The difference between: Taraweeh, Tahajjud and Qiyaam

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

 

*The difference between: Taraweeh, Tahajjud and Qiyaam* 

*Qiyaam* : is a general reference to the prayers offered at night, whether it be offered in the first, middle, or last part of the night, and the same applies whether it be during the nights of Ramadhan or any other month. 

 

*Tahajjud* : refers to the night prayers *offered specifically during the last part of the night, after awaking from sleep*; whether this be in Ramadhan or not. 

*Side Benefit:*

The Taa at the beginning of تهجد is known as the _Taa-us-salb_ (The Taa of disposession); it is known as such because when it is prefixed to a word it changes the original meaning of the word to the opposite meaning. For example : هَجَدَ means : to sleep, but when the Taa is prefixed = تََهَجَّّدَ, the meaning is the opposite : to awaken from sleep. This is why this word was chosen to refer to the night prayers offered after awaking from sleep.  

Another example of this is the word أَثِمَ, meaning : to sin, when the Taa is prefixed = َتَأَثَّمَ, the meaning changes to : abstaining from sin. 

*Taraweeh* : refers to the night prayers that are *offered specifically during the month of Ramadhan*; whether this be in the first, last, or any other part of the night. And it is called Taraweeh due to the rests (Istiraahah) taken in between the individual sets. 

*In sumary:*

*1* - Qiyaam is more comprehensive in comparison to Tahajjud and Taraweeh. 

i.e. Every Qiyaam is Tahajjud, but not Every Tahajjud is Qiyaam. 

Likewise, every Qiyaam is Taraweeh, but not every Taraweeh is Qiyaam.Thus there exists between the 2 (Qiyaam vs Tahajjud, & Qiyaam vs Taraweeh) عموم وخصوص (proper subset) 

[*What is a Proper Subset?* : A is a proper subset of B if, and only if, every element in A is also in B, and there exists at least one element in B that is not found in A. Example : {1, 2, 3} is a proper subset of {1, 2, 3, 4} because the element 4 is not in the first set.

So let's say A = Qiyaam {night prayer in general, in and outside Ramadhan, and in any part of the night}, and B = Tahajjud {night prayers in and outside Ramadhan, *last part of the night - after waking from sleep -}; A is a proper subset of B because the element of waking up from sleep and offering this salah in the last part of the night is not present in A.] 

*2* - Likewise, Taraweeh and Tahajjud are the same in some aspects, but differ with one another in other aspects; this relationship is referred to as : عموم وخصوص وجهي (intersection of sets) 

[*What is intersection of sets?* : The intersection of two sets A and B is the set of elements common to both A and B. Example : A = {1, 2, 5, 6, 8} & B = {1, 3, 4, 5, 7}. Thus A intersects B at 1 & 5.

Taraweeh and Tahajjud intersect or both share in being night prayers - this is the common element, but they differ in everything else; Taraweeh is specific to Ramadhan, whereas Tahajjud is not. Similarly, Tahajjud is specific to the last part of the night after waking up from sleep, whereas Taraweeh is not.]

 *Conclusion:*

Night prayers offered in Ramadhan, during the first part of the night may also be referred to as being both : Qiyaam and Taraweeh, and if they were offered in Ramadhan, during the last part of the night, it may be referred to using all three terms : Qiyaam, Taraweeh and Tahajjud. 

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Benefitted from :

*Shaykh Abdullah Al-iryani*

Translated by:

*Abu Ishaq Muhammad Ibn Ahmad Al-Barawi*

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