Fiqh-us-Sunnah, Volume 2: The Witr Prayer

Its excellence and justification: The witr prayer is one that theProphet sallallahu alehi wasallam practiced and which he encouragedothers to practice. As such, praying witr comes under as-sunnahal-mu’akkadah.’Ali says: “The witr prayer is not required like your obligatoryprayers, but the Prophet would perform the witr prayer and say: ‘O youpeople [followers] of the Qur’an, perform the witr prayer, for Allah isone and He loves the witr.'” This is related by Ahmad, an-Nasa’i, AbuDawud, Ibn Majah, at-Tirmizhi who calls it hasan, and al-Hakim whogrades it sahih.The opinion of Abu Hanifah that the witr prayer is obligatory is a weakopinion. Ibn al-Munzhir says: “I don’t know anyone who agrees with AbuHanifah on this point.”Ahmad, Abu Dawud, An-Nasa’i, and Ibn Majah record that Al-Mukhdaji [aperson of the Kinana tribe] heard from one of the Ansar, nicknamed AbuMuhammad, that the witr prayer is obligatory. He went to ‘Ibadah ibnas-Samit and mentioned to him what Abu Muhammad had said. ‘Ibadahobserved: “Abu Muhammad is mistaken for I heard the Messenger of Allahsay: ‘Five prayers are ordained by Allah for his slaves. Whoeverfulfills them properly without any shortcoming, he will have a pactwith Allah that He will admit him into paradise. Whoever does not dothem, he will have no pact with Allah, and if He wills He may punishhim and if He wills He may forgive him.'”Also al-Bukhari and Muslim record from Talhah ibn ‘Ubaidullah that theProphet said: “Five prayers during the day and night have beenprescribed by Allah.” Hearing this a bedouin asked the Prophet: “Isthere anything else upon me [in the way of prayer]?” The Prophet said:”No, unless you want to do more voluntarily.”Volume 2, Page 12: Time for witr prayerAll the scholars agree that the time for the witr prayer does notbegin until after salatul ‘isha and it continues until the time ofsalatul fajr.Abu Tamim al-Jishani relates that ‘Amr ibn al-‘Aas was addressing thepeople during a Friday Khutbah and he said: “Abu Basra related to methat the Prophet said: ‘Verily, Allah has added a prayer for you, andit is the witr prayer. Pray it between salatul ‘isha and salatulfajr.'” Abu Tamim said: “Abu Zharr took me by my hand and we went inthe mosque to Abu Basra and [Abu Zharr] said: ‘Did you hear what ‘Amrjust said from the Messenger of Allah?’ He answered: ‘I heard it fromthe Messenger of Allah!”‘ This is related by Ahmad with a sahih chain.Abu Mas’ud al-Ansari relates: “The Prophet sallellahu alehi wasallamwould make the witr prayer in the first part of the night or the middleof it or the latter part of it.” Ahmad has reported it with a soundchain.’Abdullah ibn Abi Qais relates that he asked ‘Aishah about the witrprayer of the Prophet sallallahu alehi wasallam and she said:”Sometimes he would make the witr prayer in the first part of the nightand sometimes he would make the witr prayer in the latter portion ofthe night.” Then ‘Abdullah asked: “How was his recitation, audible orinaudible?” She replied: “He did both. Sometimes he would be inaudibleand sometimes audible. Sometimes he would make ghusl and sleep andsometimes he would make ablution and sleep [i.e., when he was sexuallydefiled].” This is related by Abu Dawud, Ahmad, Muslim, andat-Tirmizhi. It is preferred to pray it early if one suspects that onewill not wake during the latter portion of the night. It is, on theother hand, advisable to delay it if one believes that one will be ableto wake up during the latter portion of the night.If one suspects that one will not be able to perform the prayer in thelatter portion of the night, it should be prayed during the earlyportion of the night (before sleeping).Jabir reports that the Messenger of Allah said: “Whoever of you fearsthat he will not be able to wake during the latter portion [of thenight], he should make the witr prayer during the early part [of thenight]. And whoever of you believes that he will be able to wake duringthe latter portion of the night, he should make the witr prayer duringthat latter portion as it is the blessed time [the angels are attentiveto the prayers in the last portion of the night].” This is related byAhmad, Muslim, atTirmizhi, and Ibn Majah.Jabir also narrates that the Messenger of Allah inquired of Abu Bakr:”When do you perform the witr prayer?” Abu Bakr replied: “In the earlyportion of the night after the night prayer” Then the Prophet said:”And you, O ‘Umar?” He answered: “During the latter portion of thenight.” The Prophet said: “As for you, O Abu Bakr, you have taken thecareful way. As for you, ‘Umar, you have taken the way of hardship andfirm will.” This is related by Ahmad, Abu Dawud and al-Hakim who saysit is sahih according to Muslim’s criterion. However, the Prophetsallallahu alehi wasallam would pray the witr prayer near dawn time forit is the most blessed time, as mentioned previously.’Aisha reports: “Out of the entire night, the Messenger of Allah wouldsometimes perform the witr prayer during the early portion; sometimeshe would perform it during the middle portion; and sometimes in thelatter portion of the night, just before dawn.” This is related by thegroup.Nevertheless, considering the possibility of losing witr, the Prophetadvised some of his companions not to sleep until they had performedthe witr prayer in order to be on the safe side.Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas would pray salatul ‘isha in the Prophet’s mosqueand then would pray one rak’ah of witr without making any addition toit. The people said to him: “Abu Ishaq, do you make the witr with justone rak’ah without adding any (other rak’ah) to it?” He said: “Yes, forI heard the Messenger of Allah say: ‘The one who does not sleep untilhe makes the witr prayer is prudent.'” This was related by Ahmad andits narrators are trustworthy.Volume 2, Page 13: Nature and number of rak’at for witrIt is permissible to perform the witr by praying two rak’at [andconcluding them] and then praying one rak’ah with a tashahud andtaslim. Likewise, it is allowed to pray all the rak’at with twotashahuds and one taslim. One may pray a number of rak’at, one afteranother, without making any tashahud, save in the one before the lastrak’ah in which case one makes the tashahud and then stands to performthe last rak’ah wherein one will make another tashahud and end theprayer with the taslim. One may also make only one tashahud and thetaslim, in the last rak’ah of witr. All of that is permissible and canbe traced to the Prophet.Talking about the thirteen rak’at in witr, at-Tirmizhi says: “It hasbeen related from the Prophet that he would perform the witr prayerwith thirteen, nine, seven, five, three rak’at or one rak’ah.”On the other hand, Ishaq ibn Ibrahim holds: “The meaning of thestatement that the Prophet prayed thirteen rak’at of witr is thatduring the night he would pray thirteen rak’at including the witrprayer, and so all of the night prayer came to be known as witr.”Ibn al-Qayyim’s view is that “the clear, authentic sunnah is to praythe witr with five or seven connected rak’at as reported by Umm Salamahin her hadith. [She says] that the Prophet would perform the witr withfive or seven rak’at without breaking them apart with taslim or anyspeech.” This is related by Ahmad, an-Nasa’i, and Ibn Majah with a goodchain.As previously mentioned, al-Bukhari and Muslim quote ‘Aishah sayingthat the Prophet would perform thirteen rak’at during the night andwould make the witr prayer with five of them, and he would not ‘sit'[during those five] except in the last rak’ah of them. In anotherhadith, ‘Aishah reports that the Prophet sallallahu alehi wasallamwould perform nine rak’at during the night and that he would not sitduring them until the eighth rak’ah in which he would make remembranceof Allah, praising Him, and would make supplication. Then, he wouldstand without making the taslim and pray the ninth rak’ah, after whichhe would sit, make the tashahud and make the taslim in such a mannerthat we could hear him. Then, he would pray two rak’at after the taslimwhile sitting, and that would make eleven rak’at. When he became olderand heavier, he would make the witr with seven rak’at, performing the(last) two rak’at like the first one. In another version from her, itis stated: “When he became older and bulkier, he would make the witrwith seven rak’at, and he would not sit during them, save in the sixthand seventh rak’ah and he would not make the taslim, save in theseventh rak’ah.” In yet another version, it is stated: “He would prayseven rak’at and would not sit, save in the last of them.” This isrelated by the group.All of the preceding ahadith are authentic and clear and there is nocontradiction in them. As to the Prophet’s statement: “The night prayeris in sets of two [rak’at],” it is not relevant here. This is anauthentic hadith, and the statement that he observed witr with seven orfive rak’at is equally true. Both statements confirm each other. Theseven, five, nine, and one rak’ah constitute the witr prayer, for witris the name given to the one rak’ah offered in conclusion of whateveris offered prior to it. And the witr of the five, seven and nine rak’atare all connected like the maghrib which is described as threeconnected rak’at. If one breaks apart the five or seven rak’at with twotaslim, like in the eleven rak’at, it will all be called witr due tothe last odd rak’ah. This is supported by the Prophet’s statement: ‘Thenight prayer is sets of two rak’at. If one fears the coming of thedawn, he should perform one rak’ah, thereby making all of them odd[witr].’ Therefore, the Prophet’s actions and statements are inagreement, each part confirming the other.” The fact is that theProphet was responding to a question about the night prayer when hesaid: “it is in pairs of two.” He was not speaking about witr, for theman had asked him about night prayer, and not about the witr.Volume 2, Page 15: Recitation in the witrIt is permissible to recite after al-Fatihah any surah which onewishes to recite. ‘Ali says: “There is not a part of the Qur’an that isobsolete, so make the witr prayer of whatever you wish from it.”However, it is preferred to recite, in the first of the three rak’at ofwitr, al-A’la after reciting al-Fatihah. In the second rak’ah, it ispreferred to recite al-Kafirun. In the third rak’ah, it is proper torecite the last three surahs of the Qur’an. This is narrated by Ahmad,Abu Dawud and Tirmizhi, who relate from ‘Aishah, on sound authoritysaying: The Prophet sallallahu alehi wasallam would recite Ala’la inthe first rak’ah, Al-Kafirun in the second and the last three surahs inthe third rak’ah.Volume 2, Page 15a: Al-Qunut in the WitrIt is part of sunnah to supplicate with qunut in the witr prayerduring the entire year. Ahmad, at-Tirmizhi, an-Nasa’i, Abu Dawud, IbnMajah, and others record that al-Hassan ibn ‘Ali said: “The Messengerof Allah taught me the [following] words to say in the witr prayer: ‘OAllah, guide me among those whom You have guided. Grant me safety amongthose whom You have granted safety. Take me into Your charge amongthose whom You have taken into Your charge. Bless me in what You havegiven me. Protect me from the evil that You have decreed, for Youdecree and nothing is decreed for You. And there is no humiliation forwhom You take as a ward. Blessed and Exalted are You, our Lord. ‘ “At-Tirmizhi grades this hadith as hasan, and says: “… nothing isknown from the Prophet concerning qunut more authentic than that.”Commenting on its status, an-Nawawi says that its chain is sahih. IbnHazm has some reservations about its soundness, but says: “This hadith,although it is not one that can be used as a proof, is all that we havefrom the Prophet, and a weak hadith is dearer to me than mere opinion.”Ahmad says this is also the view of Abu Musa, Ibn Mas’ud, Ibn ‘Abbas,al-Bara’, Anas, al-Hassan al-Basri, ‘Umar ibn ‘Abdul’aziz, al-Thauri,Ibn al-Mubarak, and the Hanafi school. This, an-Nawawi says, givescredibility to the report.Ash-Shaf’i and others are of the opinion that the qunut in the witrprayer should be made during the latter half of the month of Ramadan.This is based on what Abu Dawud records that, ‘Umar ibn al-Khattabconvoked the people in prayer, under the leadership of Ubayy ibn Ka’b,and they prayed together for twenty nights, and he did not make thequnut except for during the latter half of the month of Ramadan. It ismoreover related that Muhammad ibn Nasr asked Sa’id ibn Jubair aboutthe qunut in the witr prayer. Sa’id answered: ” ‘Umar sent an army thatsuffered serious setback, which caused ‘Umar to be alarmed, so, when itwas the latter half of Ramadan, he made the qunut to supplicate forthem.”Volume 2, Page 16: How to perform the qunutIt is permissible to make the qunut before going into ruku'(bowing), or lt may be recited when one stands up straight after theruku’. Humaid says: “I asked Anas: ‘Is the qunut before or after theruku’?’ He said: ‘We would do it before or after.'” This was related byIbn Majah and Muhammad ibn Nasr. In Fath al-Bari, Ibn Hajar commentsthat its chain is faultless.If one makes the qunut before the ruku’, one should make the takbir andraise one’s hands after the recital, and similarly make another takbirafter the qunut, and then bow. This has been related from somecompanions. Some scholars hold that it is preferable to raise one’shands in supplication during the qunut, while others disagree.As to wiping face with hands after the qunut, al-Baihaqi writes: “It ispreferred not to do so and to confine one’s self to what the earlygenerations did. They raised their hands but did not wipe their facesduring the prayer.”Volume 2, Page 17: Supplications after the witrIt is preferred for a person to say after the taslim: “Glory be tothe Master, the Holy,” three times aloud, saying the third time: “Lordof the angels and the souls.” Abu Dawud and anNasa’i record that Ubayyibn Ka’b said: “The Prophet sallallahu alehi wasallam would reciteal-A’la and al-Kafirun in the witr prayer. When he made the taslim, hewould say: ‘Glory be to the Master, the Holy ,’ three times, prolongingthe third repetition and saying it aloud.” This is the wording in whichan-Nasa’i recorded it. Ad-Daraqutni has the addition: “And he wouldsay, ‘Lord of the angels and the spirits. “‘ He would then makesupplications and, according to what Ahmad, anNasa’i, Abu Dawud, IbnMajah, and at-Tirmizhi record from ‘Ali, he would say at the end of hiswitr: “O Allah, I seek refuge in Your pleasure from your anger. And Iseek refuge in Your granting well being from Your punishment. And Iseek refuge in You from You. I cannot reckon Your praise: You are asYou have praised Yourself.”Volume 2, Page 17a: Prohibition of two witr prayers inone nightWhoever has performed the witr prayer and then wishes to do somemore, he may do so but he is not to repeat the witr.Abu Dawud, an-Nasa’i, and at-Tirmizhi have recorded from ‘Ali that heheard the Messenger of Allah say: “There are no two witr prayers in onenight.” At-Tirmizhi grades it hasan.’Aishah relates that the Prophet would make the taslim in such a mannerthat we could hear him and then, he would pray two rak’at whilesitting. This is related by Muslim.Umm Salamah also narrates that he prayed two rak’at while sitting,after the witr prayer. This was related by Ahmad, Abu Dawud,at-Tirmizhi, and others.Volume 2, Page 18: Making up a missed witrAccording to al-Baihaqi and al-Hakim, the majority of the scholarsmaintain that it is correct to make qada’ for a missed witr prayer.Al-Hakim grades the following report by Abu Hurairah as sahih accordingto the criterion of al-Bukhari and Muslim.Abu Hurairah reports that the Prophet said: “If the morning approaches,and you have yet to pray witr, you should pray the witr prayer.” AbuDawud records from Abu Sa’id al-Khudri that the Prophet said: “If oneof you sleeps [past the time of] the witr prayer or he forgets it, heshould pray it when he remembers it.” Al-‘Iraqi says that the chain ofthis hadith is sahih.Ahmad and at-Tabarani record with a hasan chain that the Prophetsallallahu alehi wasallam would perform the witr prayer in the morning[if, for some reason, he had missed it during the night].Generally speaking, there is a difference of opinion over what time itmay be made up. The Hanafi school holds it should be performed duringthose times in which it is not forbidden to observe prayers. Thefollowers of Shaf’i say that it may be made up during any time of thenight or day, while according to Malik and Ahmad a missed witr prayeris to be made up for after the dawn.Volume 2, Page 18a: Al-Qunut in the five prayersIt is legitimate to recite the qunut aloud in any of the five dailyprayers at those times when Muslims are faced with calamities. Ibn’Abbas relates that the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alehi wasallammade qunut consecutively for one month in the zuhr, ‘asr, maghrib,’isha, and fajr prayers. At the end of every prayer, after saying:”Allah hears him who praises Him” in the last rak’ah, he wouldsupplicate against Re’l, Zhakwan, and ‘Usiyyah’ø of Banu Sulaim,and the people behind him would say ‘Ameen’. This is related by Ahmadand by Abu Dawud adding that these three had killed the emissaries thatthe Prophet sallallahu alehi wasallam had sent to them. ‘Ikrimah says:”That was the begining of the qunut.”Abu Hurairah reports that whenever the Prophet sallallahu alehiwasallam wanted to supplicate against or for someone, he would makequnut after going into ruku’. Sometimes, he would say: “Allah hears himwho praises Him. Our Lord, to you is the praise. O Allah! Save al-Walidibn al-Walid and Salamah ibn Hisham and ‘Iyash ibn Abi Rabi’ah and theoppressed [and weak] believers. O Allah, put hardship and pressure onthe tribe of Muzhar and give them years of famine like those during thetime of Yusuf.” He would say this aloud in some of the prayers. Also inthe dawn prayer, he would say: “Oh Allah, curse so and so,” cursing twotribes of Arabs until Allah revealed: “It is no concern at all of thee[Muhammad] whether He relent toward them or punish them, for they areevildoers .” This is related by Ahmad and al-Bukhari .Volume 2, Page 19: Al-Qunut in salatul fajrIt is not correct to make qunut in the dawn prayer except duringtimes of calamity, in which case it may be made in any of the fivedaily prayers. Abu Malik al-Ashja’i said: “My father prayed behind theProphet sallallahu alehi wasallam when he was sixteen years old, and heprayed behind Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, and ‘Uthman. I asked him, ‘Did they makethe qunut’?’ He said, ‘No, son, it is something that has beeninnovated.”‘ This is related by Ahmad, an-Nasa’i, Ibn Majah, andat-Tirmizhi who calls it sahih. Anas said that the Prophet sallallahualehi wasallam would not make the qunut in fajr unless he wassupplicating for a people or supplicating against a people. This isrelated by Ibn Hibban, al-Khatib, and Ibn Khuzaimah who said it issahih.It is also related that az-Zubair, Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, and ‘Uthman did notmake the qunut in the dawn prayer. This is the opinion of theHanafiyyah, the Hanbaliyyah, Ibn al-Mubarak, al-Thauri, and Ishaq. Thefollowers of Shaf’i are of the opinion that the qunut is to be madeafter the ruku’ of the second rak’ah in the obligatory dawn prayer.This opinion is based on the following two reports. Ibn Sireen narratesthat Anas ibn Malik was asked: “Did the Prophet make the qunut in thedawn prayer?” He answered: “Yes.” They asked him: “Before the ruku’ orafter it?” He replied: “After it.” This is related by the group saveat-Tirmizhi.There is a report from Anas which says: “The Messenger of Allahsallallahu alehi wasallam did not stop making qunut during the dawnprayer until he left this world.” This is related by Ahmad, al-Bazzar,adDaraqutni, al-Baihaqi, and al-Hakim who says it is sahih.However, there remains some doubt concerning this evidence since thequnut which they asked Anas about, as is clear in the narrations of alBukhari and Muslim, was the qunut during the time of calamities.Concerning the latter hadith (the one mentioned in support of theirstand), in its chain of narrators there is Abu Ja’far ar-Razi who isnot a credible source and, thus, one cannot build a case upon hishadith. How could it be that the Messenger of Allah never stoppedperforming this qunut until his death, and yet, the rightly guidedcaliphs did not perform it? It is even confirmed that Anas himself didnot make the qunut in the dawn prayer! If we must accept this latterhadith as authentic, it would mean that the Prophet always madesupplications and remembrance ( zhikr), after the ruku’, until hisdeath. This would also come under qunut and, in this sense, it would bemore befitting. Still, this is one of the matters in which it isacceptable to have differences of opinion, and one may either do it orleave it. The best guidance is that of Muhammad sallallahu alehiwasllam.