Witr prayer

A short sample article presenting the view of the Shafi'i, Maliki and Hanbali schools that the Witr prayer is an emphasised sunnah rather than an obligation, and that it may be prayed as a single rak'ah. It relies on the hadith of Talhah ibn 'Ubayd Allah limiting obligatory prayers to five, the statement of 'Ali ibn Abi Talib reported by al-Tirmidhi, and the reports of Ibn 'Umar describing Witr as one rak'ah.

A short sample article setting out the Hanafi argument that Witr is wajib and is prayed as three rak'at with a single closing salam. It relies on the hadiths describing Witr as a 'duty' (haqq), on 'A'ishah's description of the Prophet's night prayer ending with three rak'at, and on al-Marghinani's statement of the school's position in al-Hidayah.

A descriptive sample overview of how the four Sunni schools classify Witr, without arguing for any view. It records the Hanafi classification as wajib, reported in al-Hidayah, the classification of the other three schools as an emphasised sunnah, the statement of 'Ali reported by al-Tirmidhi, and the Qur'anic description of night prayer as additional worship.