Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

i wud like to ask whether witr is obligatory in isha prayer  

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Is Witr obligatory

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. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

It is reported that Hadrat Ali (r.a.) said: "The witr prayer is not required like your obligatory prayers, but the Prophet (saws) would perform the witr prayer and say: 'O you people [followers] of the Qur'an, perform the witr prayer, for Allah is One and He loves the witr.'"

The Prophet (saws) said: 'The night prayer is sets of two rak'at. If one fears the coming of the dawn, he should perform one rak'ah, thereby making all of them odd [witr].'

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 2.112 Narrated by Abdullah bin Umar

The Prophet (saws) said, "Make Witr as your last prayer at night."

The ‘witr’ prayers are not obligatory, but an extremely preferred Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws), and he (saws) time and again exhorted the believers to offer the witr prayers and make it the last prayer of the night.

If one intends to offer late night or tahajjud prayers, it is best to delay the offering of the ‘witr’ prayers and make it the last prayer of the night.

But if one does not intend to offer any late night supererogatory prayers, then there is absolutely no harm if one offers the ‘Witr’ prayers after one has completed the obligatory ‘isha’ prayers.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan