The manner of the Witr prayer as reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)
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Question:
A brother asks, saying: “Peace be upon you, Honorable Shaykh. What is the manner of the Witr prayer as reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)? There are people who pray the Witr like the Maghrib prayer, with no difference between it and the Witr prayer?”
Answer:
The idea of the Witr prayer as reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is that, as Allah the Exalted said, it is not permissible in Ramadan or otherwise to exceed ten rak'ahs. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to pray four, so do not ask about their beauty and length. We said: he prays four, so do not ask about their beauty or otherwise, then he prays three. This is the predominant odd number. However, the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that the night prayer is in pairs, or Aisha’s statement that he prays four, means four with two taslims. He prays two rak'ahs with a taslim, then rests after the four, then prays another four with two taslims, then rests, then prays. This is how he used to do it, may Allah have mercy on him, because his hadiths explain one another. So it does not mean that “he prays four” implies he prays them with a single taslim, and it does not mean that “he prays three” implies he prays them consecutively as one unit of three.
Rather, he says the taslim after every two rak'ahs, then starts with one. Or, as for the night prayer of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), he denied it, he denied it. And although some scholars denied it based on the apparent meaning of the light, and said that if he prays five, he prays them consecutively based on that.
If he prays seven individually, there is no harm. And if he prays ten and prays eight consecutively, then says the taslim after the eight, then comes with the odd one, there is no harm. But as we mentioned, the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that the night prayer is in pairs, in pairs, explains Aisha’s statement that he prays four, meaning with two taslims. May Allah the Exalted...
A brother asks, saying: “Peace be upon you, Honorable Shaykh. What is the manner of the Witr prayer as reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)? There are people who pray the Witr like the Maghrib prayer, with no difference between it and the Witr prayer?”
Answer:
The idea of the Witr prayer as reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is that, as Allah the Exalted said, it is not permissible in Ramadan or otherwise to exceed ten rak'ahs. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to pray four, so do not ask about their beauty and length. We said: he prays four, so do not ask about their beauty or otherwise, then he prays three. This is the predominant odd number. However, the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that the night prayer is in pairs, or Aisha’s statement that he prays four, means four with two taslims. He prays two rak'ahs with a taslim, then rests after the four, then prays another four with two taslims, then rests, then prays. This is how he used to do it, may Allah have mercy on him, because his hadiths explain one another. So it does not mean that “he prays four” implies he prays them with a single taslim, and it does not mean that “he prays three” implies he prays them consecutively as one unit of three.
Rather, he says the taslim after every two rak'ahs, then starts with one. Or, as for the night prayer of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), he denied it, he denied it. And although some scholars denied it based on the apparent meaning of the light, and said that if he prays five, he prays them consecutively based on that.
If he prays seven individually, there is no harm. And if he prays ten and prays eight consecutively, then says the taslim after the eight, then comes with the odd one, there is no harm. But as we mentioned, the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that the night prayer is in pairs, in pairs, explains Aisha’s statement that he prays four, meaning with two taslims. May Allah the Exalted...
Source
كيفية صلاة الوتر — alfawzan.live
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.