give the salām at that point; rather, he rises to perform the ninth and then concludes with the salām.
- Making Witr with eleven rakʿahs: he gives the salām after every two rakʿahs and then performs a single rakʿah as Witr.
These, then, are the various ways of performing Witr. It has already been stated that Witr is an emphatic sunnah, and some scholars have even deemed it obligatory, so do not neglect it. If you expect to rise for prayer at the end of the night, delay your Witr until then; but if you fear you will not awaken, perform Witr at the beginning of the night—do not go to sleep without having prayed Witr. For this very reason the Prophet ﷺ advised Abū Hurayrah to pray Witr before sleeping, because Abū Hurayrah would review the Prophet’s hadiths early in the night and sleep during its latter part, so the Prophet ﷺ instructed him to perform Witr before he lay down.
Know also that Witr is a sunnah whether one is at home or travelling; even on the road you must not abandon it. Take, for example, the night of Muzdalifah: once a person has prayed ʿIshāʾ, having combined Maghrib and ʿIshāʾ, he should follow them with Witr. Although Jābir (may Allah be pleased with him) did not mention Witr in his report of that night, the basic rule is that an established practice remains in force, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ never left off praying Witr, whether resident or on a journey. Allah alone grants success.