Ash-Shawkani about praying in the month of Ramadan behind an Imam and the disagreement about it.

Muhammad ibn Ali Ash-Shawkani writes:

قَـالَ الـنَّـوَوِيُّ: اتَّـفَـقَ الْـعُـلَـمَـاءُ عَـلَـى اسْـتِـحْـبَـابِـهَـا قَـالَ: وَاخْـتَـلَـفُـوا فِـي أَنَّ الْأَفْـضَـلَ صَـلَاتُـهَـا فِـي بَـيْـتِـهِ مُـنْـفَـرِدًا أَمْ فِـي جَـمَـاعَـةٍ فِـي الْـمَـسْـجِـدِ فَـقَـالَ الـشَّـافِـعِـيُّ وَجُـمْـهُـورُ أَصْـحَـابِـهِ وَأَبُـو حَـنِـيـفَـةَ وَأَحْـمَـدَ وَبَـعْـضُ الْـمَـالِـكِـيَّـةِ وَغَـيْـرُهُـمْ: الْأَفْـضَـلُ صَـلَاتُـهَـا جَـمَـاعَـةً كَـمَـا فَـعَـلَـهُ عُـمَـرُ بْـنُ الْـخَـطَّـابِ وَالصَّـحَـابَـةُ رَضِـيَ الـلَّـهُ عَـنْـهُـمْ وَاسْـتَـمَـرَّ عَـمَـلُ الْـمُـسْـلِـمِـيـنَ عَـلَـيْـهِ لِأَنَّـهُ مِـنَ الـشَّـعَـائِـرِ الـظَّـاهِـرَةِ فَـأَشْـبَـهَ صَـلَاةَ الْـعِـيـدِ وَبَـالَـغَ الـطَّـحَـاوِيُّ فَـقَـالَ: إِنَّ صَـلَاة الـتَّـرَاوِيـحِ فِـي الْـجَـمَـاعَـةِ وَاجِـبَـةٌ عَـلَـى الْـكِـفَـايَـةِ وَقَـالَ مَـالِـكٌ وَأَبُـو يُـوسُـفَ وَبَـعْـضُ الـشَّـافِـعِـيَّـةِ وَغَـيْـرُهُـمْ: الْأَفْـضَـلُ فُـرَادَى فِـي الْـبَـيْـتِ لِـقَـوْلِـهِ صَـلَّـى الـلَّـهُ عَـلَـيْـهِ وَسَـلَّـم: أَفْـضَـلُ الـصَّـلَاةِ صَـلَاةُ الْـمَـرْءِ فِـي بَـيْـتِـهِ إِلَّا الْـمَـكْـتُـوبَـةَ مُـتَّـفِـقٌ عَـلَـيْـهِ وَقَـالَـتِ الْـعِـتْـرَةِ: إِنَّ الـتَّـجْـمِـيـعَ فِـيـهَـا بِـدْعَـةٌ وَسَـيَـأْتِـي تَـمَـامُ الْـكَـلَامُ عَـلَـى صَـلَاةِ الـتَّـرَاوِيـحِ

,,An-Nawawi said: ﴾The scholars agreed that it is desirable (Mustahab).﴿ He said: ﴾They disagreed on whether it is better to perform the prayer at one’s home alone or communally in the mosque.﴿ So Ash-Shafi’i and most of his companions and Abu Hanifah and Ahmad and some of the Malikites and others said: ﴾It is better to perform the prayer communally as Umar Ibnu l-Khattab and the companions did.﴿ And the practice of Muslims persisted, because it is one of the evident rituals. So it resembles the festival prayer and At-Tahawi exaggerated and said: ﴾The communal Tarawih prayer is a collective obligation (Wajib).﴿ And Malik and Abu Yusuf and some of the Shafi’ites and others said: ﴾It is better to pray it alone at home, on the basis of his statement, God bless him and grant him salvation: ,,Except for the obligatory prayer, the best prayer is the prayer of a person at his home.﴿ Which is agreed upon and the family of the prophet (s) said: ﴾The congregation for this is an innovation (Bid’ah).﴿ And we will come to the Tarawih prayer entirely.” [Nail-ul-Awtar, page 498 – 499]

Comment:

The son of Umar criticized the Tarawih prayer behind an Imam [Here]