The Ruling on Night Prayer After 'Isha' and Before Fajr, and the Number of Its Rak'ahs
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
I move on to another questioner who says: I pray the night prayer at times immediately after the 'Isha' prayer, four rak'ahs or six or less than that, or sometimes I pray it before sleeping, for example at eleven thirty, or I pray it with the witr about half an hour before the Fajr prayer. This makes the total I have prayed from after 'Isha' until the Fajr prayer sixteen rak'ahs, in addition to three rak'ahs with which I complete the end of the night with witr. What is the ruling on my practice?
Answer:
There is nothing wrong with it. The night prayer has no fixed limit. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) encouraged standing in night prayer and incited desire for it, but he did not specify a certain number. So pray whatever is easy for you of the night, whether from its beginning, its middle, or its end, and conclude your prayer with witr. Yes.
I move on to another questioner who says: I pray the night prayer at times immediately after the 'Isha' prayer, four rak'ahs or six or less than that, or sometimes I pray it before sleeping, for example at eleven thirty, or I pray it with the witr about half an hour before the Fajr prayer. This makes the total I have prayed from after 'Isha' until the Fajr prayer sixteen rak'ahs, in addition to three rak'ahs with which I complete the end of the night with witr. What is the ruling on my practice?
Answer:
There is nothing wrong with it. The night prayer has no fixed limit. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) encouraged standing in night prayer and incited desire for it, but he did not specify a certain number. So pray whatever is easy for you of the night, whether from its beginning, its middle, or its end, and conclude your prayer with witr. Yes.
Source
نور على الدرب - الفوزان - 02/225 — archive.org (16:46)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.