Time of Witr Prayer:
What is the time for Witr prayer? In this regard, there are numerous sayings of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ which indicate that its time is quite broad, from the Isha prayer until the break of dawn, as mentioned in Abu Dawood, Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, Darqutni, Bayhaqi, and Mustadrak Hakim, etc., where the Prophet ﷺ explained the virtue of Witr prayer and clarified its time.
فصلوها فيما بين العشاء إلى طلوع الفجر
Pray it between Isha and the break of dawn.
The extent of the time for this prayer can be understood from the authentic hadith of Aisha (RA) in Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, and Tirmidhi, etc., where she explains in response to Masruq’s question.
من كل الليل قد أوتر أوله وأوسطه وآخره
The Prophet ﷺ prayed Witr in every part of the night, in the early part, in the middle of the night, and in the last part of the night.
And in the end, it is stated:
فانتهى وتره حين مات فى السحر
And on the days when he passed away, the Prophet ﷺ had chosen to pray Witr at the time of Suhoor.
Regarding the limit of the time for performing Witr prayer, there is a prophetic statement in Sahih Muslim, Tirmidhi, Nasai, and Ibn Majah, etc.
أوتروا قبل أن تصبحوا
Pray Witr before the morning comes.
The best is to pray Witr in the last part of the night near the break of dawn, but for the person who fears that he will not be able to wake up in the last part of the night, it is better for him to pray Witr in the early part of the night after Isha prayer because in Sahih Muslim, Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, and Musnad Ahmad, the Prophet ﷺ said:
ومن خاف ألا يقوم آخر الليل فليوتر أوله ومن طمع أن يقوم آخره فليوتر آخره
Whoever among you fears that he will not be able to wake up in the last part of the night, let him pray Witr in the early part of the night, and whoever desires to pray in the last part of the night, let him pray Witr then.
Then the Prophet ﷺ explained the virtue and special status of praying in the last part of the night, i.e., during Suhoor and Tahajjud.
إن صلاة الليل مشهودة وذلك أفضل
Indeed, angels come to the prayer in the last part of the night, and this is the best.
However, to avoid the fear of not waking up in the last part of the night, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ advised to pray Witr before sleeping, as narrated from Abu Hurairah (RA) in Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, etc.
أوصاني خليلي بثلاث صيام ثلاثة أيام من كل شهر
My beloved (the Prophet ﷺ) specially advised me about three things: fasting three days every month.
Note that these three days are the 13th, 14th, and 15th of the lunar month, known as the white days (Ayyam al-Beed), and the second advice is:
وركعتي الضحى
Salat al-Duha, that is two rak’ahs of the forenoon prayer.
The third advice was:
وأن أوتر قبل أن أنام
That I should pray Witr before sleeping.
Violation and Refutation:
If a person prays Witr before sleeping out of fear that he might not wake up in the last part of the night, but then wakes up again at Tahajjud time, what should he do? Should he continue praying only Nawafil two by two, or should he pray one Rak’ah to break the previously prayed Witr and make it Shaf’ or Jift, and then pray Witr again at the end? Among the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them), there were people on both sides of this issue. Hazrat Umar (RA), Hazrat Uthman (RA), Hazrat Ali (RA), Hazrat Ibn Mas’ud (RA), Hazrat Ibn Umar (RA), Hazrat Abu Hurairah (RA), Hazrat Usama (RA), and Hazrat Sa’d bin Malik (RA) believed that the first Witr should be broken. Ishaq bin Rahwayh also followed this school of thought. Those who follow this school have no guarantee that by breaking the first Witr, it will indeed be broken, and that a Rak’ah prayed after a while will join with the previously prayed Witr.
The straightforward matter is that if one wakes up, then he should continue praying Rak’ahs two by two, and the proof for this is found from the Prophet (peace be upon him) himself, who prayed two Rak’ahs after Witr, as will be explained later.
Non-Contradiction:
While another group of the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, believed that the previously prayed witr should not be broken and that upon waking up in the latter part of the night, one should continue praying two rak’ahs at a time. Among them are the Mother of the Believers Hazrat Aisha Siddiqah, may Allah be pleased with her, her father the first Caliph Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him, Hazrat Saad bin Abi Waqqas, may Allah be pleased with him, and Hazrat Ammarah, may Allah be pleased with him, and others. The group that supports breaking the witr believes that one should pray one rak’ah to make the night’s witr a shaff (even number), and then at the end pray witr so that the last prayer of the night is witr, and thus avoid praying witr twice in one night in the form of making it even. Their argument is based on these hadiths, one of which is in Abu Dawood, Tirmidhi, and Nasa’i, where the Prophet, peace be upon him, said:
لا وتران فى ليلة
Witr is not prayed twice in one night.
The second hadith is in Sahih Bukhari and others, in which the Prophet said:
واجعلوا آخر صلاتكم بالليل وترا
Make witr the last prayer of the night.
The reasoning from these two hadiths is that the Prophet, peace be upon him, commanded that witr be the last prayer of the night, and if someone prays witr and then sleeps, when he wakes up for suhoor, according to this hadith, he cannot pray nafl. And if he starts praying nafl and then prays witr again at the end, he contradicts the first hadith which forbids praying witr twice in one night. Therefore, according to them, such a person should break the previously prayed witr.
Advocates of Non-Contradiction:
Whereas the other group of the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, who believe that such a person should only continue to pray Nafl and there is no need to pray Witr again. The doctrine of this group of the Companions is the prevailing one because most scholars agree with it. The four Imams also follow this school of thought. Sufyan al-Thawri and Ibn al-Mubarak also hold this view. Imam Tirmidhi adopted it. Ibn Qudamah declared it as the prevailing opinion in Al-Mughni, and Allama Mubarakpuri, in Tuhfat al-Ahwadhi, also declared it as the chosen doctrine.
ولم أجد حديثا مرفوعا صحيحا يدل على نقض الوتر
I have not found any Marfu‘ and Sahih hadith that indicates the proof for breaking Witr and making it even.
Many responses have been given by those who oppose breaking Witr to those who advocate it, one of which is that it is established from the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, that he prayed two Rak‘ahs after Witr, as narrated from Hazrat Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, in Sahih Muslim and others, that the Prophet, peace be upon him, after praying Witr, sat and prayed two Rak‘ahs.
Imam Nawawi states that these two Rak‘ahs were prayed once or a few times; otherwise, the Prophet, peace be upon him, would not have adhered to them.
The second response given is that the command to make Witr the last prayer of the night does not prove its obligation but rather indicates recommendation and encouragement because when the night prayer (Tahajjud) itself is not obligatory, how can this hadith prove that making Witr the last prayer is obligatory? Therefore, a person who rises in the last part of the night may pray Nafl without repeating Witr.
Qada’ of Witr: Now regarding the matter if someone left the Witr prayer with the intention to pray Tahajjud in the last part of the night and then perform Witr at the end but was unable to get up, and the Witr became Qada’, when should he pray it?
In this regard, the first point is whether these voluntary prayers, i.e., Sunnah, Nafl, and Witr, if missed, can be made up or not. Scholars have five opinions on this, which Imam Shawkani has mentioned.
The prevailing opinion is that they can be made up, as evidenced by the hadiths regarding making up the two Sunnahs of Fajr and the first and last Sunnahs of Dhuhr.
Therefore, in cases of oversleeping or forgetting the time of Witr, the Prophet’s guidance is mentioned in Abu Dawood, Tirmidhi, Musnad Ahmad, and Mustadrak Hakim, etc.
ومن نام عن الوتر أو نسيه فليصل إذا أصبح أو ذكره
Whoever sleeps through Witr or forgets it, let him pray it in the morning or whenever he remembers.
Regarding the number of Rak‘ahs of Witr prayer, it is generally said that their number is three, and this is the most common practice. However, the reality is that from the sayings and actions of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, authentic hadiths establish not only three but also one, three, five, seven, and nine Rak‘ahs of Witr, and indications of more than that are also found.
