The
specific prayers during the month of Ramadan,
which are known as tarawih, are sunnah for
both men and women, and they are to be
performed after the obligatory 'isha prayer
and before the performance of witr. They
should be prayed in sets of two raka'at each.
It is allowed to pray them after witr, though
this is not the best thing to do. They may be
performed until the end of the night.
Abu
Hurairah radi Allahu anhu reports that
Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam would
encourage people to perform tarawih during
Ramadan without commanding them as obligatory
and he said "Whoever prays during the
nights of Ramadan [tarawih] with a firm
belief and hoping for reward, all of his
previous sins would be forgiven." [related
by the group]
'Aishah
radi Allahu anha says "The Prophet
offered salah in the mosque and many people
prayed with him. The next day he did the same
and more people prayed with him. Then the
people gathered on the third night but, the
Prophet did not come out to them. In the
morning, he said to them 'Surely I saw what
you did, and nothing prevented me from coming
out to you, save that I feared that [that
prayer] would be made obligatory upon you.'
And that was during Ramadan." [related
by the group except for at-Tirmidhi]