Praying six rak'ahs in pairs, then five in a row for the witr
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
Regarding the hadith of Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used toSahih Muslim 737a, is it permissible for me to pray six units in pairs, and then pray five units consecutively?
The Shaykh:
This is permissible, this is permissible, but it is better to pray in pairs, with the witr being a single rak'ah at the end; this is the best. Yes.
The questioner:
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success.
The Shaykh:
This is if you are praying alone. But if you are praying in congregation, do not cause confusion for them. If you are praying in congregation, do not cause confusion for them; follow your choices and independent reasoning. Pray as the Muslims pray, in pairs. Tarawih is in pairs, or Tahajjud is in pairs, then conclude with three, making it an even number followed by an odd one. This is well known among people and does not cause confusion for them. But if you pray alone, there is no contradiction. Yes.
Regarding the hadith of Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to observe thirteen rak'ahs of the night prayer. Five out of them consisted of Witr, and he did not sit, but at the end (for salutation).
يصلي من الليل ثلاث عشرة ركعة، يوتر من ذلك بخمس، لا يجلس في شيء إلا في آخرهاThe Shaykh:
This is permissible, this is permissible, but it is better to pray in pairs, with the witr being a single rak'ah at the end; this is the best. Yes.
The questioner:
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success.
The Shaykh:
This is if you are praying alone. But if you are praying in congregation, do not cause confusion for them. If you are praying in congregation, do not cause confusion for them; follow your choices and independent reasoning. Pray as the Muslims pray, in pairs. Tarawih is in pairs, or Tahajjud is in pairs, then conclude with three, making it an even number followed by an odd one. This is well known among people and does not cause confusion for them. But if you pray alone, there is no contradiction. Yes.
Source
شرح زاد المستقنع [18] — alfawzan.live (1:24:26)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.