Source: Abu ʿAdnān Muḥammad Munīr Qamar Nawāb al-Dīn, Namāz Panjgānah kī Rakaʿāt maʿa Namāz Witr wa Tahajjud
This is the method commonly practiced in many Arab countries during Ramaḍān with congregational Tarāwīḥ.
Evidence:
This was also the practice of Ibn ʿUmar and Muʿādh ibn Jabal (رضي الله عنهما), and the position of Imām Mālik, Imām al-Shāfiʿī, Imām Aḥmad, and Isḥāq ibn Rāhūyah.
(al-Mughnī 1/571; Sharḥ al-Sunnah 4/83)
If one does not separate, then there are two forms:
This was the practice of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (رضي الله عنه), the people of Madīnah, and many of the Salaf. Ibn Ḥajar mentioned several reports supporting this.
(Fatḥ al-Bārī 3/481)
Reports of the Prophet ﷺ praying five or seven Witr with only one tashahhud at the end further support this method.
(Bukhārī, Muslim, Mishkāt 1/394)
ʿĀʾishah (رضي الله عنها) said:
«وأن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم لا يسلم فى ركعتي الوتر»
"The Prophet ﷺ would not give salām after the two rakʿahs of Witr."
(al-Nasāʾī, al-Mustadrak, al-Bayhaqī; al-Muḥallā by Ibn Ḥazm)
Imām Aḥmad considered both separating (fasl) and combining (waṣl) as valid, but preferred fasl (2+1).
(Zād al-Maʿād 1/330; Fatḥ al-Rabbānī 4/295-303)
Imām al-Shāfiʿī also held that separating with salām is better.
(al-Mirʿāt 3/200)
The Prophet ﷺ would recite specific sūrahs in Witr:
Sometimes, in addition to Sūrah al-Ikhlāṣ, he ﷺ would also recite al-Falaq and al-Nās. Imām al-Ḥākim graded this narration authentic according to the conditions of Bukhārī and Muslim.
After Witr, the Prophet ﷺ would say three times:
سُبْحَانَ الْمَلِكِ الْقُدُّوْس
In the third time, he ﷺ would elongate القدوس and sometimes say:
رَبِّ الْمَلَائِكَةِ وَالرُّوح
(Musnad Aḥmad, al-Nasāʾī, al-Dāraqutnī)
Two practices are reported:
Both methods are found in authentic narrations, and the scholars, as well as the Companions (رضي الله عنهم), differed into these two groups.
① Two rakʿahs + salām, then one rakʿah separately → strongest and preferred.
② Three rakʿahs together with one tashahhud.
③ Three rakʿahs together with two tashahhuds but one salām at the end.
All are established in authentic narrations; however, separating them (2+1) is considered more authentic and preferred by many scholars.
➊ First Method: Two + One (Separating the Shafʿ from Witr)
- First, two rakʿahs are prayed with salām.
- Then, a separate single rakʿah is prayed with Duʿāʾ al-Qunūt.
This is the method commonly practiced in many Arab countries during Ramaḍān with congregational Tarāwīḥ.
Evidence:
- Ibn ʿUmar (رضي الله عنه) narrated: “The Prophet ﷺ prayed night prayer in pairs of two rakʿahs, then prayed one rakʿah as Witr.”
(Bukhārī, Muslim, Tirmidhī) - ʿĀʾishah (رضي الله عنها) said: “The Prophet ﷺ would pray eleven rakʿahs at night, offering salām after every two rakʿahs, then pray one rakʿah Witr.”
(Bukhārī, Muslim) - Ibn ʿUmar (رضي الله عنه) further narrated: “The Prophet ﷺ used to separate between Shafʿ and Witr with salām and we could hear his salām.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān, Musnad Aḥmad, Ṭabarānī) - ʿĀʾishah (رضي الله عنها) also said: “The Prophet ﷺ would sometimes speak between the two rakʿahs and the one rakʿah.”
(Ibn Abī Shaybah; al-Irwāʾ 2/150)
This was also the practice of Ibn ʿUmar and Muʿādh ibn Jabal (رضي الله عنهما), and the position of Imām Mālik, Imām al-Shāfiʿī, Imām Aḥmad, and Isḥāq ibn Rāhūyah.
(al-Mughnī 1/571; Sharḥ al-Sunnah 4/83)
➋ Second & Third Methods: Three Rakʿahs Together (No Salām in Between)
If one does not separate, then there are two forms:
(a) One Salām, One Tashahhud
- All three rakʿahs are prayed continuously with only one tashahhud at the end.
- ʿĀʾishah (رضي الله عنها) narrated:
«وكان رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يوتر بثلاث لا يقعد إلا في آخرهن»
“The Prophet ﷺ would pray three rakʿahs of Witr, and he would not sit (for tashahhud) except in the last of them.”
(al-Mustadrak al-Ḥākim)
This was the practice of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (رضي الله عنه), the people of Madīnah, and many of the Salaf. Ibn Ḥajar mentioned several reports supporting this.
(Fatḥ al-Bārī 3/481)
Reports of the Prophet ﷺ praying five or seven Witr with only one tashahhud at the end further support this method.
(Bukhārī, Muslim, Mishkāt 1/394)
(b) One Salām, Two Tashahhuds
- All three rakʿahs are prayed continuously,
- Two tashahhuds are recited (after the second rakʿah and the third rakʿah),
- But salām is given only at the end.
ʿĀʾishah (رضي الله عنها) said:
«وأن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم لا يسلم فى ركعتي الوتر»
"The Prophet ﷺ would not give salām after the two rakʿahs of Witr."
(al-Nasāʾī, al-Mustadrak, al-Bayhaqī; al-Muḥallā by Ibn Ḥazm)
Imām Aḥmad considered both separating (fasl) and combining (waṣl) as valid, but preferred fasl (2+1).
(Zād al-Maʿād 1/330; Fatḥ al-Rabbānī 4/295-303)
Imām al-Shāfiʿī also held that separating with salām is better.
(al-Mirʿāt 3/200)
✦ Recitation in Witr Rakʿahs
The Prophet ﷺ would recite specific sūrahs in Witr:
- 1st rakʿah → Sūrah al-Aʿlā (سَبِّحِ اسْمَ رَبِّكَ الْأَعْلَى)
- 2nd rakʿah → Sūrah al-Kāfirūn (قُلْ يَا أَيُّهَا الْكَافِرُونَ)
- 3rd rakʿah → Sūrah al-Ikhlāṣ (قُلْ هُوَ اللهُ أَحَدٌ)
(Abū Dāwūd, al-Nasāʾī, Ibn Mājah, Musnad Aḥmad)
Sometimes, in addition to Sūrah al-Ikhlāṣ, he ﷺ would also recite al-Falaq and al-Nās. Imām al-Ḥākim graded this narration authentic according to the conditions of Bukhārī and Muslim.
After Witr, the Prophet ﷺ would say three times:
سُبْحَانَ الْمَلِكِ الْقُدُّوْس
In the third time, he ﷺ would elongate القدوس and sometimes say:
رَبِّ الْمَلَائِكَةِ وَالرُّوح
(Musnad Aḥmad, al-Nasāʾī, al-Dāraqutnī)
✦ Position of Duʿāʾ al-Qunūt
Two practices are reported:
- Before rukūʿ: recited after Sūrah al-Fātiḥah and another sūrah, but before going into rukūʿ.
- After rukūʿ: recited after saying “Samiʿallāhu liman ḥamidah” upon rising.
Both methods are found in authentic narrations, and the scholars, as well as the Companions (رضي الله عنهم), differed into these two groups.
Summary: Three Valid Methods of Praying Three Rakʿah Witr
① Two rakʿahs + salām, then one rakʿah separately → strongest and preferred.
② Three rakʿahs together with one tashahhud.
③ Three rakʿahs together with two tashahhuds but one salām at the end.
All are established in authentic narrations; however, separating them (2+1) is considered more authentic and preferred by many scholars.
