Chapter on the Virtue of the Month of Ramadan and the Prayers Within It in Addition to the Recommended Prayers Mentioned in the Other Months

Muhammad ibn Yaqub, from Ali ibn Muhammad, from Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Mutahhar: (Ibn Mutahhar) wrote to Abu Muhammad (Imam al-Askari عليه السلام), peace be upon him, informing Imam عليه السلام of what a narration had conveyed that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلم, may Allah سبحانه وتعالى bless him and his family, did not used to pray during the nights of the Month of Ramadan or otherwise except thirteen rak’ahs, including the Witr and the two rak’ahs of Fajr. So Imam عليه السلام, peace be upon him, wrote in response: “May Allah سبحانه وتعالى tear his mouth! Pray in the Month of Ramadan for twenty nights; each night twenty rak’ahs, with eight after Maghrib and twelve after the final Isha. And perform ghusl on the night of the nineteenth, the night of the twenty-first, and the night of the twenty-third. And on those nights, pray thirty rak’ahs; twelve rak’ahs after Maghrib and eighteen rak’ahs after the final Isha. And on those nights, pray one hundred rak’ahs, reciting in every rak’ah the ‘Fatihat al-Kitab’ (Surah al-Fatihah) and ‘Qul huwa Allahu Ahad’ (Surah Ikhlas) ten times. And continue until the end of the month, praying every night; thirty rak’ahs, in the manner I have explained.”