Is It Sinful If My Husband Misses Tarawih Prayers at the Mosque to Help at Home?

Answered by Ustadh Tabraze Azam

Question: Assalam alaykum.

My husband attends tarawih every night but I stay at home with our small children. If I am not well, would it be sinful on both my husband and I if I ask him to miss tarawih prayer in the mosque to help me with the children? 

Jazak Allah

Answer: Wa alaykum assalam wa rahmat Allah,

No, it would not be sinful for your husband to pray the tarawih prayer at home.

Note that it is a confirmed sunna to pray salat al-tarawih, and also to do so by praying twenty cycles (rakats). But praying in congregation at the mosque is a communal sunna (sunna kifaya), so as long as a group of the community is praying there, it would be optimal and recommended for an individual to attend. As such, there is nothing wrong with praying individually at home in the case of need or benefit. However, all things being equal, the basis is to seek out the most complete prayer at the mosque, and the tremendous, multiplied rewards therein.

Do your best. Consider spreading out the prayer throughout the night, and consult with other religious mothers to see how they deal with such situations. Pray the Prayer of Need (salat al-hajah), asking Allah Most High for excellence (ihsan).

Please see: How Does One Perform The Prayer of Need (salat al-haja)? : The Ruling of the Tarawih Prayer: A Confirmed Sunna and: Is it Necessary to Perform Tarawih Prayers in the Mosque?

And Allah Most High alone knows best.

Wassalam

[Ustadh] Tabraze Azam

Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Ustadh Tabraze Azam was born and raised in Ipswich, England, a quiet town close to the east coast of England. His journey for seeking sacred knowledge began when he privately memorized the entire Qur’an in his hometown at the age of 16. He also had his first experience in leading the tarawih (nightly-Ramadan) prayers at his local mosque. Year after year he would continue this unique return to reciting the entire Quran in one blessed month both in his homeland, the UK, and also in the blessed lands of Shaam, where he now lives, studies and teaches.