Witr is an Islamic prayer that is performed at night after isha or before fajr. According to the HanafiFiqh, witr prayer is wajib. The status of wajib is very close to that of fard. Witr has an odd number of raka'at prayed in pairs, with the final raka'ah prayed separately. Therefore, as little as one raka'ah can be prayed, and eleven at most. According to Abdullah ibn Umar, Muhammad said, "The night prayer is offered as two raka'at followed by two raka'at and so on and if anyone is afraid of the approaching dawn, he should pray one raka'ah and this will be a witr for all the raka'at which he has prayed before." In a hadith transmitted by Abu Darda, he states that Muhammad enjoined to him three things: to fast three days every month, to offer the witr salat before sleep, and to offer two raka'at sunnah for fajr. But there are many aḥādīth that show the best time for the witr salat to be at night. If someone fears that he would not be able to awake, or may die in their sleep, then the prayer should be performed before sleeping. Therefore, he or she who performs tahajjud regularly should perform witr after tahajjud. It is recorded that Ali bin Abu Talib said, "The witr prayer is not required like your obligatory prayers but the Prophet would perform the witr prayer and say, 'O you people of the Quran, perform the witr prayer, for Allah is One and He loves the witr.'" The literal meaning of witr is "chord of a circle". Considering the whole day as a circle along which all the prayers are located, the maghrib salat is offered at the sunset. It has an un-paired number of raka'at. By offering the odd raka'at of witr as the last prayer of the night, a chord is created by pairing these two un-paired raka'ats of each of the maghrib's and witr's.
Du'ā' Salātu 'l-Witr
Narrated by Al-Hasan ibn Ali, he said he was taught by the Prophet to say the qunūt du‘ā’ in Arabic as follows اللَّهُمَّ اهْدِنِي فِيمَنْ هَدَيْتَ وَعَافِنِي فِيمَنْ عَافَيْتَ وَتَوَلَّنِي فِيمَنْ تَوَلَّيْتَ وَبَارِكْ لِي فِيمَا أَعْطَيْتَ وَقِنِي شَرَّ مَا قَضَيْتَ إِنَّكَ تَقْضِي وَلاَ يُقْضَى عَلَيْكَ وَإِنَّهُ لاَ يَذِلُّ مَنْ وَّالَيْتَ وَلاَ يَعِزُّ مَنْ عَادَيْتَ تَبَارَكْتَ رَبَّنَا وَتَعَالَيْتَ Allahumma ’hdi-niy fiyman hadayt, wa-‘āfi-niy fiyman ‘āfayt, wa-tawalla-niy fiyman tawallayt, wa-bārik liy fiy-mā ’a‘ṭayt, wa-qiniy sharra mā qadhayt, inna-ka taqdiy wa-lā yuqdhā ‘alayk, wa-inna-hu lā yaḏillu maw wālayt, wa-lā ya‘izzu man ‘ādayt, tabārakta Rabba-nā wa-ta‘ālayt. “O Allah guide me among those You have guided, pardon me among those You have pardoned, befriend me among those You have befriended, bless me in what You have granted, and save me from the evil that You decreed. Indeed You decree, and none can pass decree, and none can pass decree upon You, indeed he is not humiliated whom You have befriended, blessed are You our Lord and Exalted.” Hanafi commonly recite second version of supplication of Witr prayer as follows, which is said in the last raka‘at of witr, first by saying takbir with hands up, then saying the following verses before ruku‘: اَللَّهُمَّ إنا نَسْتَعِينُكَ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُكَ وَنُؤْمِنُ بِكَ,وَنَتَوَكَّلُ عَلَيْكَ, وَنُثْنِئْ عَلَيْكَ الخَيْرَ. وَنَشْكُرُكَ وَلَا نَكْفُرُكَ وَنَخْلَعُ وَنَتْرُكُ مَنْ يَّفْجُرُكَ. اَللَّهُمَّ إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ, وَلَكَ نُصَلِّئ وَنَسْجُدُ, وَإِلَيْكَ نَسْعأئ وَنَحْفِدُ, وَنَرْجُو رَحْمَتَكَ وَنَخْشآئ عَذَابَكَ, إِنَّ عَذَابَكَ بِالكُفَّارِ مُلْحَقٌ Allahumma in-nā nasta‘iynu-ka wa-nastaghfiru-ka wa-nu’minu bi-ka, wa-natawaku ‘alay-ka, wa-nuth-nī ‘alay-ka ’l-khayr. Wa-nashkuru-ka wa-lā nakfuru-ka wa-nakhla‘u wa-natru-ku may yafjuru-k. Allahumma iyya-ka na‘abudu, wa-laka nuṣallī wa-nasjudu, wa-ilay-ka nas‘ā wa-naḥfidu, wa-narjū raḥmataka wa nakhshā ‘azaba-k, in-nā ‘azaba-ka bi’l-kuffāri mulhiq. "O Allah! We invoke you for help, and beg for forgiveness, and we believe in you and have trust in you and we praise you, in the best waywe can; and we thank you and we are not ungrateful to you, and we forsake and turn away from the one who disobeys you. O Allah! We worship you and prostrate ourselves before you, and we hasten towards you and serve you, and we hope to receive your mercy and we dread your torment. Surely, the disbelievers shall incur your torment." Ibn ‘Uqayl al-Hanbali narrated that duas narrated from Muhammad should be what is recited as regular word, and anything added to it is by way of a concession. He said: What is mustahabb in our view is that which was narrated by al-Hasan ibn ‘Ali from the Prophet : “Allahumma ihdini…” – the well-known hadīth. He said: "If one adds to that the words narrated from ‘Umar, “Allahumma in-nā nasta‘iynu-ka… …”, there is nothing wrong with that. End quote." This was quoted by Ibn Muflih in his comment on al-Muharrar, 1/89 In some cases, the one who prays can perform the du‘ā’ ṣalātu ’l-Witr, it is permissible to make the qunūt before going into ruku‘, or it may be recited when one stands up straight after the ruku‘. "Humaid says: "I asked Anas: 'Is the qunut before or after the ruku?' he said: 'We would do it before or after." This hadith was related by Ibn Majah and Muhammad ibn Nasr. In Fath al-Bari, Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani comments that its chain is faultless.
