What is the ruling for one who wants to pray Witr at the end of the night and wishes to leave with the imam in the Tarawih prayer?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good. A questioner says: If I want to pray Witr at the end of the night and I want to leave with the imam, what is the ruling in this case?
The Shaykh : Yes, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) stood in prayer with his Companions one night until most of the night had passed, then he left. They said, “O Messenger of Allah, if only you had made the rest of our night voluntary for us,” meaning if only you had increased it until the night ended. He said:Jami` at-Tirmidhi 806Sahih (Darussalam).
So let us examine with you this hadith: does this hadith indicate that it is not befitting for a person to stand in prayer after the imam has left?
The student: No.
The Shaykh : Answer, my brothers. I repeat: when they said, “If only you had made the rest of our night voluntary for us,” he said:Jami` at-Tirmidhi 806Sahih (Darussalam). Does this indicate that it is befitting for a person to stand in prayer after that? No. It does not indicate that, because if the Messenger had wanted that, he would have said, “The door is open for you; pray after us until the night ends.” When he turned away from that, and Allah made it easy for the servants and bestowed upon them that whoever stands with the imam until he leaves is written as having stood the whole night in prayer, it is known that this is the best, because the Messenger knows that if there had been a prescribed matter for people to stand in prayer after this, he would have told them and not concealed it from them. So this falls under what? It falls under the category of easing things for the servants and bestowing upon them that they limit themselves to what the imam did, and it will be written for them as standing the whole night in prayer, even if they were sleeping on their beds. However, if a person stands in prayer after this, there is no harm in it and it is not forbidden, because the Messenger did not forbid it and did not point to it. However, the jurists (may Allah have mercy on them) said that if one wants to pray Tahajjud after the imam, he should make his Witr even by adding a rak'ah and not repeat the Witr. What does it mean to make it even with a rak'ah? It means that when the imam says the taslim, he stands and performs a rak'ah, so that the one who stood and performed a rak'ah has not prayed Witr, in order to realize the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him): Sahih Muslim 751b.
But here is an issue: we are now here in the Prophet’s Mosque, and also in the Sacred Mosque, and perhaps in other mosques, where two imams lead the Tarawih prayer. Is the criterion the leaving of the first one or the leaving of the second one? Answer.
Yes, the criterion is the leaving of the second one, because the second one completes the first, meaning he did not come with an independent prayer such that we would say the criterion is the leaving of the first one. Accordingly, whoever leaves after the first imam finishes his leading has left before the imam left, because the second imam is a completer and not independent. So the criterion is the completion, i.e., the ending of both imams. Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) stood in prayer with his Companions one night until most of the night had passed, then he left. They said, “O Messenger of Allah, if only you had made the rest of our night voluntary for us,” meaning if only you had increased it until the night ended. He said:
Indeed, whoever stands (praying) with the Imam until he finished, then it is recorded for him that he prayed the whole night.
إنه من قام مع الإمام حتى ينصرف كتب له قيام ليلةSo let us examine with you this hadith: does this hadith indicate that it is not befitting for a person to stand in prayer after the imam has left?
The student: No.
The Shaykh : Answer, my brothers. I repeat: when they said, “If only you had made the rest of our night voluntary for us,” he said:
Indeed, whoever stands (praying) with the Imam until he finished, then it is recorded for him that he prayed the whole night.
إنه من قام مع الإمام حتى ينصرف كتب له قيام ليلةMake Witr the end of your night prayer.
اجعلوا آخر صلاتكم بالليل وتراBut here is an issue: we are now here in the Prophet’s Mosque, and also in the Sacred Mosque, and perhaps in other mosques, where two imams lead the Tarawih prayer. Is the criterion the leaving of the first one or the leaving of the second one? Answer.
Yes, the criterion is the leaving of the second one, because the second one completes the first, meaning he did not come with an independent prayer such that we would say the criterion is the leaving of the first one. Accordingly, whoever leaves after the first imam finishes his leading has left before the imam left, because the second imam is a completer and not independent. So the criterion is the completion, i.e., the ending of both imams. Yes.