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Taraweeh Prayers

صلاة التراويح

People stand in horizontal lines during prayers and do a series of movements that include prostrating.

There are sites, sounds and flavors that take place only during the month of Ramadan, such as communal iftars and taraweeh prayers.  No one really eats alone during that month or prays alone.  Following the same tradition every year, my family got together for a sumptuous meal,  and before we knew it, it  was time for the night prayers or Isha followed by the taraweeh prayers.

Taraweeh prayers are only performed during Ramadan and their rituals return from year to year as if they have never left in the first place. As we were having mint tea after eating, we heard the adhan (call for prayers) for Isha and looking out of the balcony  towards the street of the mosque located right next to the house, I saw many people scurrying towards the mosque- men, women and children.

Taraweeh are part of  the discipline and intensive worship that Muslims  perform during that month.  The term taraweeh actually means to rest.  The prayers could be performed   for over an hour or could be very short.  People stand in horizontal lines next to each other and perform a series of cycles and movements that include standing while reading portions of the quran, bowing, prostrating and sitting.  They all follow the imam, or leader of the prayers and after four of each of those cycles, one could sit for a brief period to rest- and hence the name ‘rest prayers’.

Mosques are usually open to all during that time, but not everyone must go.  Elderly people, women, children, and sick people could pray at home.  Even if one is simply tired the prayers could be performed at home.

The length of the prayers also varies.  Some people like to read long portions of the quran while others simply go for the short quick ones. Elderly people sometimes sit throughout the prayers while others prefer to stand. Which ever way they’re done, performing them in the garden of the mosque next door was enjoyable and simple enough to want to do them again.

There are voices that one hears only during the month of Ramadan, and the voice for taraweeh prayers is one of those voices that is always welcomed back from year to year.

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