In the Name of Allaah,the Most Gracious,the Most Merciful
Q:Did the Prophet (peace be upon him) perform Witr as one or
three consecutive Rak’ahs (units of Prayer)?Did he continue performing Qunut
(supplications recited while standing after bowing in the last unit of Prayer)
until he died?Did he ask people to do it?
A:The Prophet (peace be upon him) performed Witr as one Rak’ah.He
taught anyone who asked him about supererogatory night Salah to perform two Rak’ahs
and then perform one Rak’ah as Witr before Fajr (dawn) prayer.’Aishah (may
Allah be pleased with her) said:”When Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him)
finished the ‘Isha (Night) Prayer,he would offer eleven Rak’ahs before the Fajr
(Dawn) Prayer,concluding each two Rak’ahs with Taslim (salutation of peace
ending the Prayer) and observing the Witr Rak’ah at the end.”This Hadith was
reported by Al-Bukhari,Muslim,Ahmad,Abu Dawud and Al-Nasa’iy.
It was also reported that Ibn ‘Umar said:”A man came
to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and asked him:’How can I offer Qiyam Al-Layl
(the optional night prayer.”The Prophet (peace be upon him) replied:’Pray two
Rak’ahs at a time and then two and then two and so on and if you are afraid of
the approach of the time of Fajr (Dawn) Prayer,perform one Rak’ahs as Witr.”This
Hadith was reported by the Group of Compilers of Hadith (Al-Bukhari,Muslim,Abu
Dawud,Al-Tirmidhy,Al-Nasa’iy,and Ibn Majah).
It was reported that Ibn ‘Umar and
Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them) said that they heart the Prophet
(peace be upon him) saying:”Witr is rak’ah at the end of the prayer.”This
Hadith was reported by Ahmad and Muslim.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) performed Witr as three
consecutive Rak’ahs without separating them with Taslim many times.It was
reported on the authority of Ubay ibn Ka’b (may Allah be pleased with him) that
‘The Prophet (peace be upon him) used to recite <Glory the Name of your
Lord,the Most High,>during Witr in the first Rak’ah <Say;(O Muhammad صلى
الله عليه وسلم to these Mushrikun and Kafirun): “O
Al-Kafirun (disbelievers in Allah,in His Oneness,in His Angels,in His Books,in
His Messengers,in the Day of Resurrection,and in Al-Qadar)!> In the
second Rak’ah and <Say (O Muhammad صلى
الله عليه و سلم):”He is Allah,(the) One,> In the
third one.He used to perform them without Taslim except after the third
one.>This Hadith was reported by Al-Nasa’iy.’Aishah (may Allah be pleased
with her) said:<”Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) used to observe the
Witr with three (Rak’ahs) without breaking them apart.”This Hadith was reported
by Ahmad,Al-Nasa’iy and Al-Hakim,Al-Hakim said that this Hadith is authentic
according to the conditions stipulated by Al-Bukhari and Muslim.
However,it
was reported that the Prophet (peace be
upon him) forbade performing Witr as three Rak’ah.Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be
pleased with him) reported that the
Prophet (peace be upon him) said:<”Do not observe Witr as three Rak’ah but
five or seven Rak’ah,and do not make it similar to Maghrib (Sunset) Prayer.”This
Hadith was reported by Al-Daraqutny with a chain of transmitters and said that
they are all reliable.
Many scholars have tried to integrate these Hadiths
through interpreting the prohibition of performing Witr as three Rak’ahs as
performing them in the same manner as
Maghrib (Sunset) Prayer.They interpreted the Hadiths that denote that the
Prophet (peace be upon him) performed
Witr as three Rak’ahs as performing them without Taslim except at the end of
it.Some of them said that prohibition in this regard means a reprehensible
act.They said it is better not to
perform Witr as three Rak’ahs.A person is allowed to do any of these things.Abu
Ayyub reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said:<”The witr is a duty
for every Muslim so if anyone wishes to observe it with five Rak’ahs,he may do so;if anyone wishes to
observe it with three,he may do so,and if anyone wishes to observe it with
one,he may do so.”This Hadith was reported by Imam Ahmad,Abu Dawud,Al-Nasa’iy and Ibn
Majah.But a person should perform Witr as one Rak’ah as the Prophet (peace be
upon him) used to do this a lot and due to the numerous authentic Hadith reported
in this regard.
As for Qunut during Witr,it was reported that the Prophet
(peace be upon him) did it and taught it to Al-Hasan ibn ‘Aly (may Allah be
pleased with him).It was reported from ‘Aly
(may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace be upon him) used to say in the last
Rak’ah of his Witr:<”O Allah! I seek refuge in Your Pleasure from Your
Displeasure and in Your Pardon from Your Punishment,and I seek refuge in You
from You.I cannot enumerate Your Praise,You are as You have praised Yourself.”>This Hadith was reported by the Five Compilers of Hadith
(Imam Ahmad,Abu Dawud,Al-Tirmidhy,Al-Nasa’iy and Ibn Majah).
Al-Hasan ibn ‘Aly
(may Allah be pleased with him) said:< “The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon
him) taught me some words that I say during the supplication of the Witr.They
were:’O Allah,guide me among those You have guided,grant me security among
those You have granted security,take me into Your charge among those You have
taken into Your charge,bless me in what You have given,guard me from the evil
of what You have decreed,for You do decree,and nothing is decreed for You.He
whom You become his Waliy is not
humbled.Blessed and Exalted are You,our
Lord.”>This Hadith was reported by the Five Compilers of Hadith (Imam
Ahmad,Abu Dawud,Al-Tirmidhy,Al-Nasa’iy and Ibn Majah).
The followers of the
Hanafy and Hanbaly Madh-hab (School of Jurisprudence) worked according to this
Hadith.Some of the scholars of Hadith deemed these two Hadiths as
weak.Following any of these views is pardonable.But it is better to perform
Qunut during Witr Salah according to these two Hadiths because they are not
less than Hadith Hasan (a Hadith whose chain
of narration contains a narrator
with weak exactitude,but is free from eccentricity or blemish).But we do not
have an authentic Hadith that denotes that the Prophet (peace be upon him)
performed Qunut during Witr until he
died.
May Allah grant us success.May peace and blessings be upon
our Prophet Muhammad,his family,and Companions.
~
Source:Fatwas of the Permanent Committee,Fatwa no.1443,Group
1,Vol.7:Salah 2|Part No.7;Page No.167-171|www.alifta.net
