Witr is a duty

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Ayyub al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Witr is a truth (established duty), so whoever wishes may pray five rak'ahs of witr, whoever wishes may pray three, and whoever wishes may pray one rak'ah."
This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim), but they did not record it. Muhammad bin al-Walid al-Zubaydi, Sufyan bin Uyaynah, Sufyan bin Husayn, Ma'mar bin Rashid, Muhammad bin Ishaq and Bakr bin Wa'il corroborated him (mutaba'ah) in narrating it as marfu' (attributed to the Prophet).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Ayyub al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Witr is five, or three, or one (rak'ah)."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Ayyub al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Witr is a truth (established duty), so whoever wishes may pray three rak'ahs of witr, whoever wishes may pray five, and whoever prefers to pray one rak'ah of witr, let him pray just one."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Ayyub al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Pray five rak'ahs of witr; if you cannot, then three; if you cannot, then one; and if you cannot (do even that), then perform (witr) by gestures."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Ayyub al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Witr is a truth (established duty)", then the narrator mentioned (the number of rak'ahs) similar to the hadith above.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Ayyub al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: Witr is a truth (established duty), then the narrator mentioned it similar to the previous hadith (but this narration stops at Abu Ayyub al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him), being mawquf).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Ayyub al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Witr is a truth (established duty)", then the narrator mentioned the hadith with a meaning similar to the previous one.
Imam al-Hakim says: I have no doubt that the two Shaykhs left this hadith only because some of the students of Imam al-Zuhri narrated it as mawquf (stopping at the Companion), whereas this is not something that creates a scholarly hidden defect ('illah) or weakness in a hadith like this. And Allah knows best.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu al-Darda' (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: Often I saw the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) praying witr when the people had already stood up for the morning (Fajr) prayer.
This hadith has an authentic chain (sahih al-isnad), but the two Shaykhs did not record it.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When one of you wakes in the morning (at Fajr time) and has not prayed witr, let him pray witr."
This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim), but they did not record it.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Do not pray witr with only three rak'ahs, so that (witr) resembles the Maghrib prayer; rather, pray witr with five, seven, nine, eleven rak'ahs, or even more than that."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Do not pray witr with three rak'ahs, and do not make it resemble the Maghrib prayer in this way; rather, pray witr with five or seven rak'ahs."
This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim), but they did not record it.

Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) says that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not say the salam after the first two rak'ahs of witr.
This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim), but they did not record it, and it also has supporting narrations (shawahid).

Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) says that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to pray three rak'ahs of witr and would sit (for tashahhud) only at the end of them. And this is the witr of the Commander of the Believers, Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), and the people of Madinah took it from him.

Habib al-Mu'allim says that it was said to Imam Hasan al-Basri that Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) used to say the salam after two rak'ahs of witr, and he said: Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) had deeper understanding (of the religion) than him; he would rise for the third rak'ah saying the takbir.

It is narrated about Ata' (may Allah have mercy on him) that he used to pray three rak'ahs of witr, not sitting in them (in the middle) nor reciting the tashahhud except at the end of them.

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), in the two rak'ahs after which he (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed witr, would recite "Glorify the name of your Lord, the Most High" and "Say: O disbelievers", and in the witr rak'ah he would recite "Say: He is Allah, the One", "Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of the daybreak" and "Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of mankind". Sa'id bin Abi Maryam also corroborated this (mutaba'ah) from Yahya bin Ayyub.

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to pray three rak'ahs of witr, reciting in the first rak'ah "Glorify the name of your Lord, the Most High", in the second "Say: O disbelievers", and in the third "Say: He is Allah, the One", "Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of the daybreak" and "Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of mankind".
This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim), but they did not record it. Sa'id bin Ufayr is the imam of the people of Egypt without dispute, and he has brought this hadith with such clear detail as shows that the rak'ah which is the witr is separate and distinct from the two rak'ahs before it.

Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to pray five rak'ahs of witr; he (peace and blessings be upon him) would sit only in the fifth rak'ah and would say the salam only in the fifth.
This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim), but they did not record it.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Buraydah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Witr is a truth (established duty), so whoever does not pray witr is not one of us."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Buraydah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Witr is a truth (established duty), so whoever does not pray witr is not one of us."
This hadith is sahih (authentic), and Abu al-Munib al-Ataki is a trustworthy narrator from Marw whose hadith is collected; however, the two Shaykhs did not record it.

Sayyiduna Kharijah bin Hudhafah al-Adawi (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came out to us and said: "Indeed, Allah Almighty has granted you the aid of a prayer that is better for you than red camels, and it is witr. So Allah has placed it for you (in the time) between the Isha prayer and Fajr."
This hadith has an authentic chain (sahih al-isnad), but the two Shaykhs did not record it. Its narrators are from Madinah and Egypt, and the two of them left it only for the reason I mentioned earlier: that the Tabi'i is alone in narrating from the Companion.

Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) says that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to pray thirteen rak'ahs of witr; then, when he (peace and blessings be upon him) grew old and felt weakness, he began praying seven rak'ahs of witr.
This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim), but they did not record it. The witr of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) with thirteen, eleven, nine, seven, five, three and one rak'ah is established, and the most authentic of these is his (peace and blessings be upon him) praying witr with one rak'ah.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to supplicate with this at the end of his witr: 'Allahumma inni a'udhu bi-ridaka min sakhatika, wa bi-mu'afatika min 'uqubatika, wa a'udhu bika minka, la uhsi thana'an 'alayka, anta kama athnayta 'ala nafsika' ((O Allah!) I seek refuge in Your pleasure from Your displeasure, and in Your pardon from Your punishment, and I seek refuge in You from You. I cannot fully enumerate Your praise; You are as You have praised Yourself).
This hadith has an authentic chain (sahih al-isnad), but they did not record it. [End of the Book of Witr - Beginning of the Book of Voluntary Prayer]