304 – ʿĀʾishah — may Allah be pleased with her — said, “Throughout the night the Messenger of Allah ﷺ performed witr, yet his witr finally came to rest at al-sahar.” Agreed upon. (1)
Vocabulary of the ḥadith
• intahā witruhu: his witr concluded at the time of al-sahar.
• al-sahar: the last portion of the night, just before the second (true) dawn; plural: asḥār.
Points derived from the ḥadith
-
The time for witr begins once ʿIshāʾ has been offered—even if ʿIshāʾ was prayed early by combining it with Maghrib—and it continues until the second dawn. Whenever a worshipper performs witr within this span, it is valid.
-
This report shows that the Prophet ﷺ at times observed witr at the beginning of the night, at times in the middle, and at times in its last third during al-sahar. Ultimately, it was this final timing that he maintained during the latter part of his life.
-
Imām Aḥmad records in his Musnad (21836) from Abū Masʿūd who said: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ would perform witr at the start of the night, in its middle, and at its end.” ʿUtaybah ibn ʿAmr commented, “He did so to make the matter spacious for the Muslims; whichever of those times they follow is acceptable.”
-
The ḥadith encourages delaying witr until al-sahar for anyone who is confident that he will awaken, because that was the Prophet’s ﷺ last and most consistent practice.