bowing after completing the recitation. Then, when he rises and says, “Our Lord, to You belongs all praise,” he performs qunut, as is related in most of the reports from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, (1) and as held by most scholars; or he may perform qunut after completing the recitation, then pronounce the takbir and bow. All of this is established in the sunnah. (2)

Note: From the author’s statement, may Allah have mercy on him, “unless a calamity befalls the Muslims,” it is understood that if a calamity befalls non-Muslims, qunut is not performed on its account.

Tarawih Is Twenty Rak'ahs . . .

His statement: “Tarawih is twenty.” “Tarawih” is the subject, and “twenty” is its predicate. Tarawih is an emphatically confirmed sunnah, because it is part of the night prayer in Ramadan. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Whoever stands in prayer during Ramadan out of faith and seeking reward will be forgiven his previous sins.”

It was called Tarawih because it was their custom, after praying four rak'ahs, to sit briefly and rest. This was based on the hadith of Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, would pray four rak'ahs—do not ask about their beauty and length—then pray another four—do not ask about their beauty and length—and then pray three. (3) The point is that she said, “He would pray four, then . . .” The word “then” indicates an ordered sequence with an interval; thus, there was a separation between the first four, the second four, and the final three. Each set of four was concluded with the salam after every two rak'ahs, as is explicitly stated in Aisha’s hadith: he would pray eleven rak'ahs, concluding with the salam after every two rak'ahs. (4)

This is contrary to what some students of knowledge mistakenly suppose: that the first four rak'ahs are combined with one salam, and the second four likewise. That is an error,