Did it reach us from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he performed the witr prayer with nine rak'ahs, and when does one sit for the tashahhud?

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good. A questioner asks: Did it reach us from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he prayed the witr with nine rak'ahs with a single taslim?

The Shaykh : Yes

The questioner : And if so, did he sit for the tashahhud after every two rak'ahs or after every four rak'ahs?

The Shaykh : Yes, it is established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he performed the witr with nine rak'ahs, but he sat in the eighth, recited the tashahhud, and did not say the taslim. Then he stood for the ninth and said the taslim. This is established from him, and there is no doubt in it. However, some of the brothers who love to apply the Sunnah did this in their night prayers leading the people. That is, the imam would say the takbir after praying 'Isha, then recite nine rak'ahs in succession, sit in the eighth, hold the people up, and harm them. He also confused them, because when the people finish the 'Isha prayer and the imam stands to pray, what do they intend? Do they intend the witr or the night prayer? They intend the night prayer, because it is the custom of the people that the witr is at the end of the night prayer. So they find that they intended the night prayer, while the imam is now performing the witr. What do the people do? This is a lack of understanding of the religion of Allah, because knowledge is not just reading and browsing; knowledge is understanding. Therefore, Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "How will it be with you when your readers are many and your jurists are few?" This prolongation for the people, nine rak'ahs in succession without them realizing it is the witr, is an error. Did the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), when he led his companions for three nights, lead them with this witr? Absolutely not. He did not lead them with this witr. If anyone has knowledge of that, let him please give it to us. But the imam prays for others, not for himself. Therefore, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . There is no doubt that this harms the praying people and puts them in doubt and confusion. So we say to the brother, if he says, "I want to spread the Sunnah with this," we say, first, we demand of you: Did the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) do this action while he was an imam for the people, or not? If we say yes, we say, what? Bring the evidence. If he says: No. We say, then why do you do it? Complete following is to do what he did in his individual prayer and in his leading. And if he says, "I do not know," we say, then you did this without knowledge. So how many cases does he have? Three cases.
Either he claims that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) led the people with this number, and we say: Please give it to us, bring the evidence. And it is upon our eyes and heads, and we are the first to call for this action. And if he says he did not do it, what do we say? We say, then why did you do it? Why did you not follow the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him)? And if he says, "I do not know," we say to him, you did this without knowledge. And the important thing is that something the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not do, you do it, and you teach the people about it. Teach the people by saying: The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) performed the witr with nine, sat in the eighth, recited the tashahhud, and did not say the taslim, then sat, prayed the ninth, recited the tashahhud, and said the taslim.
Also, Aisha was asked how the prayer of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was in Ramadan, and she said: . Some of the brothers said: Then it is recommended that we pray for the people four rak'ahs with one taslim, and four rak'ahs with one taslim, and three rak'ahs with one taslim. And this is a deficiency in knowledge. But this is less severe than the first; this is a deficiency in knowledge. Why? Because what Aisha reported came in another wording: So the summary of her statement is carried by the detailed one, and the doubt is removed. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . And if we say that this action reported by Aisha could be two by two or four by four, we say this possibility is carried by what? By what has no possibility. And that is his saying: . So I call upon my brothers, the students of knowledge, not to look at the evidence from one angle only, but to gather the evidence and compare between them, and specify their generalities with the specific, and their summaries with the explicit. Yes.