Mereka (para fuqaha) sepakat bahwa shalat malam di bulan Ramadan lebih utama daripada shalat malam di bulan-bulan lainnya, berdasarkan sabda Nabi ﷺ, "Barangsiapa menghidupkan malam-malam Ramadan dengan shalat dan ibadah karena iman dan semata-mata mengharap ridha Allah, niscaya diampuni dosa-dosanya yang telah lalu." Shalat tarawih, yang jamaahnya di masjid dimulai oleh Umar, juga disepakati sebagai amalan yang disunnahkan. Namun mereka berbeda pendapat mengenai apakah shalat malam di bulan Ramadan yang dikenal dengan tarawih itu lebih utama, ataukah shalat di akhir malam, yaitu shalat yang diutamakan oleh Rasulullah ﷺ. Mayoritas berpendapat bahwa shalat di akhir malam lebih utama, berdasarkan sabda Nabi ﷺ, "Shalat yang paling utama adalah shalat di rumah kalian, kecuali shalat-shalat wajib." Ada pula ucapan Umar bahwa "shalat yang kalian tinggalkan tidur karenanya itu lebih utama."

They (the jurists) agreed that the Ramadan night prayer is more desirable than the night prayer during any of the other months, because of the words of the Prophet (God’s peace and blessings be upon him), “He who celebrates the Ramadan nights praying and worshipping because of his faith and only for Allah’s sake will be forgiven all prior sins that have issued forth from him”. The (jurists agreed that the) tarawih prayers, the congregation in the mosque for which was started by TJmar, are desirable. They differed, however, on whether these (night prayers during Ramadan known as tarawih) have greater merit or the prayers during the later part of the night, that is, the prayer preferred by the Messenger of Allah (God’s peace and blessings be upon him). The majority held that the prayers of the later part of the night have greater merit because of the words of the Prophet (God’s peace and blessings be upon him), “The best prayer is the prayer in your houses, except .the obligatory prayers”. There is also TJmar’s saying that “those for which you give up sleep have greater merit”.

Mereka berbeda pendapat mengenai jumlah rakaat yang lebih dianjurkan untuk dikerjakan oleh kaum muslimin pada malam-malam bulan Ramadan. Malik, dalam salah satu pendapatnya, Abu Hanifah, asy-Syafi'i, Ahmad, dan Dawud lebih memilih dua puluh rakaat tidak termasuk witir. Ibnu al-Qasim meriwayatkan dari Malik bahwa beliau biasa lebih memilih melaksanakan tiga puluh enam rakaat ditambah tiga rakaat witir.

They disagreed about the preferred number of rak'as that are to be undertaken by the people during the nights of Ramadan. Malik, in one of his opinions, Abu HanTfa, akShaficT, Ahmad, and Dawud preferred twenty rak^as excluding witr. Ibn al-Qasim has recorded from Malik that he used to prefer offering thirty-six raFa?58 plus three of witr.

Alasan perbedaan pendapat mereka berasal dari perbedaan riwayat mengenai hal ini, sebagaimana Malik meriwayatkan dari Yazid ibn Ruman bahwa ia berkata, "Orang-orang pada masa Umar biasa shalat dua puluh tiga rakaat." Ibnu Abi Syaibah meriwayatkan dari Dawud ibn Qays, yang berkata, "Aku shalat bersama orang-orang pada masa Umar ibn Abdul Aziz dan Aban ibn Utsman, dan mereka shalat tiga puluh enam rakaat ditambah tiga rakaat witir." Ibnu al-Qasim meriwayatkan dari Malik bahwa inilah ketentuan yang lebih awal, yaitu shalat tiga puluh enam rakaat.

The reason for their disagreement comes from the conflict of transmission over this, as Malik has related from YazTd ibn Ruman that he said, “The people, in the time of TJmar, used to pray twenty-three rak'as. Ibn Abu Shayba has reported from Dawud ibn Qays, who said, ‘I prayed with the people during the time of ffJrnar ibn cAbd al-SAziz and Abban ibn TJthman and they used to pray thirty-six rak'as and offered (another) three as witr'”. Ibn al-Qasim has reported from Malik that this was the earlier directive, that is, praying thirty-six fakfas.