-peace and blessings of Allah be upon him-: "Witr is one rak'ah at the end of the night." The Prophet -peace and blessings of Allah be upon him- used to perform Witr at the end of the night (55). Aishah said: "The Messenger of Allah -peace and blessings of Allah be upon him- performed Witr at every time of the night, and his Witr [performance] eventually reached [the time of] the pre-dawn hours (Sahar) (56). Whoever had a habit of Tahajjud (night prayer) would place the Witr after his Tahajjud, because the Prophet -peace and blessings of Allah be upon him- used to do that. He also said: "Make the last of your prayer at night Witr" (57), along with the reports we have mentioned. If one fears that he will not wake up at the end of the night, it is recommended for him to perform Witr at its beginning, because the Prophet -peace and blessings of Allah be upon him- advised Abu Hurayrah, Abu Dharr, and Abu al-Darda' to perform Witr before sleeping. He said: "Whoever fears that he will not wake up at the end of the night, let him perform Witr at its beginning." All of these hadiths are authentic, recorded by Muslim and others. Abu Dawud recorded that the Prophet -peace and blessings of Allah be upon him- asked Abu Bakr: "When do you perform Witr?" He replied: "I perform Witr at the beginning of the night." He asked Umar: "When do you perform Witr?" He replied: "At the end of the night." He then said to Abu Bakr: "This one has taken it with caution," and said to Umar: "And this one has taken it with strength" (58). Whatever time one performs Witr at night after the Isha prayer, it is sufficient. We know of no disagreement regarding this, and the reports have indicated it.
Section: Whoever performs Witr at night, then gets up to perform Tahajjud, it is recommended (59) that he prays two by two
(55) See: Musnad al-Imam Ahmad 1/78, 143, 144, 4/119, 5/215, 272, 6/73. (56) Recorded by al-Bukhari, in: The Chapter of Times of Witr, from the Book of Witr. Sahih al-Bukhari 2/31. And Muslim, in: The Chapter of Prayer at Night... etc., from the Book of the Traveler's Prayer. Sahih Muslim 1/152. And Abu Dawud, in: The Chapter of the Time of Witr, from the Book of Witr. Sunan Abi Dawud 1/332. And al-Tirmidhi, in: The Chapter of What Has Been Said Regarding Witr at the Beginning of the Night and Its End, from the Chapters of Witr. ‘Aridat al-Ahwadhi 2/244. And al-Nasa'i, in: The Chapter of the Time of Witr, from the Book of Staying Awake at Night. Al-Mujtaba 3/189. And Ibn Majah, in: The Chapter of What Has Been Said Regarding Witr at the End of the Night, from the Book of Establishing Prayer. Sunan Ibn Majah 1/374. And al-Darimi, in: The Chapter of What Has Been Said Regarding the Time of Witr, from the Book of Prayer. Sunan al-Darimi 1/372. And Imam Ahmad, in: Al-Musnad 6/46, 100, 107, 129, 204, 205. (57) Mentioned shortly before. (58) Recorded by Abu Dawud, in: The Chapter of Witr Before Sleeping, from the Book of Witr. Sunan Abi Dawud 1/331, 332. And Ibn Majah, in: The Chapter of What Has Been Said Regarding Witr at the Beginning of the Night, from the Book of Establishing Prayer. Sunan Ibn Majah 1/379, 380. And Imam Ahmad, in: Al-Musnad 3/309, 330. (59) In the original: "istahabba" [it is recommended].
