“Whoever wishes to perform Witr with five rakʿahs may do so; whoever wishes to perform it with three may do so; and whoever wishes to perform it with one may do so.”

al-Nasāʾī judged the more accurate view to be that this narration is mawqūf—that is, it stops at a Companion rather than reaching the Prophet ﷺ.

Sound reports likewise state that several Companions used to pray a single-rakʿah Witr without any even-numbered rakʿahs beforehand. This serves as a specific exception to the principle that supererogatory prayers should not be fewer than two rakʿahs, at least in the case of Witr. With respect to offering any other voluntary prayer as a single rakʿah, two opinions are recorded from Aḥmad. The view adopted by the Ḥanbalī school permits it, whereas the other view forbids a lone-rakʿah nafl prayer. This latter stance is apparently that of al-Khiraqī, and Ibn Qudāmah reinforced it in al-Mughnī by citing the Prophet’s saying, “The night prayer is two by two.”

As for exceeding two rakʿahs in a voluntary prayer, the two Ṣaḥīḥs contain the ḥadīth of ʿĀʾishah: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ would perform Witr with five rakʿahs and would not sit during any of them except the last.” The compilers of the Sunan also report from Ibn ʿUmar that the Prophet ﷺ said, “The prayers of the night—and of the day—are two by two.” Yet al-Ṣanʿānī notes that most scholars have declared the addition “and of the day” defective, pointing out that the reliable students of Ibn ʿUmar did not transmit it. al-Nasāʾī ruled that the narrator who inserted the phrase had erred; it comes through ʿAlī al-Azdī, about whom Ibn Maʿīn said, “Who is ʿAlī al-Azdī?”

Concerning lengthening a daytime voluntary prayer, al-Tirmidhī records the report: “The Prophet ﷺ used to pray four rakʿahs when the sun passed its zenith and then another four.”

As for the jurists’ positions: Imam Aḥmad, relying on this report, allowed a voluntary prayer to be extended to four rakʿahs; al-Shāfiʿī permitted additions without any set limit; while Mālik would not allow more than two rakʿahs, adhering to the hadith, “The night prayer is two by two.” Scholars have reconciled the hadith of ʿĀʾishah in the two Ṣaḥīḥs with the hadith of Ibn ʿUmar—also in both Ṣaḥīḥs—by requiring a tashahhud and salām after every two rakʿahs. One may therefore add only up to the number explicitly reported.

Points derived from the hadith:
1- It indicates that the night prayer is performed in pairs of two rakʿahs, with neither increase nor decrease.
2- Witr should be the final prayer of the night for anyone confident that he will rise to pray.