It is authentically reported from Ibn ʿUmar that the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said:

“The night prayer is offered two by two; when you think dawn is about to break, conclude with a single rakʿah as Witr.”

Muslim relates from ʿĀʾishah that he—peace and blessings be upon him—“used to pray thirteen rakʿahs, making Witr with five of them, and he would not sit (for tashahhud) in any of those five except in the last one.”

Abū Dāwūd reports from Abū Ayyūb al-Anṣārī that the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—said:

“Witr is a duty upon every Muslim. Whoever wishes to perform it with five, let him do so; whoever wishes to perform it with three, let him do so; and whoever wishes to perform it with one, let him do so.”

Abū Dāwūd also records that the Prophet sometimes performed Witr with seven, nine, or five rakʿahs.

He further narrates from ʿAbdullāh ibn Qays, who said: “I asked ʿĀʾishah, ‘With how many rakʿahs did the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—perform Witr?’ She replied: ‘He would make Witr with four and three, six and three, eight and three, or ten and three. He never performed Witr with fewer than seven, nor with more than thirteen.’”

Another report from Ibn ʿUmar states that the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—said:

“Maghrib is the Witr of the daytime prayer.”

In light of these ḥadīths, the scholars weighed the evidence and preferred certain reports over others.

Those who hold that Witr is a single rakʿah rely on his saying—peace and blessings be upon him—“When you fear that dawn will break, make Witr with one,” and on ʿĀʾishah’s report that “he would perform Witr with one.”

Those who insist that Witr must be three consecutive rakʿahs and restrict the ruling to that number cannot legitimately support their view with any report in this chapter, for all of them indicate a range of options—except Ibn ʿUmar’s narration in which the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—said: “Maghrib is the Witr of the daytime prayer.”

Abū Ḥanīfah argues that when two things are likened to one another and given a single ruling, the object of comparison is even more deserving of that attribute. Since Maghrib has been likened to the Witr of the daytime prayer and consists of three rakʿahs, the Witr of the night prayer, by analogy, ought likewise to be three.

Mālik, however, adhered to the report stating that “the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—never performed the Witr except after an even-numbered prayer.” He considered that part of the Sunnah of Witr, holding the minimum of that even-numbered prayer to be two rakʿahs. Thus, in his view, Witr in reality is either a single rakʿah on condition that it is preceded by an even number of rakʿahs, or