301 – ʿAbd Allah ibn Buraydah narrates from his father – may Allah be pleased with him – that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Witr is a right (i.e. a duty); whoever does not pray Witr is not one of us.” It was recorded by Abū Dāwūd with a lenient chain, and al-Ḥākim declared it authentic. (1)
A weak corroborating report also exists from Abū Hurayrah, preserved by Aḥmad. (2)

– Hadith grading:
The hadith is ḥasan (sound), as maintained by Kamāl ibn al-Humām. Among those who judged it ṣaḥīḥ is Imām al-Suyūṭī in al-Jāmiʿ al-Ṣaghīr. Al-Munḏirī states in Tahdhīb al-Sunan that its chain contains ʿUbayd Allah ibn ʿAbd Allah Abū Munīb al-Marwazī. Ibn Maʿīn deemed him trustworthy, while Abū Ḥātim al-Rāzī said: “acceptable in hadith.” Al-Bukhārī, al-Nasāʾī and others criticised him; indeed al-Nasāʾī’s judgement is inconsistent, calling him once “trustworthy” and elsewhere “weak.” Because of Ibn Maʿīn’s endorsement, Ibn al-Humām ruled the report ḥasan.

As for the corroborating narration from Abū Hurayrah: it includes al-Khalīl ibn Murrah, whom al-Bukhārī graded weak, and Ibn Ḥajar labelled “rejected in hadith.” Moreover, there is a break in the chain between Muʿāwiyah ibn Murrah and Abū Hurayrah, as Aḥmad pointed out. Another corroboration from Abū Ayyūb is cited by al-Dāraquṭnī, who said, “It is not preserved.”

– Key vocabulary:
witr – most commonly pronounced with a kasrah on the wāw (wi-tr). Linguistically it denotes “that which is single or odd”; numerically, it refers to any number that is not