Is One Rakʿah of Witr Prayer Valid in Islam? Proofs

Is Offering One Rakʿah of Witr Permissible? A Complete Explanation with Proofs
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Source: Fatāwā Muḥammadīyyah, Vol. 1, p. 505

❖ Question:​

Is it permissible to perform only one rakʿah of Witr?

✿ Answer:​

Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu wa-s-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, ammā baʿd!

Although the regular practice of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was to offer three rakʿahs of Witr with two salāms, the Sharīʿah has also permitted performing just one rakʿah of Witr. Numerous aḥādīth and reports from the Companions support this practice.

◈ Prophetic Ḥadīth​

① One rakʿah of Witr:

«الْوِتْرُ رَكْعَةٌ مِنْ آخِرِ اللَّيْلِ»
“The Witr is one rakʿah at the end of the night.”
(Narrated by Ibn ʿUmar and Ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهم; Aḥmad, Muslim; Nayl al-Awṭār 2/33)

◈ Practice of Ibn ʿUmar رضي الله عنهما​

② He would separate two rakʿahs and one rakʿah with salām:

“He used to perform salām after two rakʿahs, attend to some need, then offer one rakʿah Witr.”
(Al-Bukhārī; Nayl al-Awṭār 3/33)

③ Another narration:

“After two rakʿahs, Ibn ʿUmar said to his servant: ‘Prepare the mount,’ then he offered one rakʿah Witr.”
(Saʿīd ibn Manṣūr, with ṣaḥīḥ isnād)

④ Ibn ʿUmar also stated that the Prophet ﷺ himself did the same, separating shafʿ (two rakʿahs) and Witr with salām. (al-Ṭaḥāwī, with strong isnād)

◈ Scholarly Clarifications​

• Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar رحمه الله explained: Ibn ʿUmar usually prayed three rakʿahs with one salām, but sometimes separated them due to need.

◈ Scholarly Consensus​

Reports and aḥādīth confirm the permissibility of one rakʿah Witr.

Among the Companions رضي الله عنهم who held this view:

• The Rightly Guided Caliphs
• Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ
• Muʿādh ibn Jabal
• Ubayy ibn Kaʿb
• Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī
• Abū al-Dardāʾ
• Ḥudhayfah
• Ibn Masʿūd
• Ibn ʿUmar
• Ibn ʿAbbās
• Muʿāwiyah
• Tamīm al-Dārī
• Abū Hurayrah
• ʿAbdullāh ibn al-Zubayr, and others.
  

Among the Tābiʿīn and later scholars:
Sālim ibn ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar, ʿAṭāʾ ibn Abī Rabāḥ, al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī, Ibn Sīrīn, Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, al-Zuhrī, al-Rabīʿah, and many others.


Among the great Imāms:
Imām Mālik, Imām al-Shāfiʿī, Imām Aḥmad, Imām al-Awzāʿī, Isḥāq ibn Rāhwayh, Imām Abū Thawr, Imām Dāwūd, and Ibn Ḥazm.

All agreed that one rakʿah of Witr is valid.


Conclusion:

• Performing one rakʿah of Witr is permissible and established by authentic aḥādīth and the practice of the Companions.
• Though the Prophet ﷺ often prayed three rakʿahs, the concession of one rakʿah Witr is clearly authentic.