Fury over limiting ‘taraweeh’ time

KUWAIT CITY, April 14: Parliamentarians and citizens have expressed their anger at the decision to limit Taraweeh prayers to 15 minutes, reports Al-Seyassah daily.

MP Fayez Al-Jamhour said it is unacceptable by law, reason and logic to limit 11 rak’ahs to 15 minutes. This is a clear case of tampering with the Taraweeh prayers.

Former MP Khaled Al-Sultan commented by saying it clearly “shows the one who made the decision has decided what to pray.”

Citizen Ahmad Al-Nafees said this means the duration of each rak’ah is a little over one minute, and he expects the Cabinet to be overwhelmed with this decision.

Activist Abdul-Rahman Al-Nassar said “If the ministry saw the necessity of reducing the time of prayer, it was supposed to reduce the number of rak’ahs, provided rak’ahs are to be prayed in tranquility since Taraweeh prayer is permissible even with three rak’ahs but to keep the same number and reduce the time is illogical since it involves reading, kneeling and prostration and this is absurd.

He interacted with a comment made by MP Saleh Dhiab Al-Mutairi, saying, “I agree with you. We have contacted the Minister of Awqaf and awaiting a response.”

One of the tweeters asked the Minister of Awqaf and Health, saying “As long as health precautions and spacing are present in Taraweeh prayers, why should it be only 15 minutes, as the complexes require people to stay in them for only a quarter of an hour.”