How many rakats are there in "Tarawih Prayer"?

Dear Brother / Sister,

Performing it twenty-rakat is the better one. In the present time, some people insist that tarawih prayer is eight rakats basing their claim on a hadith reported by Hazrat Aisha. Nevertheless, Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) related that our Prophet performed twenty rakats of tarawih prayer and witr prayer (a necessary prayer performed between night prayer and dawn prayer) in congregation during the month of Ramadan. Moreover, concerning the issue, the companions of our prophet had unity of action. After all, the tarawih prayer is twenty rakats according to the Hanafi, Shafi'i and Hanbali, madhhabs (schools of law). In the Maliki school, there are two opinions about it: one is twenty rakats and the other is thirty-six rakats. However, the twenty-rakat view is more common. For this reason, the ones who are too old and sick should at least perform eight rakats if they can afford it, and yet Muslim people who are robust enough must perform the twenty-rakat prayer.

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