Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Could we pray 36, following Imam al-Adhams opinion below, and regarding the 16 extra as Sunnah in the niyyah before the takbir tahrim?
Walaikum assalam,
Not as Hanafis. The sunna in our madhhab is 20 rakats, not more. [Durral-Mukhtar]
When would the witr be prayed before the 16 extra or after, if one prayed in mosque, since the witr is usually read right after the 20 in jamah, what would be superior?
The scholars differed on this. Some chose that even if witr is prayed in congregation in Ramadan, it remains best to pray it at home, as one’s last prayer. Others preferred praying it in congregation, because of the principle that any prayer in which the congregation is legally established is best in congregation. [Durr]
Would the 16 prayed after the witr still be considered SUNNAH?
No. Of course, it would count as night prayer, which is of virtue, but one should intend this, and not tarawih.
Could we follow the other schools in praying all 36 in jamah and then praying witr in jamah after it, as hanafis do? I mean by praying 20 in the main congregation and then waiting till the main congregation have prayed witr but not joining in, and then pray the 16 completing them with the witr in a congregation after the main one in the mosque and can any short Sura’ be recited in them or are there any recommended?
It is noteworthy that it is mentioned in Imam al-Dardir’s Sharh al-Kabir, one of the most important of references in Maliki fiqh,
“(It is 23 rakats.)… as the practice was. (Then it was made 36 rakats) in the time of Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz, without the witr. However, the inherited practice [Dasuqi: from the Companions and Followers] from the early generations and late generations is the first.” [F: That tarawih is 20 rakats plus 3 for witr.] [Hashiyat al-Dasuqi`ala al-Sharh al-Kabir, 1: 313-316]
And Allah knows best.
Walaikum assalam,
Faraz Rabbani.