Tirmidhi

1:
From this it is understood that Witr is neither obligatory nor compulsory, rather it is an emphasized Sunnah (sunnah mu’akkadah).

2:
The meaning of “Allah is Witr (Odd)” is that He is unique in His Essence, Attributes, and Actions; He has no equal. The prayer of Witr is also called Witr because it is performed in odd numbers—one, three, five, seven, etc.—and it is not permissible to perform it in even numbers.

3:
The noble Companions (radi Allahu anhum) were called “Ahl al-Qur’an” by the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam).
This does not mean that they did not accept Hadith.
“Ahl al-Qur’an” means followers and adherents of the Islamic Shari’ah, and the Shari’ah is the combination of both Qur’an and Hadith,
not just the Qur’an alone,
as a certain group today, claiming to follow the Qur’an, asserts.
This group consists of the deniers of Hadith.
Whoever denies Hadith, in reality, also denies the Qur’an, because without Hadith, neither can the Qur’an be understood nor can it be acted upon.

Note:
(In the chain of narration, “Abu Ishaq Sabi’i” is mukhtalit (has mixed up his narrations),
and there is also some criticism regarding ‘Asim,
but due to supporting narrations and corroborating evidence, this hadith is authentic.)

1676. Commentary:

➊ The aforementioned narration has been declared weak in its chain by the verifier of this book, whereas other scholars have deemed it authentic based on supporting evidences, and this opinion appears closer to correctness: that the mentioned narration is authentic due to supporting evidences. For details, see: (al-Mawsu‘ah al-Hadithiyyah Musnad al-Imam Ahmad: 2/413, and Sahih Sunan Abi Dawud (detailed) by al-Albani: 5/159, Hadith no. 1274, and Dhakheerat al-‘Uqba Sharh Sunan al-Nasa’i 18/28, 33).

➋ "Witr" in Arabic refers to an odd number that cannot be divided by two. In technical usage, it refers to the night prayer, because the command regarding it is that it should be performed in an odd number collectively—three, five, seven, nine, or eleven.

➌ The night prayer is not obligatory (fard), rather it is supererogatory (nafl), thus witr is neither obligatory (fard) nor necessary (wajib), but rather an emphasized supererogatory act (nafl mu’akkad). Furthermore, the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) would also perform witr while riding, whereas for obligatory or necessary prayers he would dismount; this too shows that witr is not wajib. As for the command (hukm), it is not always for obligation (wujub); sometimes it is for emphasis (ta’kid) or recommendation (istihbab), and sometimes even for permissibility (jawaz), for example: (wa idha halaltum fa’stadu) (al-Ma’idah 5:2) “When you have come out of ihram, then hunt,” meaning you may hunt. For, according to no jurist or hadith scholar is hunting after ihram necessary, nor even recommended. Also, the final words of this hadith, “He likes it,” indicate the recommendation and emphasis of witr. This discussion has already passed.

➍ “O people of the Qur’an!” refers to Muslims, as their book is the Qur’an. Or, it refers to the memorizers of the Qur’an (huffaz), meaning the memorizers should perform the night prayer, as this is the right of memorizing the Qur’an; otherwise, what is the benefit of memorization? Also, in this way, the memorization will be maintained, otherwise there is a risk of forgetting. In this case, by witr is meant the tahajjud prayer, which is greater in number and longer in recitation, and this is suitable for the memorizers. As for the minimum witr, it is emphasized for all Muslims. Its number is three or one.

➎ “Allah, the Exalted, is Witr (One),” meaning He is unique, in whom there is no division, duality, or partnership in any respect, nor is He divisible; therefore, He loves the night prayer more, because it too does not accept duality.

➏ Some people have interpreted Allah’s love as meaning reward, but there is no need for such contrivance. Love is an attribute of Allah, but Allah’s attributes are not like those of humans or any other creation, such that they could be considered similar; rather, they are, like Allah Himself, without equal.

➐ Allah, the Exalted, has special love for the one who performs witr.

Benefits and Issues:
➊
Our researcher has graded the mentioned narration as weak in its chain, while other scholars have declared it authentic (sahih) or good (hasan).
And the opinion of those scholars appears to be closer to correctness.
For details, see: (Al-Mawsu‘ah al-Hadithiyyah, Musnad al-Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, 2/413 and Sahih Abu Dawud (detailed), Hadith: 1274)

➋
By “witr,” the entire night prayer (tahajjud) can be meant,
and also the few units (rak‘ahs) prayed at the end of tahajjud.
In the ahadith, this word is used in both senses.
If in this hadith, the night prayer (tahajjud) is meant, then it is a voluntary (nafl) prayer.
However, its virtue is very great.
And if the last rak‘ahs of tahajjud are meant,
which in common usage are called witr,
then they can be considered an emphasized Sunnah (sunnah mu’akkadah).

➌
The literal meaning of witr is “odd.”
That is, a number which is not divisible by two.
Allah, exalted is He, is One.
And the number one is the very first odd number. The witr prayer or the night prayer (tahajjud) along with witr is also performed in an odd number.
For this reason as well, it is more beloved to Allah, exalted is He.

➍
Whatever deed is beloved to Allah is also beloved to the believer.
Therefore, one should practice it with diligence.

Takhrij:
«أخرجه أبوداود، الصلاة، باب استحباب الوتر، حديث:1416، والترمذي، الوتر، حديث:453، والنسائي، قيام الليل، حديث:1676، وابن ماجه، إقامة الصلوات، حديث:1169، وأحمد: 1 /148، وابن خزيمة: 2 /137، حديث:1067، وأبو اسحاق عنعن.»©Explanation:
The aforementioned narration has been declared weak in its chain (isnad) by our esteemed researcher, whereas other scholars have graded it as authentic (sahih) or sound (hasan) on the basis of supporting evidences (shawahid). Therefore, despite the narration being weak in its chain, it is considered authoritative and actionable due to corroborating evidences.
For details, see: (Al-Mawsu‘ah al-Hadithiyyah, Musnad al-Imam Ahmad: 2/413; and Sahih Abu Dawud (Mufassal) by al-Albani, Hadith: 1274). Accordingly, this hadith encourages the memorizers of the Qur’an (huffaz al-Qur’an) to be diligent in performing the night prayer (qiyam al-layl), as it aids in retaining the Qur’an.

Takhrij:
«أخرجه الترمذي، أبواب الصلاة، باب ما جاء أن الوتر ليس بحتم، حديث:453، والنسائي، قيام الليل، حديث:1676، والحاكم:1 /300، ووافقه الذهبي، أبوسحاق مدلس وعنعن.»©Explanation:
This hadith is the evidence of the majority of scholars who do not consider Witr to be obligatory. Some researchers have stated that in its chain of narration, ‘Asim ibn Damrah al-Kufi is criticized, but Hafiz Ibn Hajar rahimahullah has mentioned in "Taqrib" the most just opinion that he is trustworthy (saduq). This is why here he did not make any comment after quoting the grading of hasan (good) and sahih (authentic) by Imam Tirmidhi rahimahullah and Hakim rahimahullah. However, our esteemed researcher has declared it weak in its chain, whereas Shaykh al-Albani rahimahullah has declared it authentic. Furthermore, there are supporting narrations for it in Musnad Ahmad, which the compilers of "al-Mawsu‘ah al-Hadithiyyah" have considered strong. For details, see: (al-Mawsu‘ah al-Hadithiyyah, Musnad al-Imam Ahmad: 2/81). Therefore, despite the aforementioned narration being weak in its chain, it is still practicable and a valid proof.