28 – (Sound) “Witr is a duty; so whoever wishes may perform it as five, whoever wishes may perform it as three, and whoever wishes may perform it as a single rakʿah.” It was narrated by al-Ṭaḥāwī, al-Dāraquṭnī, al-Ḥākim, and al-Bayhaqī on the authority of Abū Ayyūb al-Anṣārī, traced back to the Prophet. Al-Ḥākim declared it sound according to the criteria of the two Shaykhs, a judgment endorsed by al-Dhahabī and al-Nawawī. Ibn Ḥibbān likewise graded it sound, and the hadith is just as they have stated. ⦗99⦘