on our canes from having stood so long in prayer. And we would not finish until the approach of fajr“.
(Muwatta of Mālik 6/250. Authenticated by Al-Albānī in Qiyām al-Layl; this isnād is very authentic because Muhammad bin Yūsuf is considered trustworthy by the scholars, and al-Bukhārī and Muslim have accepted his narrations. As-Sā’ib bin Yazīd is a sahabi who performed hajj in his youth with the prophet (ﷺ))
(Also declared Sahīh by Al-Mubārakfūrī in Tuhfah al-Awadhī 3/528)
Ibn al-Arabī al-Mālikī says regarding the number of rak’ah in the night prayer:
The correct view is that one should pray eleven rak’ahs, which is in accordance to the way the prophet (ﷺ) prayed his Qiyām.
As for other numbers, there is no basis for them, and there is no proof to them. If it is necessary to limit them, then (let it be) what the Prophet (ﷺ) used to pray: “The Prophet did not exceed eleven rak’ahs in Ramadān or at any other time” [1] , and this prayer is the night prayer, so it is necessary to follow the example of the Prophet (ﷺ) in it. (‘Aridah al-Ahwadhī 3/196-197)
It has been established that the prophet (ﷺ) and his companions prayed eleven rak’ah in Qiyām. This is the correct number that they have been reported to pray, without exceeding it, during ramadān and at other times of the year.
There is no authentic report [2] confirming that any of the companions prayed twenty rak’ah for tarawīh. Rather it is confirmed that Umar commanded the people to pray eleven rak’ah, which conforms with the authentic reported practise of the prophet (ﷺ) [1]. Therefore it is obligatory to adhere to this number, without adding to it.
Imām al-San’ānī declared that the number of twenty rak’ah in tarawīh is a bid’ah. He then said: ‘there is nothing praiseworthy in a bid’ah, rather every bid’ah is an act of deviation.
(Abridged from the Book of Tarawīh and Qiyām by Al-Albānī, prepared by Muhammad al-Jibaly, edition 2)
[1]
Narrated by Abū Salama bin `Abdur Rahmān:
(Sahīh al-Bukhārī 2013)
that he asked ‘Āishah: “How was the (night) prayer of Allāhs Messenger (ﷺ) in Ramadān?” She replied, “He did not pray more than eleven rak’ah in Ramadān or in any other month.
حَدَّثَنَا إِسْمَاعِيلُ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنِي مَالِكٌ، عَنْ سَعِيدٍ الْمَقْبُرِيِّ، عَنْ أَبِي سَلَمَةَ بْنِ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ، أَنَّهُ سَأَلَ عَائِشَةَ ـ رضى الله عنها ـ كَيْفَ كَانَتْ صَلاَةُ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فِي رَمَضَانَ فَقَالَتْ مَا كَانَ يَزِيدُ فِي رَمَضَانَ، وَلاَ فِي غَيْرِهَا عَلَى إِحْدَى عَشْرَةَ رَكْعَةً،
[2] for a detailed list of reports and why they have been categorised as weak, please see here: https://fawaaids.com/2024/03/10/are-the-narrations-of-tarawih-consisting-of-20-rakah-authentic/
fawaaids.com 