Occasions · 3 min read
The tasbih said during Tarawih
In many mosques, particularly across South Asia, a fixed phrase is recited together between each set of Tarawih rak'ahs while people rest.
It is a widely followed practice, not a narrated requirement.
That distinction is the whole of this page, and it is not an argument against the practice.
What happens in practice
Tarawih is prayed in sets, usually of two rak'ahs, with a pause after every four.
In many mosques that pause is filled with a set recitation, said aloud together.
The wording varies by region and by mosque. There is no single version that everyone uses, which is itself informative.
The answer on this site
Mufti Salim Qasmi: no particular dhikr or dua is required in the pauses between sets of Tarawih. Nothing was fixed for that gap.
Use the pause however you wish. Quiet tasbih, istighfar, salawat, recitation, personal dua in any language, or simply resting are all open to you.
Where a mosque recites one long formula aloud together, that is a regional custom rather than a requirement. Following it is fine. Treating it as a fixed part of the sunnah is the part to avoid.
What is narrated
Tarawih itself is established.
A specific phrase to be said in the gaps between its sets, with a fixed wording and a fixed count, is not something the narrations provide.
This is why the wording differs from place to place. Practices that come from a text tend not to vary that way.
Does that make it wrong?
Not in itself, and this page is not saying so.
Saying established phrases of dhikr during a pause is dhikr. Nobody objects to that.
What scholars discuss is treating it as a fixed part of Tarawih — something that must be said, in that wording, at that point.
The general concern is the same one that runs through this site: a practice presented as though a narration established it, when it did not.
If you want to use the pause
The gaps are real and long enough to use.
Any established phrase works. Astaghfirullah, salawat, or the phrases from the post-salah sequence.
The full list with sources is on what to say on a tasbih.
Following your mosque's practice is not a problem either. Knowing which part is narrated and which is local custom is simply better than not knowing.
What this page does not carry
It does not print a Tarawih tasbih wording, because the versions differ and none is traceable to a narration.
It does not rule on the practice. That is a matter for scholars, and the answer varies by school and by region.
For general Ramadan dhikr with sources, see dhikr in Ramadan.