2 – The Prophet ﷺ never performed more than eleven rakʿahs of tarāwīḥ.
Having established the legitimacy of holding the tarāwīḥ prayer in congregation by virtue of the Prophet’s ﷺ approval, action, and exhortation, we shall now clarify how many rakʿahs he prayed on those nights he enlivened with the people. On this question we possess two hadiths.
The first:
– 7 (Sound)
Abū Salamah ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān reported that he asked ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her), “How was the Messenger of Allah’s ﷺ prayer in Ramadan?” She replied:
“During Ramadan and at other times the Messenger of Allah ﷺ never exceeded eleven rakʿahs.
He would pray four—do not ask about their beauty and length—
then another four—do not ask about their beauty and length—
then he would pray three.”
Related by al-Bukhārī, Muslim, Abū ʿAwānah, Abū Dāwūd, al-Tirmidhī, al-Nasāʾī, Mālik, al-Bayhaqī through Mālik, and Aḥmad.
In another narration recorded by Ibn Abī Shaybah, Muslim, and others: “His prayer in Ramadan and elsewhere was thirteen rakʿahs at night, two of which were the rakʿahs before Fajr.”
Another version preserved by Mālik—and, through him, by al-Bukhārī and others—states that she said: “He would pray thirteen rakʿahs at night; then, upon hearing the call to the dawn prayer, he would offer two brief rakʿahs.”
Al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar remarked: “It is conceivable that, in addition to the night prayer, this total includes the sunnah of ʿIshāʾ, for he used to perform it at home, or the two light rakʿahs with which he inaugurated the night prayer, since Muslim records from her that he opened it with two light rakʿahs.”