Source: Extracted from Hudiyyat al-Muslimīn – Namāz ke Aham Masāʾil maʿ Maqmal Namāz al-Nabawiyyah ﷺ by Shaykh Zubair ʿAlī Zai رحمه الله
From Ibn ʿUmar (رضي الله عنهما):
"Witr is one rakʿah in the last part of the night."
[Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 1/257, Ḥadīth 752]
① This ḥadīth explicitly proves the validity of one rakʿah Witr.
② Both verbally and practically, authentic aḥādīth prove that the Prophet ﷺ prayed a single rakʿah Witr.
③ The Prophet ﷺ said:
"Witr is a duty upon every Muslim. Whoever wishes may pray five as Witr, whoever wishes may pray three, and whoever wishes may pray one."
[Sunan Abī Dāwūd: 1/208, Ḥadīth 1422; Sunan al-Nasāʾī: 1/249, Ḥadīth 1711]
④ The correct method for three rakʿahs of Witr is to pray two rakʿahs, give salām, then pray one rakʿah separately.
⑤ Performing three rakʿahs Witr like Maghrib is prohibited.
⑥ Khālīl Aḥmad Anbethwī (Deobandī), refuting a misguided Molvī in Anwār Sāṭiʿah, wrote:
"One rakʿah Witr is established in authentic aḥādīth, and the Companions Ibn ʿUmar (رضي الله عنهما) and Ibn ʿAbbās (رضي الله عنهما) approved of it, as did Imām Mālik, Imām al-Shāfiʿī, and Imām Aḥmad. To attack this is to attack all of them. What then remains of one’s faith?"
[Barāhīn Qāṭiʿah, p. 7]
Ḥadīth Evidence
From Ibn ʿUmar (رضي الله عنهما):
"Witr is one rakʿah in the last part of the night."
[Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 1/257, Ḥadīth 752]
Benefits and Rulings
① This ḥadīth explicitly proves the validity of one rakʿah Witr.
② Both verbally and practically, authentic aḥādīth prove that the Prophet ﷺ prayed a single rakʿah Witr.
- Examples: [Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 1/136, Ḥadīth 996; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 1/255–257, Ḥadīth 745–751, and others]
③ The Prophet ﷺ said:
"Witr is a duty upon every Muslim. Whoever wishes may pray five as Witr, whoever wishes may pray three, and whoever wishes may pray one."
[Sunan Abī Dāwūd: 1/208, Ḥadīth 1422; Sunan al-Nasāʾī: 1/249, Ḥadīth 1711]
- Imām Ibn Ḥibbān included it in his Ṣaḥīḥ [al-Iḥsān: 4/63, Ḥadīth 403].
- Al-Ḥākim and al-Dhahabī both graded it authentic on the conditions of al-Bukhārī and Muslim. [al-Mustadrak: 1/302]
④ The correct method for three rakʿahs of Witr is to pray two rakʿahs, give salām, then pray one rakʿah separately.
- Evidence: [Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 1/254, Ḥadīth 738; Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān: 4/70, Ḥadīth 2426; Musnad Aḥmad: 2/76, Ḥadīth 5461; al-Muʿjam al-Awsaṭ by al-Ṭabarānī: 1/422, Ḥadīth 757]
⑤ Performing three rakʿahs Witr like Maghrib is prohibited.
- Evidence: [Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān: 4/17, Ḥadīth 2420; al-Mustadrak: 1/304, Ḥadīth 1137–1138; authenticated by al-Ḥākim and al-Dhahabī on the conditions of al-Bukhārī and Muslim]
- There is no ṣaḥīḥ chain proving three rakʿahs of Witr with one salām in the manner of Maghrib from the Prophet ﷺ.
⑥ Khālīl Aḥmad Anbethwī (Deobandī), refuting a misguided Molvī in Anwār Sāṭiʿah, wrote:
"One rakʿah Witr is established in authentic aḥādīth, and the Companions Ibn ʿUmar (رضي الله عنهما) and Ibn ʿAbbās (رضي الله عنهما) approved of it, as did Imām Mālik, Imām al-Shāfiʿī, and Imām Aḥmad. To attack this is to attack all of them. What then remains of one’s faith?"
[Barāhīn Qāṭiʿah, p. 7]
