The ruling on praying a single rak'ah with the intention of witr
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Question:
May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh. A questioner says: After performing the recommended sunnah prayer following the night prayer, some people pray one rak'ah with the intention of witr. Is this act valid? And if he prays three rak'ahs with one taslim with the intention of witr, is that also valid?
Answer:
The minimum for witr is one rak'ah. So if he prays one rak'ah and intends witr, it is valid; this is the minimum for witr. The lowest level of perfection is three rak'ahs, and the highest level of perfection is eleven or thirteen rak'ahs, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to do. It is permissible to choose one rak'ah and not pray anything else; it is permissible, but it is the least. However, it is better to precede it with two rak'ahs, making it three; this is the most beautiful.
May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh. A questioner says: After performing the recommended sunnah prayer following the night prayer, some people pray one rak'ah with the intention of witr. Is this act valid? And if he prays three rak'ahs with one taslim with the intention of witr, is that also valid?
Answer:
The minimum for witr is one rak'ah. So if he prays one rak'ah and intends witr, it is valid; this is the minimum for witr. The lowest level of perfection is three rak'ahs, and the highest level of perfection is eleven or thirteen rak'ahs, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to do. It is permissible to choose one rak'ah and not pray anything else; it is permissible, but it is the least. However, it is better to precede it with two rak'ahs, making it three; this is the most beautiful.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، هل يصح الوتر بركعة واحدة؟ وهل يصح بثلاث ركعات بسلام واحد؟ لمعالي الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.