When do I pray witr, when considering tahajjud [night vigil prayer]?Witr prayer is supposed to be the last prayer before fajr, but what if I intended wake up for tahajjud and did not pray witr after ishaa, yet ended up waking up after fajr came in, hence missing tahajjud and the witr?
Walaikum assalam,
In the Name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful,
In Imam Fakhr al-D?n al-Zayla`? (Allah have mercy on him) wrote in his Taby?n al-Haq?’iq Sharh Kanz al-Daq?’iq:[1][1]
“It is recommended to delay the witr prayer until the end of the night if one is sure of waking up, in order for it to be the last of his night prayers, because the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Make the witr prayer the last of your night prayers.” (Related by Bukhari, Muslim, & others). If one is not sure of waking up at night, one should perform the witr prayer before sleeping, because of the hadith narrated by Jabir (Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Whoever fears not waking up at the end of the night should pray witr before sleeping. And whoever is confident about waking up at the end of the night should pray witr then…” (Related by Muslim and others) [Taby?n al-Haq?’iq, 1: 84]
Sayyidi Ibn Abidin (Allah have mercy on him) said in his Radd al-Muhtar:
“If one prayed witr before sleeping and then wakes up… it is not disliked to pray. Rather, it is recommended to pray. However, witr is not repeated.”[Radd al-Muhtar: 1: 369]
Therefore, if one invariably gets up for tahajjud (the night vigil), then it is best to pray witr then. Otherwise, one should pray witr before sleeping, because it is a sin to delay a necessary prayer past its prescribed time.
This is why Abu Hurayra relates, “My beloved one [=the Prophet] counseled me not to sleep except having prayed witr.”[2][2]
And Allah knows best.
Wassalam,
Faraz Rabbani.
