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Are tarawih prayers in congregation a bid'ah?

Volume 3, Book 32, Number 227: Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah's Apostle said, "Whoever prayed at night the whole month of Ramadan out of sincere Faith and hoping for a reward from Allah, then all his previous sins will be forgiven." Ibn Shihab (a sub-narrator) said, "Allah's Apostle died and the people continued observing that (i.e. Nawafil offered individually, not in congregation), and it remained as it was during the Caliphate of Abu Bakr and in the early days of 'Umar's Caliphate." 'Abdur Rahman bin 'Abdul Qari said, "I went out in the company of 'Umar bin Al-Khattab one night in Ramadan to the mosque and found the people praying in different groups. A man praying alone or a man praying with a little group behind him. So, 'Umar said, 'In my opinion I would better collect these (people) under the leadership of one Qari (Reciter) (i.e. let them pray in congregation!)'. So, he made up his mind to congregate them behind Ubai bin Ka'b. Then on another night I went again in his company and the people were praying behind their reciter. On that, 'Umar remarked, 'What an excellent Bid'a (i.e. innovation in religion) this is; but the prayer which they do not perform, but sleep at its time is better than the one they are offering.' He meant the prayer in the last part of the night. (In those days) people used to pray in the early part of the night." Sarah please read the hadith, it's from a sunni source. Lol okay, I just read this hadith and I was kinda shocked.

Public Comments

1. I heard shias believe its bid'ah (no offense) edit;I know,I was just stating who believes its bid'ah,I didn't read the whole hadith yet. edit;same O_O
2. That's correct.Our Beloved Prophet SAW was not performing taraweeh in congregation. However some scholars say that it's bid'ah,it's considered to be a "bid'a al-hasen" by many other scholars.
3. Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah said, when refuting the view of those who quoted ‘Umar’s words “What a good innovation this is” as meaning that innovation (bid’ah) is permissible: With regard to qiyaam in Ramadaan, the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) introduced this to his ummah, and he led them in prayer for a number of nights, because at his time they used to pray in congregation and individually. But he did not persist in leading them in one congregation, lest that be made obligatory for them. When the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) died, sharee’ah was established (and would not change after that). When ‘Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him) became caliph, he united them behind one imam, Ubayy ibn Ka’b, who united the people in one congregation on the orders of ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab (may Allaah be pleased with him). ‘Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him) was one of the Rightly-Guided Caliphs, of whom the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “I urge you to adhere to my Sunnah and the way of the Rightly-Guided Caliphs after me; cling tightly to it.” So what he did was Sunnah but he said, “What a good innovation this is,” because it was an innovation in the linguistic sense, as they were doing something that they had not done during the life of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), i.e., gathering to do this, but it is Sunnah in the shar’i sense.”
4. As far as I know nafl prayers (recommend prayers) cannot be prayed in congregation but I am glad Umar admits its an innovation.
5. Nafil prayer is an act of worshiping God based upon individual's discreation and purely on voluntarily basis. Nothing wrong offering it in congregation. :)
6. "What an excellent Bid'a" - Caliph Umar The wahabi/salafi deviants supposedly 'oppose' all forms of Bid'ah. Accordingly they must oppose Caliph Umar. or Sahih Bukhari is considered not to be Sahih by wahabi/salafi deviants. ...a bit of a logical snooker!!
7. I knew that Muhammad didnt do ths prayer rather it was added later by a khalif .so most of the time i ignored it.bt nw i knw its been called bidah by a khalif. Bt i dnt get it is umar saying that bidah is good than sleeping