If one sleeps through the witr, does he make it up during the day with eleven rak'ahs or twelve? And if he performs twelve rak'ahs, is it considered making up the missed prayer for him, or a substitute for it?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Regarding making up the witr, it is mentioned in the hadith: Is the making up of the witr, if it is missed by a person during the day and he wants to pray the witr, to be prayed as twelve rak'ahs or as eleven rak'ahs?
The Shaykh : First, the hadith you mentioned in full: did it say "if he sleeps" or "if it is missed"?
The questioner : He slept through his portion.
The Shaykh : I am the one who remembers that the hadith is: If it is authentic with the wording "if he sleeps," then the combination is easy, and we can say here that there are two sunnahs: a practical sunnah and a verbal sunnah. The practical sunnah is what you mentioned, and this is after confirming that the hadith is with the wording "if he sleeps." The verbal sunnah, as we know from the hadith, is that he (peace and blessings be upon him) said regarding the witr what he said regarding the obligatory prayer: Sunan Abi Dawud 1431Sahih (Al-Albani) So whichever of the two he does, he has followed the right path.
The questioner : If he prays twelve rak'ahs, is it considered making up the missed prayer, or a substitute for the night prayer?
The Shaykh : There is no making up. If it were making up, the prayer that is made up is made up as it was missed. The witr is odd, and here it is even, so it is not making up, but rather a substitute.
The questioner : A substitute.
The Shaykh : Yes, I do.
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to pray twelve rak'ahs during the day if he slept through his portion.
أن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم كان إذا نام عن حزبه صلى من النهار اثنتي عشرة ركعةThe Shaykh : First, the hadith you mentioned in full: did it say "if he sleeps" or "if it is missed"?
The questioner : He slept through his portion.
The Shaykh : I am the one who remembers that the hadith is:
If it was missed from him.
كان إذا فاتهIf anyone oversleeps and misses the witr, or forgets it, he should pray when he remembers.
من نام عن وتره أو نسيه فليصله حين يذكرهThe questioner : If he prays twelve rak'ahs, is it considered making up the missed prayer, or a substitute for the night prayer?
The Shaykh : There is no making up. If it were making up, the prayer that is made up is made up as it was missed. The witr is odd, and here it is even, so it is not making up, but rather a substitute.
The questioner : A substitute.
The Shaykh : Yes, I do.