Tarawih refers to extra prayers performed by Sunni Muslims at night in the Islamic month of Ramadan. -- Wikipedia
I couldn't find any resources detailing whether Taraweeh must be prayed in the mosque or not. Is it obligatory to pray Taraweeh in the mosque?
All the resources I found so far give details about the number of rakahs, method of prayer and timing, but not about place of establishment of prayer.
Most hadiths found are compiled here.
To some extent your question is already answered here. Were I think I could explain that the majority of scholars tend to say that it is recommended to pray compulsory or optional prayers at home.
And taraweh is a sunnah/nafl prayer and therefore optional.
On the other hand the majority of scholars and madhabs consider praying taraweh in a mosque or jama'a as sunnah, based on this sahih hadith. But this hadith clearly show that there was something like a congregation prayer of taraweh during the time of our Prophet (peace be upon him) for only a few nights, but afterwards people went to the mosque and prayed this nafl or sunnah as fad (single person) each one by themselves or small but scattered groups until 'Omar ibn al-Khattab (May Allah be pleased with him) gathered them under one single Imam (Ubay ibn Ka'ab (May Allah be pleased with him)) because he saw some benefit in this (read for example the special chapter about prayers in Ramadan from Muwatta' Malik).
We can conclude from this that it is allowed to pray taraweh as fad and in congregation. We also can conclude that who ever chose one of both option would gain thawab (rewards).
Therefore some Maliki scholars favored praying taaraweh at home (as it is a nafl/sunnah prayer), but they didn't reject praying in congregation in a mosque at all, saying that if people prayed it at home and others prayed it in a mosque that would be fine, as we are asked to revive both the mosques and our homes (Note that this hadith is compiled in the chapter about tahajud=night prayer/taraweh in sahih al-Bukhari and explains a bit more what our Messnger (peace be upon him) meant when he compared houses with graveyards). For more information i'd recommend you to read sharh az-Zurqani 'ala mukhtassar Khalil -if possible- with the commentary of al-Banani.
So if you prayed at the mosque it would be the best to pray behind the Imam until he finishes because of this hadith. If the Imam for some reasons prays shaf'a and witr after the taraweh one has two options do as he did and if you decided to pray tahajjud afterwards you still can do it even if you prayed witr (see for example hadith 22 -it's a fatwa of Imam Malik on the matter- in the chapter about night prayers from al-Muwatta') or some scholars allowed to stand up when the Imam do taslim for witr and complete a 2nd raka'a, so that you could end your tahajjud later with a witr.
To conclude no it is not obligatory to pray taraweh in a mosque but it would be recommended because of ahadith like this one.
And Allah know best.
All Praise to Allah Subhanahu wa Taala and blessings of Him be on Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him His family and companions,
Praying Taraweeh in the Mosque is Sunnah ,If someone prays at home he would miss those rewards of praying in congregation but he would not be sinful.So it is not obligatory to offer taraweeh at Mosque but is Sunnah.
'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."(Bukhari)
Now because Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him said to hold fast to his Sunnah and Sunnah of the rightly guided Caliphs so Ahlus Sunnah strongly believe to follow their way based on this Hadith :
'Irbad bin Sariyah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: One day, Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) delivered a very effective speech, as a result, eyes shed tears and hearts became softened. A man said: "O Prophet of Allah! It sounds as if this is a farewell speech, so advise us." He (ﷺ) said, "I admonish you to fear Allah, and to listen and obey even if a black slave has been appointed as your leader. For whoever among you lives after me will see much discord. So hold fast to my Sunnah and the Sunnah of the Rightly-Guided Caliphs who will come after me. Adhere to them and hold fast to them. Beware of Bid'ah (in religion) because every Bid'ah is a misguidance." [Abu Da wud and At-Tirmidhi].
That is why it is recommended by All scholars that is a confirmed Sunnah and also praying in congregation has more rewards but still would not be considered as Fardh.
It was narrated from Ibn 'Umar that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: "Praying in congregation is twenty-seven times better than praying alone."(Nasai)
Also see this Fatwa:
Imam Haskafi (Allah have mercy on him) states:
“The Tarawih prayers are an emphasized Sunna, due to the continued practice of the rightly guided Caliphs, for both men and women… It is a communal Sunna (sunna ala ‘l-kifaya), however, [for men] to perform them in congregation according to the sounder opinion. As such, if the [entire] community of the Mosque abandoned the congregation, they would all be sinful, unless if only some members of the community abandoned it [in which case no one will be sinful]. And any prayer for which congregation is prescribed; it is more virtuous to perform that prayer in the Mosque.”
As for performing Tarawih prayers in congregation in the Mosque, it is a communal Sunna for men. As such, if one offers Eisha Salat in congregation and then performs Tarawih on his own at home, he would miss out on the immense rewards for praying in congregation in the Mosque but it will not be sinful, blameworthy or disliked even with persistence.
Allah Swt and His Messenger knows best.
Source :Here
