Islamic Fiqh > Prayer > Supererogatory prayers: rawatib, tarawih, witr and duha > The number of rak'ahs of the tarawih
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Updated on 25 September 2026 at 3:23 PM
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Asad ibn Amr reported from Abu Yusuf: I asked Abu Hanifa about the tarawih and what Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) had done. He said: "The tarawih is an emphasized sunna; Umar did not invent anything on his own initiative and was not an innovator in it: he commanded it only on the basis of a foundation he possessed and a covenant coming from the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). Umar legislated this and gathered the people behind Ubayy ibn Ka'b; they prayed it in congregation while the companions were numerous: Uthman, Ali, Ibn Mas'ud, Talha, al-Abbas and his son, al-Zubayr, Mu'adh, Ubayy and others among the Emigrants and the Helpers, may Allah be pleased with them all; none of them reproached him for it; rather they supported him, followed him and commanded it" ("al-Ikhtiyar li-Ta'lil al-Mukhtar" 1/75; "al-Bahr al-Ra'iq" 1/71; "Hashiyat al-Tahtawi" 1/270; "Fatawa al-Subki" 1/156). (The "takharrus" mentioned here denotes lying and every statement based on conjecture, according to "al-Qamus al-Muhit".)
Al-Suyuti said: what the authentic and good hadiths bring is the command of the night standing of Ramadan and its encouragement, without specification of a number; it is not established that the Prophet (peace be upon him) prayed the tarawih in 20 rak'ahs: he prayed some nights a prayer whose number was not mentioned, then abstained on the fourth night, fearing it would be imposed upon them and that they would be unable to perform it ("al-Masabih fi Salat al-Tarawih" 14). Ibn Hajar al-Haytami was asked: is it authentic, or reported, that he (peace be upon him) prayed the tarawih in 20 rak'ahs? He answered: it is not authentic; the command of the night standing of Ramadan and its encouragement come without mention of a number; his prayer with them was nights whose number was not mentioned, then he abstained on the fourth night out of that fear. As for what is reported through various chains, "he prayed in Ramadan 20 rak'ahs and the witr", with the addition in one narration "outside of congregation", it is an extremely weak hadith ("al-Fatawa al-Fiqhiyya al-Kubra" 1/194).
They then differed over the chosen number of rak'ahs of the people's night standing in Ramadan. The majority of the jurists, Abu Hanifa, al-Shafi'i, Ahmad and Malik in one of his 2 sayings, hold the standing of 20 rak'ahs excluding the witr, based on what Malik reported from Yazid ibn Ruman: "The people stood in prayer, in the time of Umar ibn al-Khattab, in Ramadan, in 23 rak'ahs" (reported by Malik in the "Muwatta" 252, with an authentic chain). Al-Bayhaqi reported from al-Sa'ib ibn Yazid, a companion (may Allah be pleased with him): "In the time of Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), they stood in prayer in the month of Ramadan in 20 rak'ahs" (reported by al-Bayhaqi 2/496, authenticated by al-Nawawi in "al-Majmu'" 5/52). Al-Bayhaqi said: reconciling the 2 reports is possible: they stood in 11 rak'ahs, then in 20, and performed the witr in 3 ("Sunan al-Bayhaqi" 2/496).
Al-Qastallani said: Malik reported in the "Muwatta" from Yazid ibn Ruman 23 rak'ahs, and in another narration 11; al-Bayhaqi reconciled them: they stood in 11 rak'ahs, then in 20, and performed the witr in 3; and what took place in the time of Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) is counted as a consensus. As for the word of Aisha: "He did not increase, in Ramadan or otherwise, beyond 11 rak'ahs" (referring to the Prophet, peace be upon him), our companions applied it to the witr ("Irshad al-Sari" 3/426). Al-Kasani said: Umar gathered the companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) in the month of Ramadan behind Ubayy ibn Ka'b (may Allah be pleased with him), who prayed with them 20 rak'ahs, and no one disapproved of him: it was thus a consensus upon it ("Bada'i al-Sana'i" 2/272). Ibn Abidin said: upon it rests the practice of the people of East and West ("Radd al-Muhtar" 1/474).
Al-Dardir said: they are 23 rak'ahs with the shaf' and the witr, as was the practice; then they were set at 36 rak'ahs, without the shaf' or the witr, in the time of Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz; but what the practice continued upon, ancients and moderns, is the first ("Radd al-Muhtar" 1/315). Al-Dasuqi said: it was the practice of the companions and the successors ("Hashiyat al-Dasuqi" 1/315). Ali al-Sanhuri said: it is what the people act upon, and it has continued to our time in all the cities ("Sharh al-Zarqani" 1/284).
Imam Malik, in the narration of Ibn al-Qasim, holds the recommendation of 36 rak'ahs and the witr, based on what Ibn Abi Shayba reported from Dawud ibn Qays: "I witnessed, in Medina, in the time of Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz, with Abban ibn Uthman, people praying 36 rak'ahs and performing the witr in 3" (reported by Ibn Abi Shayba in "al-Musannaf" 7689, with an authentic chain). Malik said: this is the old order among us, meaning in Medina.
Al-Nawawi said: as for the behavior of the people of Medina that they mentioned, our companions say: the reason is that the people of Mecca performed a circumambulation (tawaf) between every 2 tarwihas and prayed 2 rak'ahs, without circumambulating after the fifth tarwiha; the people of Medina wanted to equal them and set in place of every circumambulation 4 rak'ahs, thus adding 16 rak'ahs, with the witr in 3: the total became 39, and Allah knows best.
The authors of "al-Shamil" and "al-Bayan" and others reported from their companions: only the people of Medina may perform, in the tarawih, the act of the people of Medina by praying 36 rak'ahs, for they hold the distinction of the emigration of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and his burial place, unlike the others. Qadi Abu al-Tayyib said in commentary: al-Shafi'i said that the others have no right to rival the people of Mecca nor to compete with them ("al-Majmu'" 5/53; "Hashiyat al-Jamal" 1/490). The matter is broad among the scholars: Malik said: the order with us is 39, and in Mecca 23, with no narrowness in either ("Nayl al-Awtar" 3/64). Abu al-Hasan al-Maliki said: all of that is broad, that is, permitted: standing in 20 rak'ahs or in 36 ("Kifayat al-Talib" 1/582).
The Hanbalis say: one does not go below 20 rak'ahs, and exceeding 20 poses no problem, by explicit text. Abdallah, son of Imam Ahmad, said: I saw my father pray in Ramadan what I cannot count; and Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Aswad stood in prayer 40 rak'ahs and performed the witr after them in 7 ("Kashshaf al-Qina'" 1/426; "Sharh Muntaha al-Iradat" 1/245; "al-Mubdi'" 2/17). Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyya said: the Prophet (peace be upon him) fixed no number for the standing of Ramadan; he did not increase, in Ramadan or otherwise, beyond 13 rak'ahs, but he lengthened the rak'ahs. When Umar gathered them behind Ubayy ibn Ka'b, he prayed with them 20 rak'ahs then the witr in 3, lightening the recitation in proportion to the increase in number, for that is lighter upon the followers than the lengthening of a single rak'ah. Then a group of the early generations stood 40 rak'ahs with the witr in 3, others 36 with the witr in 3; all of that is admissible: however one stands in Ramadan among these ways, he has done well. The best varies with the states of the worshippers: if they can bear a long standing of 10 rak'ahs plus 3 after, as the Prophet (peace be upon him) prayed by himself in Ramadan and otherwise, it is the best; if they cannot, the standing of 20 rak'ahs is the best: it is what most Muslims practice, a middle between 10 and 40; and 40 rak'ahs or other numbers are permitted, none of that is disliked, several imams such as Ahmad and others stated it explicitly. Whoever believes that the standing of Ramadan has a number fixed by the Prophet (peace be upon him) which can neither be increased nor decreased is in error ("Majmu' al-Fatawa" 22/272; see "al-Bahr al-Ra'iq" 2/72; "'Umdat al-Qari" 7/178; "al-Tamhid" 8/114 and after; "al-Istidhkar" 2/69-70; "al-Kafi" 1/74; "Bidayat al-Mujtahid" 1/290; "al-Fawa'id al-Dawani" 1/319; "al-Qawanin al-Fiqhiyya" 1/62; "Sharh Ibn Battaal" 3/141; "Sharh Mukhtasar Khalil" 2/9; "Hashiyat al-Adawi" 1/579; "Tarh al-Tathrib" 3/88; "al-Mughni" 2/366).
The majority of the jurists hold that the time of the tarawih prayer begins after the isha prayer and before the witr, until the rise of the second fajr (the true dawn). Because of the transmission of the successors from the early generations, because it is known through the practice of the companions, who prayed after the isha before the witr, and because it is a sunna that follows the isha: its time is therefore before the witr. If he prays it before the isha, the majority of the jurists, which is the soundest view among the Hanafis, hold that it does not count as tarawih and remains a mere voluntary prayer ("Ma'ani al-Athar" 2/273; "Radd al-Muhtar" 1/473; "Majma' al-Anhar" 1/202; "Ghimar 'Uyun al-Basa'ir" 1/120; "Mawahib al-Jalil" 3/70; "Sharh al-Zarqani" 1/283; "al-Majmu'" 5/52; "Kashshaf al-Qina'" 1/426; "Matalib Uli al-Nuha" 1/562).
Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyya was asked about the one who prays the tarawih after the maghrib: is it sunna or innovation? They mentioned that Imam al-Shafi'i prayed it after the maghrib and completed it after the last isha. He answered: "Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds: the sunna in the tarawih is to pray it after the last isha, as agreed upon by the early generations and the imams; the report transmitted from al-Shafi'i (may Allah be pleased with him) is false. The imams only prayed it after the isha in the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and in the time of his rightly guided caliphs, as well as the imams of the Muslims; no one is known to have deliberately prayed it before the isha. This is named the standing of Ramadan, as the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: Allah made the fast of Ramadan obligatory upon you, and I made its standing a sunna for you: whoever fasts and stands in prayer obtains the forgiveness of his previous sins." Now the night standing, in Ramadan as elsewhere, takes place only after the isha; it is stated explicitly in the Sunan that when he prayed the standing of Ramadan with them, he prayed after the isha. The Prophet's night standing (peace be upon him) was his witr: he prayed at night, in Ramadan and otherwise, 11 rak'ahs or 13, but lengthening them. When it became hard upon the people, Ubayy ibn Ka'b stood with them, in the time of Umar ibn al-Khattab, 20 rak'ahs then the witr, lightening the standing: the doubling of the number compensated the length. A group of the early generations stood 40 rak'ahs, with a lighter standing and the witr in 3; others 36 rak'ahs then the witr; their known standing takes place after the last isha.
The Rafidites, on the other hand, dislike the tarawih prayer: if they pray it before the last isha, it is not the tarawih prayer, just as they, in ablution, wash the feet at the beginning and wipe them at the end. Whoever prays it before the isha has thus followed the path of the innovators who oppose the sunna, and Allah knows best ("Majmu' al-Fatawa" 23/119, 121).
The jurists agreed on the legality of the congregation in the tarawih prayer, due to the act of the Prophet (peace be upon him), who gathered his companions and his family as shown by the hadith of Abu Dharr, due to the act of the companions (may Allah be pleased with them) and their successors from the time of Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), and due to the continuity of the practice until now. They nevertheless differed: is the standing with the people in congregation better, or praying alone?
The Hanafis, apart from Abu Yusuf, Ibn Abd al-Hakam among the Malikis, the Hanbalis and the Shafi'is according to the soundest view among them, hold the superiority of the congregation. Imam Malik, Abu Yusuf among the Hanafis and the Shafi'is in one opinion, hold the superiority of praying alone in the house ("Ma'ani al-Athar" 2/273; "Sharh Fath al-Qadir" 1/468; "Tabyin al-Haqa'iq" 1/179; "'Umdat al-Qari" 4/188; "Mukhtasar Ikhtilaf al-'Ulama" 1/313; "al-Istidhkar" 2/70; "al-Tamhid" 8/115; "Hashiyat al-Adawi" 1/581; "al-Majmu'" 5/51; "al-Mughni" 2/367; "Sharh Muntaha al-Iradat" 1/245). The Hanafis said: the tarawih in congregation is a collective sunna (kifaya) according to the soundest view; if all left it, they would be at fault; whoever leaves it and prays at home leaves the virtue, and if he prays at home in congregation he does not attain the reward of the mosque's congregation ("al-Bahr al-Ra'iq" 2/73; "Hashiyat Ibn Abidin" 2/442; "Majma' al-Anhar" 1/202).
Ibn Qudama said: the choice of Abu Abdallah (Ahmad) is performing it in congregation; in the narration of Yusuf ibn Musa: the congregation in the tarawih is better, and if it is a man followed by the people and he prays it at home, I fear the people will imitate him. Jabir, Ali and Abdallah prayed it in congregation, due to the consensus of the companions upon it, and to the gathering by the Prophet (peace be upon him) of his companions and his family in the hadith of Abu Dharr, and to his words: "When people pray with the imam until he departs, the standing of that night is written for them"; and this is specific to the standing of Ramadan ("al-Mughni" 2/367-368; "Sharh Muntaha al-Iradat" 1/245; "al-Insaf" 2/181).
The Malikis said: the tarawih prayer in the houses is recommended if the mosques are not left empty, based on the hadith:
Perform the prayer in your houses, for the best prayer of a man is in his house, except the obligatory prayer.Reported by Bukhari (5722, suspended) and Muslim (781)
and out of fear of ostentation, which is forbidden. They differed over the one who prays it at home: does he pray it alone or with the people of his house? Two sayings; al-Zarqani said: perhaps the 2 are equal in superiority. This recommendation is conditional upon 3 things:
If a condition is missing, performing it in the mosque is better. Al-Zarqani said: it is disliked for the one in the mosque to pray it alone, apart from the congregation praying there, and even more so if his solitude empties the mosque's congregation ("Sharh al-Zarqani" 1/283; "Hashiyat al-Dasuqi" 1/315; "Tafsir al-Qurtubi" 8/373; "'Umdat al-Qari" 4/189; "al-Istidhkar" 1/70).
Abu al-Abbas al-Qurtubi said: after mentioning the practice of the companions in the tarawih in congregation, Malik is the most entitled to hold to it, based on his principle of adherence to the practice of the people of Medina. Al-'Iraqi said: it is reported of Malik that he at first stood in prayer in the mosque, then abandoned it: he thus has 2 sayings on the question, and Allah knows best ("Tarh al-Tathrib" 3/88). As for the Shafi'is, al-Nawawi said: it is permitted alone and in congregation; which of the 2 is better? Two famous views, reported by a number: the soundest, by agreement of the companions of the school, is the superiority of the congregation, transmitted by al-Buwayti and held by most of our early companions; the other view is the superiority of praying alone. Our Iraqi companions, al-Saydalani, al-Baghawi and other Khurasanis say: the disagreement concerns only the one who has memorized the Quran, does not fear laziness if alone, and whose absence does not disrupt the mosque's congregation; if one of these conditions is missing, the congregation is better without disagreement. The author of "al-Shamil" reported that Abu al-Abbas and Abu Ishaq said: the tarawih in congregation is better than alone, by the consensus of the companions and the consensus of the people of the cities ("al-Majmu'" 5/51; "Sharh Muslim" 6/38). Al-Tahawi said: whoever chooses praying alone should do so in safety, without the mosque's standing being interrupted; otherwise not ("Mukhtasar Ikhtilaf al-'Ulama" 1/314; "al-Tamhid" 8/119; "Tarh al-Tathrib" 3/88).
Concerning the name tahajjud: al-Nawawi said: the soundest transmitted view in "al-Umm" and "al-Mukhtasar" is that the witr is called tahajjud; there is a view that it is not called so, the witr being other than the tahajjud ("al-Majmu'" 5/72; "Rawdat al-Talibin" 1/329). The hafiz Ibn Rajab said: this second saying, mentioned by some of our companions, must rest on the idea that the witr is the single rak'ah alone; if we say the witr is the rak'ah with what precedes it, then the witr is the tahajjud even without intending the witr ("Fath al-Bari" by Ibn Rajab 6/209).
The majority of the jurists, the Malikis, Shafi'is and Hanbalis, Abu Yusuf and Muhammad among the Hanafis, and Abu Hanifa in one narration, hold that the witr is an emphasized sunna and not an obligation. The proof of its being a sunna is the word of the Prophet (peace be upon him): "Allah is witr (odd) and loves the odd; perform the witr, people of the Quran." Hasan hadith (reported by al-Tirmidhi 453 and Ahmad 1/143-145); the Prophet (peace be upon him) performed it and persisted in it.
They proved its non-obligation by what Malik reported in the "Muwatta" and Abu Dawud and others, from Abdallah ibn Muhayriz: a man of the tribe of Kinana, called al-Mukhadji, heard a man in Syria, nicknamed Abu Muhammad, say: "The witr is obligatory." Al-Mukhadji went to Ubada ibn al-Samit, intercepted him on his way to the mosque and informed him of that. Ubada said: Abu Muhammad lied; I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) say:
Five prayers Allah the Most High has written upon the servants: whoever performs them without neglecting any of them out of contempt for their right has with Allah a covenant to be admitted into Paradise; whoever does not perform them has no covenant with Allah: if He wills, He punishes him, and if He wills, He admits him into Paradise.Authentic hadith: reported by Malik in the "Muwatta" (268) and Abu Dawud (425)
Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "The witr is not a necessity like your obligatory prayers, but the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) legislated it, saying: Allah is witr and loves the witr; perform the witr, people of the Quran." Authentic hadith (reported by al-Tirmidhi 453 and Ibn Majah 1169).
According to the word of the Prophet (peace be upon him), when a bedouin asked him what Allah had made obligatory upon him in the day and the night, he said: 5 prayers; the man said: is there anything else upon me? He said: "No, unless you volunteer" (reported by Bukhari 46 and Muslim 11): this is an explicit statement that one does not sin by leaving what is other than the 5. They also say: the witr is permitted on the mount without necessity, so it is not obligatory like the sunnas: Ibn Umar reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him) "performed the witr on his camel" (agreed upon, reported by Bukhari 1044 and Muslim 700, whose wording is this), and that "the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) glorified Allah on the mount in whatever direction it faced and performed the witr on it, but did not pray the obligatory prayer on it" (reported by Bukhari 1331 and Muslim 19). Had it been obligatory, he would not have performed it on the mount, unlike the obligatory prayers: its character as a voluntary prayer and sunna is thus clear, by their consensus that this is not permitted for the obligatory prayer.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said to Mu'adh when he sent him to Yemen, at the end of his life: "Teach them that Allah has made obligatory upon them 5 prayers in every day and night" (reported by Bukhari 1331 and Muslim 19); had the witr been obligatory, the obligatory prayers would be 6 in every day and night. The signs of the sunnas are apparent in them: they are performed following the isha, whereas the obligatory does not follow another obligatory; they have neither adhan, nor iqamah, nor congregational prayer, while the obligatory prayers have adhan, iqamah and congregation, and this is among the marks of the sunnas ("Bada'i al-Sana'i" 1/270-271; "Ma'ani al-Athar" 2/222, 225; "Tabyin al-Haqa'iq" 1/168; "al-'Inaya" 2/181; "al-Istidhkar" 2/114-115; "al-Tamhid" 23/288; "Sharh Ibn Battaal" 2/580; "Bidayat al-Mujtahid" 1/132; "al-Hawi al-Kabir" 2/278, 280; "Hilyat al-'Ulama" 2/114; "al-Majmu'" 5/34, 39; "Sharh Muslim" 5/211; "Fath al-Bari" 2/489; "al-Mughni" 2/356, 358; "Fath al-Bari" by Ibn Rajab 6/211, 266; "al-Mubdi'" 2/3; "Kashshaf al-Qina'" 1/415).
Abu Hanifa and Abu Bakr ibn Ja'far among the Hanbalis hold the obligation (wujub) of the witr, without it being a farida, for its denier is not a disbeliever. The proof is the narration of Kharija ibn Hudhafa reporting that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Allah has added a prayer to you: it is the witr; pray it between the isha and the dawn." Weak hadith (reported by Abu Dawud 1418 and Ibn Majah 1168 among others, with the wording: the Messenger of Allah came out to us and said: "Allah has granted you a prayer, and it is better for you than the red camels: it is the witr; He set it for you between the isha and the rising of the dawn."). The argumentation through this hadith is twofold: he commanded this prayer, and the absolute command entails obligation; he named it "addition", and an addition to a thing is only conceived within its kind, otherwise it is a conjunction and not an addition; addition is only conceived upon what is measured, that is, the obligatory, whereas the voluntary surplus is not measured, so the addition is not realized upon it. It is not said that it is an addition to the obligatory, but an addition in the practice, not in the obligation: they were already performing it, as shown by his words "it is the witr", naming it with the definite article; such a designation only occurs with familiarity, which is why they did not ask what it was: had they not been accustomed to performing it, they would have asked. This proves that the obligation bears upon the act, not upon the novelty of the practice; and it is not said that it is an addition to the sunnas, for they were already performed as sunna.
It is reported from Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Perform the witr, people of the Quran; whoever does not perform the witr is not of us" (this wording combines 2 hadiths reported by Abu Dawud 1416 and 1419, weakened by Sheikh al-Albani in "Da'if Abi Dawud"); the absolute command entails obligation, and the threat upon abandonment proves obligation. It is also reported from the Prophet (peace be upon him): "The witr is a binding right; whoever does not perform the witr is not of us" (weak hadith: Abu Dawud 1419; Ahmad 5/357). It is reported from Abu Hanifa that the witr is a sunna, as already mentioned; there is also a third narration from him: that it is a farida. Ibn al-Humam explained: by "sunna" he means that the witr is established by the Sunna, which does not negate the obligation; and by "farida", a practical obligation, that is, the wajib ("al-Hidaya" and "Fath al-Qadir" 1/300, 303, Bulaq edition).
Al-Kasani said: if the witr is not a farida, the 5 obligatory prayers do not become 6 by adding the witr; and it is deduced thereby that the addition of the witr to the 5 is not an abrogation of them, for every prayer of the day and night remained a farida after this addition ("Ma'ani al-Athar" 2/225; "al-Hidaya" 1/65; "al-Ikhtiyar" 1/60; "Tabyin al-Haqa'iq" 1/168; "al-'Inaya" 2/181; "al-Bahr al-Ra'iq" 2/40; "al-Mughni" 2/356; "Fath al-Bari" by Ibn Rajab 6/211, 266).
Ibn al-Mundir said: the people of knowledge agreed that the time between the isha prayer and the dawn is a time for the witr ("al-Awsat" 5/190, 195). Ibn Abd al-Barr said: the early generations of the scholars, then the successors after them, differed over the end of the witr time, after agreeing on its beginning after the isha prayer and on the fact that the whole night, until the break of dawn, is a time for it, for it is the last prayer of the night ("al-Istidhkar" 2/207).
The Hanbalis and the Shafi'is according to the most solid view among them say: if the worshipper combines the maghrib and the isha in advance, that is, in the time of the maghrib, the witr time begins after the completion of the isha prayer. Whoever prays the witr before praying the isha: his witr is not valid, its time not having entered; if he did so forgetfully, he repeats it. There is an opinion among the Shafi'is that the witr time is that of the isha: if he prays the witr before praying the isha, his witr is valid. The end of the time according to the Shafi'is and the Hanbalis is the rising of the second fajr, according to the previously mentioned hadith of Kharija ("al-Mughni" 2/359; "Matalib Uli al-Nuha" 1/551; "Kashshaf al-Qina'" 1/415-416; "al-Qalyubi on Sharh al-Minhaj" 1/213; "al-Majmu'" 5/20, 40).
The Malikis hold that the beginning of the witr time follows a valid isha prayer, even if it is after a third of the night; if its invalidity appears, the witr time has not entered, and if he prayed the witr after an invalid isha, he repeats it after repeating it and after the disappearance of the red twilight. If he advanced the isha to the time of the maghrib for travel or rain, the witr time only enters after the disappearance of the twilight. The end of the witr time according to them is the rising of the dawn, except in case of necessity: the one overcome by sleep who has not performed his witr may pray it between the rising of the dawn and the subh prayer, so long as he does not fear losing the subh prayer at sunrise.
If he opens the subh prayer alone, then remembers he owes the witr, it is recommended for him to cut it, that is, the subh prayer, for the sake of the witr, so long as he does not fear the exit of the subh time. The "Sharh al-Saghir" specifies: the lone man remembers the witr while he is in the subh prayer: he is recommended to cut it for the sake of the witr, so long as he does not fear the exit of its time; he then performs the shaf' and the witr, then repeats the fajr. The cutting is permitted for the leading imam (according to the sounder view): it is permitted to him according to one narration, and recommended like the lone man according to the other; if he cuts it, does his follower cut too, or does he appoint another imam? Two sayings ("Sharh al-Saghir" 1/271; "Hashiyat al-Adawi on al-Risala" 1/260; al-Zarqani 1/288).
Ibn Abd al-Barr said: our companions and others differed about the one who remembers the witr during the subh prayer, and Malik's own saying divided into 2. Once, he said: he cuts and prays the witr; this is Ibn al-Qasim's choice, which thereby joins Abu Hanifa's saying making the witr obligatory. Another time, he said: he does not cut, he continues the subh prayer, nothing is due from him and he does not repeat the witr: this is the view of al-Shafi'i and the majority of the scholars, and it is the soundest; for the cutting for one who remembers a prayer while praying is only justified by the order of the day's prayers, and it is known there is no rank between the witr and the subh prayer, the witr not being of its kind: the rank exists only in the obligatory prayers, not in the supererogatory ones. No one is known to have said that the subh prayer is cut for the one who remembers in it that he did not perform the witr, except Abu Hanifa and Ibn al-Qasim; Malik's sound saying is that he does not cut it. Abu Thawr and Muhammad said: he does not cut, and this is the view of the majority of our companions and the substance of our school; were it not for Abu Hanifa's making the witr obligatory, the cutting would not have been considered, and Allah knows best.
If it is said: the cutting of the subh prayer was commanded for the witr because the witr cannot be made up and is not prayed after the subh prayer, its time being before the dawn and before the subh prayer, and it belongs to the emphasized sunna: whoever forgets it then remembers it during the subh prayer cuts it if the time is ample, prays the witr then the subh, thus attaining the sunna and the obligatory each in its time. The answer: this has no basis in the agreed Law; the basis is not to nullify one's deed and not to leave an obligatory prayer before completing it for something else due from him. Now completing what must be completed is an obligation, and the witr is a sunna: how could an obligation be cut for a sunna? The scholars agreed that an obligatory prayer is not cut for a recommended prayer, with the exception of the witr, over which they differed; the disputed returns to the agreed. The jurists of the cities also agreed that the subh prayer is not cut for the witr when one is behind an imam; the lone man follows by analogy and reflection, and this is the view of the majority of the scholars; success comes from Allah. The saying of Malik and his companions did not differ about the one who enters the prayer with tayammum then finds water appearing during the prayer: he continues and does not cut, which is still more prior than the cutting for the witr ("al-Istidhkar" 2/122-123).
The Hanafis hold that the witr time is the isha time, that is, from the disappearance of the twilight to the rising of the dawn; advancing the witr before the isha prayer is not permitted, not because its time has not entered, but due to the obligatory ordering of the witr after the isha, except in case of forgetfulness. If he prays the witr before the isha forgetfully, or prays both, that is, the isha and the witr, then the invalidity of the isha prayer appears, like the one who prayed the isha without ablution unknowingly, then performed ablution, prayed the witr, then remembered: he repeats the isha prayer by agreement, and, according to Abu Hanifa, does not repeat the witr, while Abu Yusuf and Muhammad have him repeat it. Abu Hanifa's reason: the ordering of one over the other is obligatory in case of remembering and falls in case of forgetting. The reason of the other 2: the witr being a sunna, its time follows the isha time, for it follows it, like the time of the 2 rak'ahs of the fajr; hence the word of the Prophet (peace be upon him): "My Lord added to me a prayer, it is the witr, and its time is between the isha and the rising of the dawn" (authentic hadith, reported by Imam Ahmad 2339); now the existence of a "between" 2 things presupposes that those 2 things exist beforehand. The answer: the specification "after the isha" does not negate validity before it. On the basis of this difference, whoever prays the witr believing he prayed the isha, then discovers he did not pray it, prays the isha by consensus; Abu Hanifa does not have the witr repeated, Abu Yusuf and Muhammad do. And if he remembers, while praying subh, that he did not perform the witr while the time is ample: Abu Hanifa does not permit cutting the subh prayer to pray the witr, for the wajib is attached to the farida in practice, the ordering between them being due; Abu Yusuf and Muhammad permit it, the ordering between the sunna and the obligatory prayer not being due ("Bada'i al-Sana'i" 1/271-272; "Ma'ani al-Athar" 2/228-229; "Fath al-Qadir" 1/303; "al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya" 1/51).