The Minimum for the Witr Prayer
Question:
What is the minimum number of rakahs for the Witr Prayer?
Answer:
In the name of Allah, we praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright.
Virtues and Merits of the Witr Prayer
Almighty Allah says in the Quran: “And from [part of] the night, pray1 with it [i.e., recitation of the Qur’an] as additional [worship] for you; it is expected that2 your Lord will resurrect you to a praised station.” (Al-Isra’ 17:79)
It was narrated from Abu Hurairah who said: “My Khalil [close friend – i.e. the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)] advised me with three (affairs and) I will not leave them until I die: “To fast three days every month. To offer the Duha prayer and to pray the Witr prayer before sleeping”. (Al-Bukhari)
In another hadith, Abu Hurairah narrated that Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) said: “The most excellent prayer after that which is obligatory is the (voluntary) late night prayer.” (Muslim)
The Witr prayer is a highly recommended (confirmed sunnah) and it has the same conditions of voluntary prayer. The minimum for Witr (Prayer with an odd number of units) is one rak`ah and it has no maximum limit. However, after performing Isha’ Prayer, it is recommendable to offer two supererogatory rak`ahs which are more preferably performed at home. After that, a Muslim should perform one, three or five rak`ahs as Witr Prayer.
Watch this short talk with Dr. Muhammad Salah to learn more about the Witr Prayer.
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Source: Huda Youtube Channel.