The Legitimacy of One Rakat Witr:
Regarding only one rak’ah, it is authentically narrated in Bukhari, Muslim, and Sunan al-Arba’ah from Hazrat Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) that a man stood up and asked the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) how the night prayer (Tahajjud) is performed. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said:
صلاة الليل مثنى مثنى فإذا خفت الصبح فأوتر بواحدة
The night prayer is performed two by two, and when you fear the arrival of dawn, then pray one rak’ah of Witr.
Similarly, in Abu Dawood, Nasai, and Ibn Majah, the Prophet’s statement is recorded that Witr is obligatory upon every Muslim.
ومن أحب أن يوتر بواحدة فليفعل
Whoever wishes to pray only one rak’ah of Witr, let him pray only one.
Likewise, in Sahih Muslim and Musnad Ahmad, it is narrated from Hazrat Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) and Hazrat Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) that they heard the Prophet (peace be upon him) say:
الوتر ركعة من آخر الليل
Witr is one rak’ah at the last part of the night.
Besides the above statements mentioned in Sahih Bukhari, Muslim, etc., the evidence for one rak’ah of Witr is also found from the actions of several companions (may Allah be pleased with them). For example, in Sahih Bukhari, it is narrated from Hazrat Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) that he was asked about Amir al-Mu’minin Hazrat Muawiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) praying one rak’ah of Witr. Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
أصاب فإنه فقيه
His action is based on correctness and is authentic, and undoubtedly he is a knowledgeable person.
In another narration in Sahih Bukhari, Ibn Abi Malika says that Hazrat Muawiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) prayed one rak’ah of Witr after Isha prayer. At that time, one of the freed slaves of Hazrat Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) was present with him. He came to Ibn Abbas and informed him about the one rak’ah Witr prayer, to which Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) replied:
ودعه فإنه قد صحب النبى صلى الله عليه وسلم
Stop looking at his action with suspicion because he is honored with the noble companionship of the Prophet (peace be upon him).
Similarly, with a good chain of narration, Darqutni and Tahawi narrate that Hazrat Uthman Ghani (may Allah be pleased with him) prayed one rak’ah of Witr; Tahawi also narrates with a good chain that Hazrat Saad bin Abi Waqqas (may Allah be pleased with him) prayed one rak’ah of Witr; Qiyam al-Layl Marwazi narrates that Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) prayed one rak’ah of Witr; likewise, Hazrat Muadh bin Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him), Hazrat Abu Darda (may Allah be pleased with him), Hazrat Fadala bin Ubaid (may Allah be pleased with him), and Hazrat Ubay bin Ka’b (may Allah be pleased with him) are proven to have prayed one rak’ah of Witr.
Imam Shawkani wrote that according to the majority of the scholars of the Ummah, one rak’ah of Witr is prescribed, and quoting Allama Iraqi, he mentioned many companions (may Allah be pleased with them) who used to pray one rak’ah of Witr. Among them are the four rightly guided Caliphs (may Allah be pleased with them) and fifteen other names. Similarly, among the Tabi’in are Hasan Basri, Ibn Sirin, Ata, etc., and among the Imams are Imam Ahmad, Malik, Shafi’i, Awza’i, Ishaq bin Rahwayh, Abu Thawr, Dawood, and Ibn Hazm, all of whom agree on the permissibility of one rak’ah.
Here, it also seems appropriate to clarify another point that in Sahih Bukhari, Muslim, and Sunan, the Prophet’s statement is:
فإذا خفت الصبح فأوتر بواحدة
When you fear the arrival of dawn, then pray one rak’ah of Witr.
فإذا خشي أحدكم الصبح صلى ركعة واحدة توتر له ما قد صلى
If someone fears the arrival of dawn, then let him pray one rak’ah; it will make the previously prayed rak’ahs into Witr.
From this, it appears that the Prophet (peace be upon him) permitted one rak’ah of Witr only in this situation when there is fear of dawn, otherwise not. Regarding this, it is stated that the objection or difficulty found in the hadith with the “condition of fear” is resolved by another hadith in Sahih Bukhari itself, in which the Prophet said:
فإذا أردت أن تنصرف فاركع ركعة
When you want to leave the prayer (i.e., want to end the prayer), then pray one rak’ah of Witr.
The wording of this hadith removes the condition or restriction of fear for the permissibility of one rak’ah of Witr and clarifies that the worshipper can pray one rak’ah of Witr whenever he wants to conclude his prayer and leave his place.
The objection of considering one rak’ah of Witr as inferior and its scholarly refutation can be seen in
and in the Beirut edition of Ahmad Shakir’s research.
Three Rak’ahs:
Now let us look at the evidences for the three rak’ahs of Witr prayer. In Sahih Bukhari and Muslim, Hazrat Aisha Siddiqah (may Allah be pleased with her) mentions in a hadith about the length of the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) night prayer rak’ahs, and in the same hadith:
وثم يصلي ثلاثا
Then the Prophet (peace be upon him) used to pray three rak’ahs (Witr).
Similarly, in Sahih Muslim, Tirmidhi, Nasa’i, and Ibn Majah, Hazrat Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) mentions the night prayer of the Prophet (peace be upon him) as follows:
ثم أوتر بثلاث
Then the Prophet (peace be upon him) prayed three Witr.
ومن أحب أن يوتر بثلاث فليفعل
And whoever wishes to pray three Witr, let him pray three.
Five Rak’ahs:
It is also established from the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) that Witr consists of five rak’ahs, as narrated from Hazrat Aisha Siddiqah (may Allah be pleased with her) in Sahih Bukhari and Muslim.
كان رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يصلي من الليل ثلاث عشرة ركعة يوتر من ذلك بخمس ولا يجلس فى شيء منهن إلا فى آخرهن
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) used to pray thirteen rak’ahs at night, of which five were Witr. And he (peace be upon him) did not sit between these (five Witr rak’ahs), but only sat for Tashahhud at the end.
Seven Rak’ahs:
In some ahadith, besides the five rak’ahs of Witr, mention is also made of seven rak’ahs. In the hadith narrated from Hazrat Abu Ayyub Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him) in Abu Dawood, Nasai, and Ibn Majah, there is mention of five, three, and one rak’ah.
وكان رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يوتر بسبع وخمس لا يفصل بينهن بسلام ولا كلام
The Prophet (peace be upon him) sometimes prayed seven and sometimes five rak’ahs of Witr, and he did not separate them with salam or speech.
That is, he prayed all five or seven rak’ahs with a single salam. There are many other ahadith indicating the permissibility of five and seven rak’ahs of Witr.
Nine Rak’ahs:
There are also such narrations from other companions, may Allah be pleased with them, which indicate the legitimacy of the nine rak’ahs. Hazrat Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, states that we used to prepare water and a miswak for the Prophet, peace be upon him, and when Allah willed, He would wake him from sleep, then the Prophet, peace be upon him, would use the miswak and perform ablution.
ويصلي تسع ركعات لا يجلس فيها إلا فى الثامنة
And the Prophet, peace be upon him, would pray nine rak’ahs in such a way that he would only sit for Tashahhud after the eighth rak’ah.
In this sitting, the Prophet, peace be upon him, would engage in the remembrance of Allah and recite praises, and then make supplication. Then, without giving salam, he would stand up for the ninth rak’ah. After completing the ninth rak’ah, the Prophet, peace be upon him, would sit for the second sitting (Qa’dah Thaniyah) for the final Tashahhud. In this sitting, he would again engage in the remembrance of Allah, praise the Exalted, and make supplication. Then the Prophet, peace be upon him, would give salam (in such a way that) we would hear the salam. The same hadith further mentions that when the Prophet, peace be upon him, grew older and gained some flesh, he then prayed seven rak’ahs of witr.
Eleven Rak’ahs of Witr:
Imam Tirmidhi writes in Jami` at-Tirmidhi that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) has been reported to have prayed Witr with thirteen, eleven, nine, seven, five, three, and one rak’ah.
In short, the person may choose to pray as many rak’ahs as he wishes. Authentic hadiths in Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim mention that the Prophet (peace be upon him) generally prayed eleven rak’ahs. Regarding the hadith about thirteen rak’ahs, Hafiz Ibn Hajar and other commentators have written that two of these rak’ahs are those with which the Prophet (peace be upon him) used to begin Qiyam al-Layl, or they are the two Sunnah rak’ahs of Isha, as he (peace be upon him) used to pray them after returning home.
