this repentance. Allah accepts the repentance of those who repent, and he is not required to hand himself over to the authorities so that the ḥadd can be enforced against him. His repentance is sufficient, provided it is genuine and sound, that he remains upright upon the religion of Allah, and that he believes and performs righteous deeds for the rest of his life. If he does so, Allah willing, that will suffice; nothing further is obligatory—indeed, it is not even recommended—for him to surrender himself or go to the authorities to confess the sin he committed. Let him stay concealed beneath Allah’s veil while persisting in sincere repentance and righteous action.

Odd Numbers in Acts of Worship
Question: I saw someone perform most of the deeds that have a specified number in odd numbers, claiming that this is from the Sunnah and therefore better than doing them in even numbers. Does this have any basis in the purified Sunnah?
Answer: It has no basis in the purified Sunnah or in the Sharīʿah, because acts of worship are of two kinds: some are even (shafʿ) and others are odd (witr). For example, the dawn prayer (ṣalāt al-fajr) is even, and the night, noon, and afternoon prayers are all even, whereas the sunset prayer (ṣalāt al-maghrib) is odd, as is the witr prayer performed after the night prayer, which is one of the most emphatic voluntary prayers. Thus, some acts of worship are even and others are odd, and a person should perform each act in the manner Allah has legislated: if it is even, he performs it even; if it is odd, he performs it odd.

Question: Some people prefer to carry out their actions in odd numbers and claim that this is a Sunnah. Has any recommendation for that been reported?