If one prays witr and then intends to stand in night prayer, should he pray witr a second time, or is the first time sufficient, or should he pray one rak'ah at the beginning of the night prayer?

The questioner : This questioner is Abdullah Hamid from al-Ta'if. He says: If I have prayed witr and then I want to stand in night prayer, should I pray witr a second time, or is the first time sufficient, or should I pray one rak'ah at the beginning of the night prayer? Please inform us of this.

The Shaykh : We say first, if a person hopes to stand in the last part of the night, he should not pray witr at the beginning of the night, but rather make his witr in the last part of the night, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and because the prayer in the last part of the night is witnessed, so it is better. As for the one who fears he will not be able to stand, let him pray witr at the beginning of the night so that witr does not pass him by. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), or rather instructed him, to pray witr before he sleeps. And he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: However, if a person does not hope to stand in the last part of the night, we say he should pray witr at the beginning of the night. Then, if it is decreed for him to stand afterwards, he does not pray one rak'ah at the beginning of his tahajjud, nor does he pray witr a second time. Rather, he prays two rak'ahs, two rak'ahs, until the dawn breaks. If someone asks how we say this when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: We say we say it because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not say "do not pray after witr," but rather he said: This is what he said. And this man who feared he would not stand in the last part of the night, so he prayed witr at the beginning of the night, has made the last of his night prayer witr. Thus, he complied with the command of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and did not contradict the prohibition of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding prayer after witr.
This is similar in some respects to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): Some scholars understood from this that the intention is that only those of sound judgment and intellect should be immediately behind him. Based on this, he said that if someone who has not reached puberty is found in the first row, he should be moved to the second row. However, whoever examines the hadith finds that there is no evidence in it for that, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: So it is an encouragement for those of sound judgment and intellect to move forward so that they are behind the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), or rather so that they are the ones immediately behind the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) so that they may understand from him and take his Sunnah from him. If he had intended that no one from the young people stand in the first row, he would have said "let only those of sound judgment and intellect be immediately behind me."

The questioner : May Allah bless you, O honorable Shaykh.