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Part No :
6,Page No:51)
Supererogatory Salah (prayer)
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Part No :
6,Page No:52) (
Part No :
6,Page No:53)
Witr (Prayer with an odd number of units)
The first and third questions of Fatwa no.
16044
Q 1: Is it obligatory to perform Witr at night as two or four Rak`ahs (units of Prayer) according to one's ability, given that I perform Witr along with the `Isha' (Night) Prayer? Should I delay it until a late hour at night or not?
A:
Witr is a stressed Sunnah (supererogatory act of worship following the example of the Prophet). The Prophet (peace be upon him) said:
Allah is Witr (single, odd) and loves what is Witr. So perform Witr Salah, followers of Qur'an!
 (Related by
Al-Tirmidhy
and Abu Dawud).
The time of Witr is due after the `Isha' prayer until the Fajr (Dawn) Prayer. However, it is better to perform it at the end of the night if the person is sure that he can wake up at night. If he is not sure, he is to perform Witr at the beginning of the night and if he happens to wake up at the end of the night, he is to offer as much Salah as he wishes, but he should not offer Witr again, for the first Witr is sufficient. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said:
Two Witrs are not to be offered during one night.
(Related by the Five Compilers of Hadith (Imams Ahmad, Abu Dawud, Al-Tirmidhy, Al-Nasa'y and Ibn Majah) except
Ibn Majah).
It is sufficient to offer
the Witr as one Rak`ah (unit of Prayer), but the minimum is three Rak`ahs and the optimum is eleven or thirteen Rak`ahs, making Taslim (salutation of peace ending the Prayer) after each two Rak`ahs and then ending with one Rak`ah as Witr. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said:
The optional Prayers at night are to be offered two by two (two Rak`ahs at a time). If any of you fears that the time of dawn is approaching, (
Part No :
6,Page No:54) let him pray one Rak`ah as Witr.
(Agreed upon by Imams Al-Bukhari and Muslim)
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