The Night Prayer it's Names and Attributes.

By SHAIKH ABU ABDUR-RAHMAN YAHYA SILMY BIN M. NUBAR AS-SAYLANI AS-SALAFI AS-ATHARI (hafizahullaah)

Names of this Prayer in the Qur'aan and Sunnah
The Arabic words used for this night prayers in the text of Qur'aan and Sunnah are two following terms.:

Qiyaam: 
In the Qur'aan Allah has mentioned the word Qiyaam in the following verse : And those who spend the night before thier Lord, Prostrating and Standing  (Surah Al-Furqan Verse No. 64)

In the Sunnah the Prophet Muhammed has mentioned the word Qiyaam as following :On the authority of Abu Huraira I heard Allah's Apostle saying : Whoever prayed at night in it (the month of Ramadan) with belief and a wish for a reward from Allah, then all his previous sins will be forgiven. (Narrated by Imam Al-Bukhari in his Saheeh -Book of Taraweeh, Chapter The superiority of praying at night in Ramadan. Vol. No. 3 page 126 Hadith No.226 )

Tahajjud:
In the Qur'aan Allah has mentioned the word Tahajjud in the following verse: And some parts of the night (also) offer some optional Salat (prayer) (Surah Al-israa Verse No. 79)

Both in Qur'aan and Sunnah the word Qiyaam or the word Tahajjud are being used in the same meaning and there is no any two different meanings to be understood. The texts of Qur'aan and Sunnah tells us one message.

The only one small difference which was defined by certain Ulemas is that the word Qiyaam means praying while the Tahajjud means the prayer which is prayed after break of rest from sleep. It should be understood that this again does not keep any room for a separate understanding as some have misunderstood these terms. The below hadeeth tells us of the priority of the prayer after sleep.

On the authority of Abdullah bin Amr saying (from the Apostle of Allah ): The most beloved prayer to Allah is that of Dawud u, And the most beloved fast to Allah is are those of Dawud u He use to sleep for half of the night and then pray for one third of the night, and sleep for it's sixth part and use to fast on alternative days. (Narrated by Imam Al-Bukhari in his Saheeh -Book of Tahajjud, Chapter Sleeping in the last hours of the nigh. Vol. No.2 page 129 Hadith No.231 )

Thus these two words are different two titles for the night prayer. If the night prayer is said after sleep it gets it's title as the Tahajjud other wise it is only a Qiyaam. It should be noted that every Tahajjud again has the right to be titled as Qiyaam as well. But not every Qiyaam has the right to be titled as Tahajjud. We should understand that these terms and thier differentiation were not present at the time of the Prophet Muhammed r. These are the different steps of the Ulemas to make people realize the fact of every action. In the books the scholars of Hadith and as well the scholars of Fiqh all have included both the prayer either prayed before the sleep or prayed after the sleep (The Tahajjud) under one heading. Some have titled these under the heading Tahajjud while some have titled these under the title Qiyaam. Only the difference they have shown is that the Tahajjud is to that which is performed after the sleep. Allah knows the best.
And concerning the word Taraweeh it took it's name for this prayer because of it was from the rest which they use to keep between the long standings which they had in thier prayers. The word "Taraweeh" is taken from it's Arabic word "Raha" which means rest. Thus this prayer is also called as the Taraweeh prayer. This is a title given by the Ulemans of Islam and not a word from the text of Qur'aan or Sunnah.
Thus one trying to search a prayer titled Taraweeh in the text of Qur'aan or Sunnah is a thing that can never reach to. Allah knows the best.

Attributes of this Prayer:
Among the main attributes of this prayer is that it has to be performed at night after the Isha prayers. Among the attributes of this prayer are : 

Long Prostrations and Standings in this prayer

On the authority of Ayesha (Ra) The Apostle of Allah : use to prolong the prostration to such an extent that one could recite fifty verses (of the Qur'aan) before he would lift his head. He used to pray two Rakaats before the Fajr prayer and then used to lie down on his right side till the call-maker came and informed his about the prayer. ( Narrated by Imam Al-Bukhari in his Saheeh -Book of Tahajjud, Chapter To perform a long prostration in the Tahajjjud prayers. Vol. No.2 page 125 Hadith No.223 )

On the authority of Mughairah The Prophet : used to stand (in the night prayer) or pray till both his feet or legs swelled. He was asked why (he offered such an unbearable prayer) and he said , "should I not be a thankful slave." (Narrated by Imam Al-Bukhari in his Saheeh -Book of Tahajjud, Chapter standing of the Prophet at night. Vol. No.2 page 128 Hadith No.230 )

Last Third portion of the night
The best time for this prayer is the last third portion of the night as explained in the below hadeeth , anyhow at other times as well this prayer has been offered by the Prophet Muhammed as explained in the next discussion.

On the authority of Abdullah bin Amr saying (from the Apostle of Allah ): The most beloved prayer to Allah is that of Dawud u, And the most beloved fast to Allah is are those of Dawud u He use to sleep for half of the night and then pray for one third of the night, and sleep for it's sixth part and use to fast on alternative days. (Narrated by Imam Al-Bukhari in his Saheeh -Book of Tahajjud, Chapter Sleeping in the last hours of the nigh. Vol. No.2 page 129 Hadith No.231 )

Prayer at other portions of the night
On the authority of Ayesha (Ra) Allah's Apostle went out in the middle of the night and prayed in the mosque and some men prayed behind him. In the morning, the people spoke about it and then a large of them gathered and prayed behind him on the second night. In the next morning the people again talked about it and on the third night the mosque was full with a large number of people. Allah's Apostle came out and the people prayed behind him. On the fourth night the Mosque was overwhelmed with people and could not accommodate them, but the Prophet came out only for the morning prayers. When the morning prayer was finished he recited the sermon and addressing the people said : " And then : Your presence was not hidden to me but I was afraid lest the night prayer would be made compulsory on you and you might not be able to carry] it on So, Allah's Apostle died and the situation remained like that. (Narrated by Imam Al-Bukhari in his Saheeh -Book of Taraweeh, Chapter Superiority of praying at night in Ramadhan. Vol. No.3 page 127-128 Hadith No.229 )

In this above hadeeth we get the Prophet Muhammed prayed at the mid-night. Which is among the evidence of praying in other than the last third portion of the night. This hadeeth shows how the night prayer of Prophet Muhammed starts. Among some of the below hadeeth explains us the matter more clear :

On the authority of Ubada bin As-Samit t the Prophet Muhammed said : Whoever gets up at night and says : La ilaha il-Allah Wahdahu la Sharika lahu. Lahul Mulk, Wa - Lahul Humd Wahuwa Ala Kulli Shai'in Qadeer. Alhumdu lill-Allahi wa-Subhab-Allahi La-Ilaha il-Allah Walahu Akbar Wala-Houwla Wala Quwata illa-Billah.
[None has the right to worshipped but Allah. He is the only One and has no partners. For Him is the Kingdom and all the praises are due for Him. he is Omnipotent. All the praises are for Allah. All the glories are for Allah. And none has the right to be worshipped but Allah. And Allah is Great. And there is neither Might nor Power Except with Allah.]
And then Says : Allahumma, Ighfir Li [ O Allah ! Forgive me.] Or invokes Allah he will be responded to and if he performs ablution and prayers his prayer will be accepted. (Narrated by Imam Al-Bukhari in his Saheeh -Book of Tahhajjud, Chapter Superiority of one who wake up at night and offers the prayer with a loud voice. Vol. No.2 page 140-128 Hadith No.253 )

Tarweeh in Congretional Prayer
The Amount of Rakaats from the Prayer of the Prophet Muhammed 11 Rakaats from the Prayer of the Prophet Muhammed 23 Rakaats from the Prayer of the Prophet Muhammed Guidelines from the Prayer of the Prophet Muhammed Certain doubts and their clarifications.

Doubt No.1 and it's Clarification - Difference of the Imams in the amount of the Prayer of the Prophet Muhammad

Doubt No.2 and it's Clarification - No problem of increasing as long as there is no forbiddance of praying.

Doubt No.3 and it's Clarification - Holding to the General Texts as evidence.

Main reason for the difference of Opinion of the Imams.

Umar bin Al-Khattab Awakening the Taraweeh prayers in One Congressional

The statement of Umar bin Al-Khattab "A Good Bid'aa" in this action.

The Amount of Rakaats in the order of Umar bin Al-Khattab.

11 Rakaats in the order of Umar bin Al-Khattab .

23 Rakaats in the order of Umar bin Al-Khattab.

Imams positions on the narrations of the Rakaats in the order of Umar bin Al-Khattab .

Doubts concerning these narrations and it's clarifications.

Doubt No.1 and it's clarification - Strengthening these narrations.

Doubt No.2 and it's clarification - The proper way to understand both the narrations.

Doubt No.3 and it's clarification - The proper excuse for the twenty Rakaats.

The Amount of the Rakaats by the Sahabas in the Tarweeh Prayer

Ali bin Abi Talib.

The Witr Prayer and it's rules and regulations