Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that a man asked Abdullah ibn Umar whether the witr was obligatory and Abdullah ibn Umar said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, prayed witr, and the muslims prayed witr." The man began repeating his question, and Abdullah ibn Umar kept saying, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, prayed witr, and the muslims prayed witr."

I heard the Messenger of Allah (saws) say: The witr is a duty, so he who does not observe it does not belong to us; the witr is a duty, so he who does not observe it does not belong to us; the witr is a duty, so he who does not observe it does not belong to us.

Qays ibn Talq said: Talq ibn Ali visited us on a certain day during Ramadan. He remained with us till evening and broke fast with us. He then stood up and led us in the witr prayer.

He then went to his mosque and led them in prayer. When the witr remained, he put forward another man and said: Lead your companions in the witr prayer, for I heard the Messenger of Allah (saws) as saying: There are no two witrs during one night.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said that Said ibn al-Musayyab said, "Abu Bakr as-Siddiq used to pray witr when he wished to go to bed, and Umar ibn al-Khattab used to pray witr at the end of the night. As for me, I pray witr when I go to bed."

The Prophet (saws) said: Allah is single (witr) and loves what is single, so observe the witr, you who follow the Qur'an.

Malik related to me that Abd ar-Rahman ibn al-Qasim heard his father al-Qasim ibn Muhammad say, "I have prayed witr after dawn."

Malik said, "Only a person who oversleeps so that he does not do the witr prays it after dawn. No one should intentionally make his witr after dawn."

'A'isha reported that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) used to observe Witr every night, and he would (at times) complete his Witr at the end of the night.

The Prophet (saws) asked AbuBakr: When do you observe the witr?

He replied: I observe the witr prayer in the early hours of the night.

The Prophet (saws) asked Umar: When do you observe the witr?

He replied: At the end of the night.

He then said to AbuBakr: This has followed it with care; and he said to Umar: He has followed it with strength.

The narrator Ahmad added in his version: He would not observe the witr with two rak'ahs before the dawn. I asked: With what would he observe the witr ? She said: He would never leave it. The version of Ahmad does not mention the words "six and three (rak'ahs)".

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab that Sad ibn Abi Waqqas used to pray witr after isha with one raka.

Malik said, "This is not the situation with us. Rather three is the minimum for witr."

The Prophet used to pray while I was sleeping across in his bed in front of him. Whenever he wanted to pray witr, he would wake me up and I would pray witr.

Allah has ninety-nine Names, i.e., one hundred minus one, and whoever believes in their meanings and acts accordingly, will enter Paradise; and Allah is witr (one) and loves 'the witr' (i.e., odd numbers).

'A'isha reported that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) used to offer prayer at night while she lay in front of him, and when the Witr prayer was yet to be observed, he would awaken her and she observed Witr.

Masruq reported on the authority of 'A'isha that she said that the Messenger Of Allah (may peace be upon him) used to observe the Witr prayer every night, maybe in the early part of night, at midnight and in the latter part, finishing his Witr at dawn.

The Prophet used to offer his night prayer while I was sleeping across in his bed. Whenever he intended to offer the witr prayer, he used to wake me up and I would offer the witr prayer too.

I was going to Mecca in the company of `Abdullah bin `Umar and when I apprehended the approaching dawn, I dismounted and offered the witr prayer and then joined him. `Abdullah bin `Umar said, "Where have you been?" I replied, "I apprehended the approaching dawn so I dismounted and prayed the witr prayer." `Abdullah said, "Isn't it sufficient for you to follow the good example of Allah's Apostle?" I replied, "Yes, by Allah." He said, "Allah's Apostle used to pray witr on the back of the camel (while on a journey)."

Abu Dawud said: The name of Abu al-Hawra' is Rabi'ah b. Shaiban.

Muawiya offered one rak`a witr prayer after the `Isha prayer, and at that time a freed slave of Ibn `Abbas was present. He (i.e. the slave) went to Ibn `Abbas (and told him that Muawiya offered one rak`a witr prayer). Ibn `Abbas said, "Leave him, for he was in the company of Allah's Apostle."

The Messenger of Allah (saws) used to observe the witr prayer with nine rak'ahs. Then he used to pray seven rak'ahs (of witr prayer). He would pray two rak'ahs sitting after the witr in which he would recite the Qur'an (sitting). When he wished to bow, he stood up and bowed and prostrated.

Abu Dawud said: These two traditions have been transmitted by Khalid b. 'Abd Allah al-Wasiti. In his version he said: 'Alqamah b. Waqqas said: O mother, how did he pray the two rak'ahs ? He narrated the rest of the tradition to the same effect.

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to say, "If someone fears that he will sleep through till the morning, let him pray the witr before he sleeps, and if some one hopes to wake for the last part of the night, let him delay his witr."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abdullah ibn Dinar that Abdullah ibn Umar used to say, "The maghrib prayer is the witr of the daytime prayers."

Malik said, "If someone prays witr at the beginning of the night, and goes to sleep, and then wakes up and it seems good to him to pray, let him pray, two rakas at a time. That is what I like most of what I have heard."

The Prophet said, "Make witr as your last prayer at night."

The Prophet said, "Night prayer is offered as two rak`at followed by two rak`at and so on, and if you want to finish it, pray only one rak`a which will be witr for all the previous rak`at." Al-Qasim said, "Since we attained the age of puberty we have seen some people offering a three-rak`at prayer as witr and all that is permissible. I hope there will be no harm in it."