Is the witr prayer performed as three consecutive rak'ahs?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : In the witr... he compared it to the Maghrib prayer in number, not in manner.
The Shaykh : In manner.
The questioner : Well, the hadith at the beginning says, "Do not perform witr with three; perform it with five, or with seven. Do not perform witr with three." Its apparent meaning is regarding the manner.
The Shaykh : Yes, but not every apparent meaning is one we adhere to; rather, we look at the other evidence.
The student : Like what?
The Shaykh : The Messenger used to pray three.
The student : Continuous.
The Shaykh : Continuous.
The student : Do you know what the source of this hadith is?
The Shaykh : If my memory is not failing me, it is in al-Mustadrak.
The Shaykh : In manner.
The questioner : Well, the hadith at the beginning says, "Do not perform witr with three; perform it with five, or with seven. Do not perform witr with three." Its apparent meaning is regarding the manner.
The Shaykh : Yes, but not every apparent meaning is one we adhere to; rather, we look at the other evidence.
The student : Like what?
The Shaykh : The Messenger used to pray three.
The student : Continuous.
The Shaykh : Continuous.
The student : Do you know what the source of this hadith is?
The Shaykh : If my memory is not failing me, it is in al-Mustadrak.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.