Ḥadīth Lesson: On Witr Prayer

As-Salāmu ‘Alaykum wa RaḥmatuLlāhi wa Barakātuh. A‘ūdhu BiLlāhi Minash-shayṭāni r-rajīm. BismiLlāhi r-Raḥmāni r-Raḥīm. Wa ṣ-Salātu wa s-Salāmu ‘alá Rasūlinā Muḥammadin Sayyidi l-Awwalīna wa l-Akhirīn. Madad yā RasūlAllāh, Madad yā Sādāti Aṣḥābi RasūliLlāh, Madad yā Mashāyikhinā, Dastūr Mawlana Sheikh Abdullāh al-Fā’iz ad-Dāghistāni, Sheikh Muḥammad Nāẓim al-Ḥaqqānī. Madad.

1Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “Night prayers are performed two by two rak’ahs.” The nāfilahs are performed two by two. “If you fear the approach of the Fajr prayer, then perform one rak’ah last. Allāh ﷻ is One, and He ﷻ loves oneness.”

2Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “The night prayer is two by two, and the witr prayer is one rak’ah at the end of the night.” That is, as we said, not the Hanafi but the Shafi’i can pray one rak’ah. But us, those who follow the Hanafi Madhhab pray all three rak’ahs at once.

3Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “Witr is a right,” it is wājib. “Whoever does not perform it is not one of us.” Considering it a nāfilah and skipping it is wrong. It is wājib. Everyone must perform it.

4Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “Surely Allāh ﷻ has 99 Names, that is, one less than 100.” Allah Azza wa Jalla has 99 Names. “The person who memorizes these will definitely enter Paradise. Allah ﷻ is one, He ﷻ loves what’s odd.” He who memorizes the 99 names will enter Paradise. Even those who haven’t memorized it can read it from something.

5Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “Surely Allāh ﷻ has ninety-nine Names, that is, one less than a hundred.” The Names of Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla revealed to our Prophet ﷺ are numerous, but ninety-nine Names are given specially to his ﷺ ummah. “Allah ﷻ is One and loves the odd.” He ﷻ loves the odd, not what’s even. Therefore, these 99 names are the names that Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla gave to our Prophet ﷺ. “Paradise is guaranteed for every servant who makes du’ā’ with these Names of Allāh ﷻ.” As we said, it is good to memorize them. Even if one doesn’t memorize them, reciting them will make one among the people of Paradise.

6Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “The Witr prayer is one rak’ah at the end of the night.” So, the last is the Witr prayer.

7Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “You cannot pray two Witr prayers in one night.” So, you cannot pray one Witr prayer after Isha then another before Fajr or during Tahajjud. Witr must be once.

8Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “My Lord has added a prayer to the five daily prayers,” it is especially for our Prophet ﷺ. “And that is the Witr prayer, and its time is from ‘Isha until Fajr.”

9Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “The one who does not sleep without performing the Witr prayer is a cautious person, one who has secured his affairs.” That is, in fear of forgetting it later, or falling asleep, the one who performs it before going to bed is one who is secure in his affairs.

10-Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “He who does not perform the Witr prayer has no other prayer either,” not complete, missing. Prayers without the Witr prayer are incomplete.

11-Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “Whoever misses the Witr prayer because of falling asleep or forgetting it, should perform it when he wakes up or remembers it.” He should perform it later.

12-Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “Seek help by eating Suhur for fasting that day,” the person who is going to fast must eat Suhur meal so that fasting becomes easier for them. “And by taking a brief rest (at midday) for praying at night for night prayersb.” That is, after noon till before Asr time, of course; whenever one sleeps then is called a Qaylūla. It makes it easier for a person a to wake up for the night prayer.

13-Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “Do not go out much when there are few people about.” So our people like to go out and wander around at night. But our Prophet ﷺ says, “Reduce that.” “Reduce so for Allah the Exalted scatters abroad of His beasts in that hour.” That is, there are unseen creatures, so it’s not good to go out at that time. It’s more preferable to stay at home.

14-Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “Beware of conversation after the sound of footsteps has ceased on the road and in the street at night.” So, don’t get lost in conversation, says our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. “For you don’t know what Allah ﷻ will send from His ﷻ creations.” Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla has many creations. You might be struck, or something else might happen. May Allāh ﷻ protect us.

15-Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “Take a nap at midday, (have a Qaylūla) for the shayṭāns do not take a nap at this time.” The shayṭāns do not like the Qaylūla. So you both perform a Sunnah of our Prophet ﷺ and rest.

16-Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “Whoever reads/composes a verse of poetry after the Isha prayer, his prayer will not be accepted that night until morning.” This means that unnecessary things should not be done, our Prophet ﷺ says. As Muslims, we can do many things, but we need to be mindful of certain things.

17-Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “Keep your stomach and back light for the night prayer. Do not fill your stomach completely.” If you fill it completely, you will fall asleep and it will be difficult to get up.

18-Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ forbid sleeping before the ‘Isha prayer and unnecessary talking after it. There is no need to sleep between Maghrib and ‘Isha prayer. It’s even not good to sleep after Asr. Our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam says that. Also, he ﷺ forbid vain talk later in the night. Of course, this is what the Companions were capable of. When it comes to us, may Allāh ﷻ forgive us all, in shā’a Llāh.

Sadaqa RasuluLlah fi ma qal, aw kama qal. The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ says the truth in what he ﷺ said or as he ﷺ said.

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Ihda’ – Dedication: Ziyadatan ila sharafi’ ‘n-Nabi, sallaLlahu `alayhi wa sallam wa Alihi wa Asahabihi l-kiram, wa ila arwahi jamee’i al Anbiya’i wa lMursalin wa Khudama’i sharai’ihim wa ila arwahi al ‘Aimmati al arba’a, wa ila arwahi Mashayyikhina fi t-Tariqati n-Naqshbandiyyati l-Aliyyah, khassatan Imamu t-Tariqah wa Ghawthu l-Khaliqah Khwaja Bahauddin Muhammad al-Uwaisiyi lBukhari, Sayyidina Abdul Khaliq al Ghujduwani, Mawlana Shaykh Sharafuddin al Daghestani, Mawlana Shaykh Abdullah al Faiz al Daghestani, Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim Adil al Haqqani, wa sai’ri Sadatina wa s-Siddiqiyun, wa man nahnu fi hadratihim wa jiwarihim. To the souls of all the ones who’d passed away. To the souls of all Shaheeds. Li-Llahi Ta’ala, Al-Fatiha.

[(Translation) To the honor of the Prophet, Prayers and Peace be upon Him, and his family, and his companions, and the souls of all the prophets as well as of His messengers and of those who served their Sharia, and to the souls of the four Imams. And to the souls of our Mashayikh of the Most Distinguished Naqshbandi Tariqa, in particular to the soul of the Imam of the Tariqa Ghawth al-Khaliqa (the Help of Creation), Khwaja Bahauddin Muhammad al-Uwaisiyi l-Bukhari, Sayyidina Abdul Khaliq al Ghujduwani, Mawlana Shaykh Sharafuddin al Daghestani, Mawlana Shaykh Abdullah al Faiz al Daghestani, Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim Adil al Haqqani, and the rest of our masters and Siddiqiyun, and to whom we are in their presence and near them. To the souls of all the ones who’d passed away. To the souls of all Shaheeds. To Allah Almighty. Al Fatiha.]

Mawlana Sheikh Muhammad Adil ar-Rabbani 23 December 2025/ 03 Rajab 1447 Beylerbeyi Dergah, Istanbul