Message #19355

[N. Truth Seeker]

And here is something interesting which  from that link Sister Ruhi provided.

"Until the death of the Prophet (PBUH), the Taraweeh prayer was offered individually. During the caliphate of Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq (RA) also, the Taraweeh prayer was not performed in congregation. During the caliphate of Hazrat Umar Farooq (RA), when he noticed that the Companions were praying Taraweeh individually, he gathered them under the leadership of Hazrat Ubayy ibn Ka'b (RA), and after the obligatory prayer of 'Isha', began the formal process of completing the Qur'an in prayer in 20 rakahs of Taraweeh."


So according to Milligazette, Umar bin Khatab started the practice of Tarawih.  While I agree that during times of the Prophet (pbuh) and his closest friend, Abu Bakr, Tarawih was not offered in large congregations (as now), I doubt if Umar bin Khatab would change that.  While the Prophet (pbuh) and Abu Bakr avoided the practice of congregations for Tarawih, Umar didn't.  I absolutely don't think Umar would have made such a decision.  I think traditionalists are using the name of the 2nd righteous Caliph to give credence to congregational tarawih because they cannot forge the name of the Prophet (pbuh) here as some ahadith itself have said the Prophet (pbuh) did not want tarawih to be viewed as obligatory.