Tirmidhi

English Commentary:
1:
This hadith is weak due to Harith al-A‘war,
but it is weak only in this particular form,
not regarding the matter of performing three rak‘ahs of witr.
There are several authentic hadiths narrated that the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) used to perform three rak‘ahs of witr,
reciting ﴿Sabbih isma rabbika al-a‘la﴾ in the first, ﴿Qul ya ayyuhal kafirun﴾ in the second, and ﴿Qul huwa Allahu ahad﴾ in the third.

2:
All the noble Imams and scholars of the Ummah agree that a person has the choice to perform five rak‘ahs,
or three,
or one;
authentic hadiths have been reported regarding all of these.
As for the view that neither more than three nor less than three (i.e., one) witr is permissible, this is held only by the Hanafi Imams,
and that too with a sitting (qu‘ud) after two rak‘ahs, which makes witr resemble Maghrib,
whereas this resemblance has been prohibited.

Note:
(In the chain, Harith al-A‘war is extremely weak.)

The Chapters of the Hadith Scholars: “First and After?!”

Question:

Ilyas Ghuman Sahib has said in one of his speeches that the Ahl al-Hadith act upon abrogated (mansukh) narrations, while we Deobandis act upon abrogating (nasikh) narrations.

And he presents a rule and principle, claiming that the noble hadith scholars (muhaddithin), rahimahumullah ajma‘in, in their books of hadith, first brought the abrogated narrations or actions, and then they collected the abrogating narrations.

Is this really correct?

And while giving examples, he states that the hadith scholars, in their books, first mentioned the narrations about performing raf‘ al-yadayn (raising the hands in prayer), and then mentioned the narrations about not performing it—that is, raf‘ al-yadayn is abrogated and not performing raf‘ al-yadayn is abrogating. Similarly, the hadith scholars first mentioned the narrations about reciting al-Fatihah behind the imam, and then the narrations about not reciting al-Fatihah behind the imam. The Ahl al-Hadith act upon abrogated narrations, and we act upon the abrogating ones.

Is the rule and principle stated by Ilyas Ghuman Sahib really the rule of the majority of hadith scholars, and do the Deobandis act upon this rule, while the Ahl al-Hadith oppose it? Please clarify this.

The Answer:

The statement of Ghuman Sahib mentioned above is incorrect for several reasons. However, first, I present ten (10) references regarding the chapter arrangement (tabwib) of the hadith scholars:

1) Imam Abu Dawud established a chapter:

“Chapter: Whoever did not see the recitation of Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim aloud (jahr)”

(Sunan Abi Dawud, p. 122, before hadith 782)

After this, Imam Abu Dawud established a second chapter:

“Chapter: Whoever recited it aloud”

(Sunan Abi Dawud, p. 122, before hadith 786)

That is, Imam Abu Dawud first wrote the chapter on not reciting Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim aloud (i.e., silently in prayer), and then established the chapter on reciting Bismillah aloud. So, are Ghuman Sahib and his companions prepared to declare the silent recitation of Bismillah as abrogated and the loud recitation as abrogating? And if not, then where did their principle go?!

Note:
Imam al-Tirmidhi also established the chapter on abandoning loud recitation first, and the chapter on loud recitation afterwards. See Sunan al-Tirmidhi (p. 67–68, before hadith 244, 245)

2) Imam al-Tirmidhi, rahimahullah, established a chapter:

“Chapter: What has been reported regarding witr with three (rak‘ahs)”

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, p. 122, before hadith 459)

Then afterwards, he established the chapter:

“Chapter: What has been reported regarding witr with one (rak‘ah)”

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, before hadith 461)

Will Ghuman Sahib, according to his self-made rule and principle, consider three rak‘ahs of witr abrogated and one rak‘ah abrogating, and thus become an adherent and practitioner of one rak‘ah witr?!

For the full discussion, see Fatawa ‘Ilmiyyah, known as Tawdhih al-Ahkam (vol. 3, pp. 250–259), and Tahqiqi wa ‘Ilmi Maqalat (vol. 4, pp. 482–488) by Shaykh Hafiz Zubair Ali Zai, rahimahullah.