Sunan Abi Dawud

Ibn Muhayriz said: A man from Banu Kinanah, named al-Makhdaji, heard a person called AbuMuhammad in Syria, saying: The witr is a duty (wajib). Al-Makhdaji said: So I went to Ubadah ibn as-Samit and informed him. Ubadah said: AbuMuhammad told a lie. I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: There are five prayers which Allah has prescribed on His servants. If anyone offers them, not losing any of them, and not treating them lightly, Allah guarantees that He will admit him to Paradise. If anyone does not offer them, Allah does not take any responsibility for such a person. He may either punish him or admit him to Paradise.

A man who lived in the desert asked the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) about the prayer at night. He made a sign with his two fingers-in this way in pairs. The witr consists of one rak'ah towards the end in night.

The Prophet (ﷺ) 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.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to observe witr with (reciting) "Glorify the name of thy Lord, the most High" (Surah 87), "Say O disbelievers" (Surah 109), and "Say, He is Allah, the One, Allah, the eternally besought of all" (112).

AbdulAziz ibn Jurayj said: I asked Aisha, mother of the believers: With which (surah) the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to observe witr? (She reported same as in the Hadith of Ubayy ibn Ka'b, No. 1418) This version adds: In the third rak'ah he would recite: "Say, He is Allah, the One" (Surah 112), and "Say, I seek refuge in the Lord of daybreak" (Surah 113), and "Say, I seek refuge in the Lord of mankind" (Surah 114).

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) taught me some words that I say during the witr. (The version of Ibn Jawwas has: I say them in the supplication of the witr.) They were: "O Allah, guide me among those Thou hast guided, grant me security among those Thou hast granted security, take me into Thy charge among those Thou hast taken into Thy charge, bless me in what Thou hast given, guard me from the evil of what Thou hast decreed, for Thou dost decree, and nothing is decreed for Thee. He whom Thou befriendest is not humbled. Blessed and Exalted art Thou, our Lord."

The version has the words: "He would recite the supplication of the witr." He did not mention the words: "I say them in the witr." Abu Dawud said: The name of Abu al-Hawra' is Rabi'ah b. Shaiban.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to say at the end of his witr: "O Allah, I seek refuge in Thy good pleasure from Thy anger, and in Thy forgiveness from Thy punishment, and I seek refuge in Thy mercy from Thy wrath. I cannot reckon the praise due to Thee. Thou art as Thou hast praised Thyself." Abu Dawud said: Hisham is the earliest teacher of Hammad. Yahya b. Ma'in said: No one is reported to have narrated traditions form him except Hammad b. Salamah. Abu Dawud said: Ubayy b. Ka'b said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) recited supplication in the witr before bowing. Abu Dawud said: This tradition has also been narrated by 'Isa b. Yunus through a different chain of narrators from Ubayy b. Ka'b. He also narrated it through a different chain of narrators on the authority of Ubayy b. Ka'b that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) recited the supplication in the witr before bowing. Abu Dawud said: The chain of narrators of the tradition of Sa'id from Qatadah goes: Yazid b. Zurai' narrated from Sa'id, from Qatadah, from 'Azrah, from Sa'id b. 'Abd al-Rahman b. Abza, on the authority of his father, from the Prophet (ﷺ). This version does not mention the supplication and the name of Ubayy. This tradition has also been narrated by 'Abd al-A'la and Muhammad b. Bishr al-'Abdi. He heard the traditions from 'Isa b. Yunus at Kufah. They did not mention the supplication in their version. This tradition has also been narrated by Hisham al-Dastuwa'i and Shu'bah from Qatadah. They did not mention the supplication in their version. The tradition of Zubaid has been narrated by Sulaiman al-A'mash, Shu'bah, 'Abd al-Malik b. Abi Sulaiman, and Jarir b. Hazim; all of them narrated on the authority of Zubaid. None of them mention the supplication in his version, except in the tradition transmitted by Hafs b. Ghiyath from Mis'ar from Zubaid; he narrated in his version that he (the Prophet) recited supplication before bowing. Abu Dawud said: This version of tradition is not well know. There is doubt that Hafs might have narrated this tradition from some other narrator than Mis'ar. Abu Dawud said: It is reported that Ubayy (b. Ka'b) used to recited the supplication )in the witr) in the second half of Ramadan.

Muhammad reported on the authority of some of his teachers that Ubayy b. Ka'b led them in prayer during Ramadan. He used to recite the supplication (in the witr) during the second half of Ramadan.

Al-Hasan reported: Umar ibn al-Khattab gathered the people (in tarawih prayer) behind Ubayy ibn Ka'b (who led them). He used to lead them for twenty days (during Ramadan, and would not recite the supplication except in the second half of it (i.e. Ramadan). When the last ten days remained, he kept away from them, and prayed in his house. They used to say: Ubayy ran away. Abu Dawud said: This tradition shows that whatever has been reported about the recitation of the supplication is not tenable. Moreover, these two traditions from Ubayy b. Ka'b indicate that another tradition which tells that the Prophet (ﷺ) recited the supplication in the witr is weak.

When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) offered salutation in the witr prayer, he said: Glorify be to the king most holy.

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: If anyone oversleeps and misses the witr, or forgets it, he should pray when he remembers.

My friend (i.e. the Prophet) instructed me to observe three practices that I do not leave while traveling nor while resident, to pray two rak`ahs in the forenoon, to fast three days every month and not to sleep but after observing the witr.

My friend (i.e. the Prophet) instructed me to observe three practices which I never leave: he instructed me to fast three days every month, and not to sleep but after observing the witr, and to observe supererogatory prayer in the forenoon while traveling and while resident.

The Prophet (ﷺ) asked AbuBakr: When do you observe the witr? He replied: I observe the witr prayer in the early hours of the night. The Prophet (ﷺ) asked Umar: When do you observe the witr? He replied: At the end of the night. He then said to AbuBakr: This has followed it with care; and he said to Umar: He has followed it with strength.

I asked 'Aishah: When would the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) observe the witr prayer ? She replied: Any time he observed the witr, sometimes in the early hours of the night, sometimes at midnight and sometimes towards the end of it. But he used to observe the witr just before the dawn when he died.

Make haste to observe the witr prayer before morning.

I asked 'Aishah about the witr observes by the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). She replied: Sometime he observed the witr prayer in the early hours of the night, sometimes he observed it at the end of it. I asked: How did he recite the Qur'an ? Did he recite the Qur'an quietly or loudly ? She replied: He did it in any way. Sometimes he recited quietly and sometimes loudly, sometimes he took bath and then slept and sometimes he performed ablution and then slept. Abu Dawud said: The narrators other than Qutaibah said: This refer to his bath due to sexual defilement.

Make the last of your prayer at night a witr.

Qays ibn Talq said: Talq ibn Ali visited us on a certain day during Ramadan. He remained with us till evening and broke fast with us. He then stood up and led us in the witr prayer. He then went to his mosque and led them in prayer. When the witr remained, he put forward another man and said: Lead your companions in the witr prayer, for I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying: There are no two witrs during one night.