and they concluded with three rakʿahs of witr. Ubayy would shorten the Qurʾanic recitation in proportion to the additional rakʿahs, for that is easier on the congregation than drawing out a single rakʿah. Hence, one may pray twenty rakʿahs, which is the well-known position in the schools of Aḥmad and al-Shāfiʿī; one may perform thirty-six, as in the school of Mālik; or one may limit it to eleven. The increase or decrease in rakʿahs is therefore tied to the length or brevity of the standing. What is best is to adapt to the condition of the worshipers: if they can bear prolonged standing for ten rakʿahs followed by three for witr, that is superior; but if they cannot, then twenty rakʿahs is preferable.

This is what most Muslims actually practice, and it is the procedure followed in the two Holy Sanctuaries. None of these options is disapproved of.

Shaykh Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm Āl al-Shaykh said: “The majority of scholars—including the imams Abu Ḥanīfah, al-Shāfiʿī, and Aḥmad—hold that the tarāwīḥ prayer comprises twenty rakʿahs, because ʿUmar gathered the people behind Ubayy ibn Kaʿb, who led them in twenty rakʿahs in the presence of the Companions. That counted as a consensus, and people have followed it ever since. Therefore, no one should object to their practice; rather, they should be left upon what they are doing. Allah is the One who grants success.”