303 – ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said, “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to pray thirteen rakʿahs during the night; he would make the last five his witr, and he would not sit in any of them except the final one.” Agreed upon (1).

Points derived from the ḥadīth:

1. This is one of ʿĀʾishah’s (may Allah be pleased with her) narrations describing the Prophet’s ﷺ night prayer: he offered thirteen rakʿahs, performing witr with five consecutive rakʿahs, and did not sit until the very last.

2. The rule is to act, in a general sense, upon everything authentically reported from the Prophet ﷺ. The most excellent and complete way, therefore, is to practise all the sound narrations. This is the approach of the scholars of fiqh and ḥadīth: they implement every authentic report concerning acts of worship and supplications so that the entire sunnah is observed and perfect emulation of him ﷺ is achieved. Reports whose wording does not indicate such general application—and which may be specific to him—especially when they are counterbalanced by other authentic texts, such as his statement, “The night prayer is two by two,” are interpreted accordingly. He gave this general ruling in reply to the questioner about the night prayer; had he intended to restrict the matter to what was established from his own practice alone, he would have said so. This supports the majority’s view that the tarāwīḥ prayer is not limited to this particular number.

3. The ḥadīth shows that if witr is prayed as five rakʿahs, the preferred manner is to conclude them with one salām, without sitting in any rakʿah except the last. One then recites the tashahhud and gives salām. In that case the term “witr” applies to the whole set of five so long as the rakʿahs are linked by a single salām.