The Witr prayer is a confirmed Sunnah, and among the jurists there are those who said that it is obligatory, and the Prophet - may God’s prayers and peace be upon him - did it and performed it regularly and did not abandon it when he was home or traveling. He urged Muslims to do it and told that God Almighty loves it. He said - may God’s prayers and peace be upon him -: ( God is the Witr prayer and loves the Witr prayer, so perform the Witr prayer, O People of the Qur’an. [1] Therefore, the virtue of the Witr prayer is great and its importance is great, as it is one of the best voluntary prayers and acts of worship and the most confirmed of the Sunnahs. The time for the Witr prayer is from after the Isha prayer until dawn breaks, so it is the last prayer at night, and it is not It has a specific number of rak’ahs, the least of which is one rak’ah, and the best of which is eleven. He, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, said: (Witr is a rak’ah at the end of the night),[2] and it was reported from him - may God’s prayers and peace be upon him - that he performed Witr with three, five, seven, and nine rak’ahs. He used to perform the Witr prayer with eleven rak’ahs most of his nights. It was mentioned in the hadith: (The Messenger of God, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, used to pray eleven rak’ahs at night, of which he performed the Witr prayer with one),[3] and the Witr prayer has a special supplication, called the Qunoot supplication.[4][ 5]
How to supplicate in Witr prayer
The supplication of Qunoot in the Witr prayer is in the last rak’ah, and it takes place after bowing, and it is permissible for it to be before bowing, as two matters have been mentioned regarding that, but after bowing it is better, and it is Sunnah for the supplicant to raise his hands in supplication, and extend them towards the sky, and bring them close to each other like a supplicant who is waiting for a gift. However, he should not exaggerate in raising them too much, rather he should raise them to his chest only, because this supplication is a supplication of desire, not a supplication of supplication, so he should not exaggerate in it by raising the hands, and it is better not to constantly recite qunut al-Witr, because the Prophet - may God bless him and grant him peace - has not been proven to do so constantly. On it.[6]
The formula for the Qunoot Witr supplication
There is more than one formula in the Qunoot supplication in the Witr prayer that has been proven in the Sunnah of the Prophet, including: [7]
(O God, guide me among those whom You have guided, treat me well among those whom You have pardoned, take care of me among those whom You have taken care of, and bless me in what You have given, and protect me from the evil of what You have decreed. Indeed, You decree and no decree will be decreed against You. Indeed, He will not humiliate those whom You have appointed. Blessed be our Lord and exalted be He.) [8]
(O God, we seek refuge in Your pleasure from Your displeasure, in Your forgiveness from Your punishment, and in You from You. We do not count your praise, You are just as You praised Yourself.) [9]
(O God, to You we worship, and to You we pray and prostrate, and to You we seek and worship. We hope for your mercy and fear your torment. Indeed, your torment is attached to the disbelievers. O Who disbelieves in you?)[10][11]
How to perform Witr prayer
The time for the Witr prayer begins after the Isha prayer until the dawn, and it is best not to delay the Witr prayer until the end of the night unless the Muslim performs Tajjud at the end of the night and thinks most likely that he will wake up. He, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, said: (Which of you is afraid that he will not get up at the end of the night?) At night, let him pray Witr, then lie down, and whoever is confident of getting up during the night, let him pray Witr at the end of it, for the recitation at the end of the night is attended, and that is better.) [12] The Muslim has a choice regarding the number of rak’ahs of Witr, so he can pray the number that he chooses He wants it, and the more it is, the better and greater the reward, God willing. It was stated in the hadith: (Witr is a duty upon every Muslim. Whoever likes to pray the Witr with five should do so, and whoever likes to pray the Witr with three should do so, and whoever likes to pray the Witr with one should do so). [13] If a Muslim wants to limit himself to one rak’ah in Witr, he should pray one rak’ah and then He sits at the end of it and says the salutation, but if he wants to do more than one, he prays the Witr prayer in two rak’ahs, then he says the salutation at the end of each two rak’ahs, then he concludes his entire prayer with one final rak’ah. He, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, said: (The night prayer is two by two, so if you see that the morning is overtaking you Then pray Witr with one. It was said to Ibn Omar: What is two-two? He said: To say the salutation in every two rak'ahs),[14][15] There are other ways to perform the Witr prayer if a Muslim wants to pray more than one rak'ah, including:
If a Muslim wants to pray the Witr prayer with three rak’ahs, he can either pray the three in one sitting and say the salutation, as stated in the hadith: (He prayed the Witr three rak’ahs, and he did not say the salutation except in the last of them),[16] or he should pray two rak’ahs and say the salutation at the end of them, then he should pray a final rak’ah and say the salutation. In it, it was stated in the hadith: (The Prophet, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, used to separate the Shaf’ and Witr prayers with a salutation so that we could hear it),[17] and there is a third form, which is that he prays the three rak’ahs as he prays the Maghrib prayer, and this is the Hanafi doctrine, but the first two forms are better.[18]
If he wanted to perform the Witr prayer with five or seven rak’ahs and pray them consecutively, with one sitting and the salutation, it is mentioned in the hadith: (The Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, used to pray thirteen rak’ahs at night, and he would perform the Witr prayer with five rak’ahs of that, and he would not sit for anything except the last one).[1 9 ]
If he wants to perform the Witr prayer with nine rak’ahs, he prays eight consecutive rak’ahs, then sits after it for the Tashahhud but does not say the salutation, then he gets up and performs the ninth rak’ah, then sits and says the salutation. It was stated in the hadith: (O Mother of the Believers, give me a fatwa about the Witr prayer of the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace. She said, “We were preparing for him his siwak and his ablution.” Then God will send him to the night where He wishes to send him, so he uses a brush and performs ablution, then he prays nine rak’ahs, in which he does not sit until the eighth, and he supplicates to his Lord and remembers God and praises Him and supplicates to Him. Then he gets up and does not give the salutation, then he gets up and prays the ninth, then he sits and remembers God and praises Him. And he calls upon his Lord and sends blessings upon His Prophet, then he greets us with complete salutation, making us hear.) [20]
If he wants to perform the Witr prayer with eleven rak’ahs, he should pray two rak’ahs and say the salutation at the end of each until he has prayed ten rak’ahs, then he should pray one rak’ah with which he will conclude his prayer.
The minimum completion in the number of rak'ahs for the Witr prayer is three rak'ahs, and it is Sunnah, if a Muslim prays three rak'ahs, to recite Surat Al-A'la in the first rak'ah after Al-Fatihah, to recite Surat Al-Kafirun in the second, and to recite Surah Al-Ikhlas in the third. It was stated in the hadith: (The Messenger of God used to recite In the Witr prayer, glorify the name of your Lord, the Most High, and say, “O disbelievers, and say, ‘He is God, One.’”[21][15]