Conjecture is Haram in Islam. Allah (swt) says in the Quran:
[Shakir 10:36] And most of them do not follow (anything) but conjecture; surely conjecture will not avail aught against the truth.
Iblees (Satan) was the first one who practiced “Qiyyas”, when he set out his grounds for refusing to prostrate before Adam (as), namely that he was made of fire that was a superior substance to mud.
Similar forms of conjecture are applied used to justify the practice of Tarawih despite their having no basis from the Quran or edicts of the Prophet (s).
Umar Ibn Khattab used conjecture to deduce that praying congregational Mosque prayers were better than praying individually at home. The reality is such conjecture violate a specific directive of the Prophet (s) in the same way that the conjecture of Satan violated a directive of Allah (swt).
Tragically the practice of conjecture did not become otiose with the death of Umar, rather it was inherited as a practice by his followers, who formulated further conjectures as a means of seamlessly incorporating Tarawih into the Islamic Shariah.
Such an argument is a blatant lie on the part of the Nawasib, since neither Allah (swt) nor the Prophet (s) expressed such a wish. What would have prevented the Prophet (s) from expressing such a wish, had he wanted the practice to be re-introduced following his death?
There exist a plethora of good acts, that unlike Tarawih do not conflict with Islamic principles but are still graded by Salafies/Wahabies as Misguided Innovations, as the Prophet (s) never practised them himself, nor did he command other to implement such a practice. Innovated practices that the Salafis fond abhorrent include:
Both of the above are good acts, that do not violate the principles of Islam unlike Tarawih, and yet the Salafis still deem the Biddah based on conjecture!
Umar’s advocates claim that he started Tarawih in order to revive the Sunnah of our Rasool (saw), who had offered Tahajjud prayers for three nights in his mosque. This is again conjecture, at no point did Umar insist that he was merely reinstituting the Sunnah of the Prophet (s) who had offered congregational Tahajjud prayers in the mosque for three nights.
Contrary to this, when Umar Ibn Khattab introduced Tarawih (after Isha Prayers) he said: “A good New Innovation”. If today’s Salafis insist that Umar’s usage of the words ‘Good New Innovation’ that merely meant reviving the Sunnah of the Prophet (s), they are again adopting conjecture that has no basis in the eyes of Allah (swt).