Prayer (Kitab Al-Salat): Detailed Injunctions about Witr

‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O people of the Qur'an, perform the Witr Prayer for, verily, Allah is Witr (single) and loves what is Witr (single, odd)."

Abu Ayyūb al-Ansāri (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The Witr is due, so whoever wants to pray the Witr as seven (units of prayer), let him do so; whoever wants to pray the Witr as five, let him do so; whoever wants to pray the Witr as three, let him do so; and whoever wants to pray the Witr as one, let him do so."

Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Make haste to perform the Witr prayer before the morning."

Qays ibn Talq reported: Talq ibn ‘Ali visited us one day during Ramadan. He stayed with us until the evening and broke his fast with us. Then he led us in voluntary night prayer and the Witr prayer. Afterwards he went to his mosque and led his companions in prayer. When only the Witr prayer was remaining, he asked another man to step forward and said: ‘Lead your companions in the Witr prayer, because I heard the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) saying: "There should not be two Witr prayers during one night."

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: ''May Allah have mercy upon a man who wakes up at night and prays, and awakens his wife. If she refuses, he sprinkles water on her face. May Allah have mercy upon a woman who wakes up at night and prays, and awakens her husband. If he refuses, she sprinkles water on his face.''

‘Uthmān ibn ‘Affān (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The best of you are those who learn the Qur’an and teach it."

‘Ā’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The proficient reciter of the Qur’an will be with the noble and obedient angel-scribes, and the one who recites the Qur’an stutteringly and finds it difficult will have two rewards."

Abu Sa‘īd Rāfi’ ibn al-Mu‘alla (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said to me: "Shall I teach you the greatest Sūrah in the Qur’an before you leave the mosque?" Then he took me by the hand, and when we were about to leave, I said: "O Messenger of Allah, you said: 'I shall teach you the greatest Sūrah in the Qur’an.'" He said: "It is 'Alhamdulillāh Rabb al-‘Ālāmīn.' (i.e. Sūrat al-Fātihah) It is the seven oft-repeated verses and the Glorious Qur’an which was given to me."

Ubayy ibn Ka‘b (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O Abu al-Mundhir, do you know which verse of Allah's Book that you have is the greatest?" I replied: "Allah and His Messenger know best." He said: "O Abu al-Mundhir, do you know which verse of Allah's Book that you have is the greatest?" I said: "{Allah: none has the right to be worshiped except Him, the Ever-Living, All-Sustaining...} [Surat al-Baqarah: 255]." Thereupon, he struck me on the chest and said: "May knowledge be pleasant for you, O Abu al-Mundhir!"

Abu Sa‘īd al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: A man heard another man reciting: {Say, “He is Allah, the One”} repeatedly. The next morning, he came to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) and mentioned that to him, as if he thought it was not enough. Thereupon, the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "By the One in Whose Hand my soul is, it is equal to one-third of the Qur’an."

‘Abdullāh ibn ‘Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: "It will be said to the one devoted to the Qur’an: Read, ascend, and recite with deliberation as you used to recite in the world. Your rank will be at the last verse you recite."

Al-Barā' ibn ‘Āzib (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Adorn the Qur'an with your voices."

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Allah does not listen as attentively to anything as He listens to a prophet with a melodious voice chanting the Qur’an audibly."

‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: I heard Hishām ibn Hakīm recite Sūrat al-Furqān during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him). I listened to his recitation and noticed that he recited it in many ways which the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) had not taught me. So I was about to jump upon him during the prayer, but I waited till he finished the prayer, whereupon I seized him by either his upper garment or mine and asked him: "Who taught you how to recite this Sūrah?" He replied: "The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) taught me how to recite it." So I said to him: "You have told a lie! By Allah, the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) taught me this Sūrah which I have heard you recite." So I set forth, leading him to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him). I said: "O the Messenger of Allah, I heard this man recite Sūrat al-Furqān in ways which you have not taught me, and you taught me how to recite it." On that, the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O ‘Umar, let go of him! Recite, O Hishām." So Hishām recited before him in the way I had heard him recite. the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "It was revealed like this." Then the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Recite, O ‘Umar!" So I recited it. The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "It was revealed like this." And then he added: "Indeed, this Qur’an has been revealed in seven different ways, so recite it in the way that is easy for you."

‘Ā’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) liked comprehensive supplications and would leave aside anything else.

Salmān (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Verily, your Lord is Bashful and Munificent. He is too Bashful of His slave to let him go empty-handed when raising his hands to Him."

Buraydah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) once heard a man saying: "O Allah, I ask You by virtue of my testimony that You are Allah, there is no God but You, the One, the Eternal Refuge, Who did not beget, and was not begotten, and to Whom no one is equal." Thereupon, he: "Verily, he has asked Allah by His Name by which He gives when asked, and by which He answers when supplicated."

Abu Sa‘īd al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The lasting good deeds are the statements: There is no god but Allah, glory be to Allah, Allah is the greatest, praise be to Allah, there is no power or might except with Allah."

Juwayriyah, Mother of the Believers, (may Allah be pleased with her) reported: The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) went out from her house in the early morning when he prayed the Morning prayer, while she was in her prayer place. Then he returned after offering the Forenoon prayer while she was still sitting. He said: "Are you still in the state I left you in?" She said: Yes. The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I said four words three times after I had left you; if they were to be weighed against what you have been saying since morning, they would outweigh them: Subhānallāh wa bihamdih, ‘adada khalqih, wa rida nafsih, a zinata ‘arshih, wa midāda kalimātih (Glory be to Allah and all praise is due to Him by the number of His creation, by His own pleasure, by the weight of His Throne, and by the ink of His words.)."

Warrād, the scribe of Al-Mughīrah ibn Shu‘bah, related: Al-Mughīrah ibn Shu‘bah dictated to me in a letter to Mu‘āwiyah: The Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) used to say after every obligatory prayer: "Lā ilāh illa Allah, wahdahu lā sharīka lah, lahu al-mulku wa lahu al-hamdu wa huwa ‘ala koll shay’in qadīr, allahumma lā māni‘a lima a‘tayt wa lā mu‘tiya lima mana‘ta wa la banfa‘u dha al-jaddi minka al-jadd" (There is no god but Allah, alone, with no partner with Him. To Him belongs the dominion and to Him praise is due, and He is Able to do all things. O Allah, none can withhold what You give and none can give what You withhold, and riches cannot avail a wealthy person against You).

Abu az-Zubayr reported: Ibn az-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with him) used to say after every prayer after making taslīm: “Lā ilāha illa Allah wahdahu lā sharīka lahu, lahu al-mulk wa lahu al-hamd wa huwa ‘ala kolli shay‘in qadīr; lā hawla wa lā quwwata illa billāh, lā ilāha illa Allah, wa lā na‘budu illa iyyāh, lahu an-ni‘mah wa al-fadl, wa lahu ath-thanā’ al-hasan; lā ilāha illa Allah, mukhlisīn lahu ad-dīn wa law kariha al-kāfirūn (There is no god but Allah, alone, with no partner. To Him belongs the dominion, and praise is due to Him, and He has power over all things. There is no power or strength except through Allah. There is no god but Allah, and we worship none but Him. To Him belongs the blessing, to Him belongs the grace, and to Him belongs all excellent praise. There is no god but Allah; we are sincerely devoted to Him, even if the disbelievers may dislike it)." And he said: "The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) used to celebrate Allah’s oneness with these words after every prayer."

Abu az-Zubayr reported: Ibn az-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with him) used to say after every prayer after making taslīm: “Lā ilāha illa Allah wahdahu lā sharīka lahu, lahu al-mulk wa lahu al-hamd wa huwa ‘ala kolli shay‘in qadīr; lā hawla wa lā quwwata illa billāh, lā ilāha illa Allah, wa lā na‘budu illa iyyāh, lahu an-ni‘mah wa al-fadl, wa lahu ath-thanā’ al-hasan; lā ilāha illa Allah, mukhlisīn lahu ad-dīn wa law kariha al-kāfirūn (There is no god but Allah, alone, with no partner. To Him belongs the dominion, and praise is due to Him, and He has power over all things. There is no power or strength except through Allah. There is no god but Allah, and we worship none but Him. To Him belongs the blessing, to Him belongs the grace, and to Him belongs all excellent praise. There is no god but Allah; we are sincerely devoted to Him, even if the disbelievers may dislike it)." And he said: "The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) used to celebrate Allah’s oneness with these words after every prayer."

‘Ali ibn Abi Tālib (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) used to say at the end of prayer, between the Tashahhud and Taslīm: "O Allah, forgive my past and future sins, my secret and open sins, my transgression, and that of which You have better knowledge than I. Indeed, You are the One Who puts forward, and You are the One Who puts back. There is no god but You."

Ibn ‘Abbās (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) used to supplicate: "My Lord, support me and do not support others against me; grant me victory and do not grant others victory over me; plan for me and do not plan against me; guide me and make my guidance easy for me; grant me victory against whoever wronged me. O Allah, make me grateful to You, remembering You, fearful of You, obedient to You, and humble to You or returning to You in repentance. O Lord, accept my repentance, wash away my sins, answer my supplication, establish my proof (words), guide my heart, make my tongue speak the truth, and take resentment (hatred) away from my heart."

Thawbān (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: When the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) finished his prayer, he would seek Allah’s forgiveness three times and say: "Allahumma anta as-salām wa minka as-salām, tabārakta yadha al-jalāl wa al-ikrām (O Allah, You are As-Salām (peace, perfection), and as-salām comes from You. Blessed are You, O Possessor of Glory and Honor)". Al-Walīd said: I said to Al-Awzā‘i: "How is the seeking of forgiveness?" He said: "You say: Astaghfirullāh, astaghfirullāh (I seek forgiveness from Allah, I seek forgiveness from Allah)."