Islamic Fiqh > Prayer > Supererogatory prayers: rawatib, tarawih, witr and duha > Tarawih and praying on the mount
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Updated on 24 September 2026 at 7:46 PM
These sheets from the chapter on supererogatory prayers (tatawwu) examine the worshipper surprised by the iqamah while performing a voluntary prayer, voluntary prayer on a mount in travel or residence, mounted or on foot, and then the tarawih and witr prayers: their status, number of rak'ahs, times, and congregational performance. Each question is presented with the positions of the four schools, their Quranic and prophetic proofs, and the classical references supporting them.
Certain times of the day exclude prayer altogether, as indicated by the hadith of the chapter:
Abstain from prayer until the sun rises and rises high; for it rises between the two horns of Satan, and at that moment the disbelievers prostrate to it; then pray, for the prayer is witnessed and attended until the shadow of an object, measured with a lance, equals its length; then abstain, for at that moment Hell is stoked; when the coolness returns, pray, for the prayer is witnessed and attended until you pray asr; then abstain until sunset, for the sun sets between the two horns of Satan, and at that moment the disbelievers prostrate to it.Reported by Muslim (832)
He adds: in these three times the obligatory prayers are not performed according to us ("al-Mabsut" 1/50, 151; see "Bidayat al-Mubtadi" 1/12, "Bidayat al-Mujtahid" 1/75, "al-Ikhtiyar li-Ta'lil al-Mukhtar" 1/45, "Tabyin al-Haqa'iq" 1/85, "al-'Inaya" 1/378, "Durrar al-Hukkam" 1/239-240, "al-Durr al-Mukhtar" 1/372, "al-Awsat" 2/413, "Hashiyat al-Tahtawi" 1/125).
Whoever began a voluntary prayer before the iqamah: the majority of scholars hold that he completes his prayer so long as he does not fear missing the congregational prayer. Here are their sayings.
Imam al-Kasani, the Hanafi, said: if someone enters the mosque, starts the prayer, then the muezzin proceeds with the iqamah, there are two cases: he has started a voluntary prayer or an obligatory one. If he has started a voluntary prayer and the iqamah is pronounced, he completes the pair (shaf') in which he is and adds nothing to it. Completing the pair is due to the fact that preserving it from invalidity is obligatory and is possible for him; he adds nothing because starting a voluntary prayer beyond the pair is like starting a new voluntary prayer, and we have already mentioned that starting a voluntary prayer in the mosque after the iqamah is disliked ("Ma'ani al-Athar" 1/286).
It is stated in "al-Mudawwana al-Kubra" (1/97): Malik was asked about the man who opens a voluntary prayer and the obligatory prayer is called upon him before he bows. He said: if he is one of those whom the two rak'ahs lighten, like the light man able to recite in each of them the Umm al-Quran (the Fatiha) alone and to catch the imam, I see that he does it; if he is a slow man who cannot lighten, I see that he cuts with the salam and enters into the prayer. Ibn al-Qasim said: I said to Malik: what made you widen this, allowing him the two rak'ahs and then the prayer with the imam? Does he catch him before the imam opens the prayer or before he bows? He said: rather before he bows. Suhnun said: does he owe, according to Malik, the make-up (qada') of what he cut? He said: he never told us that the make-up is due from him. There is no make-up because he did not cut it deliberately; rather what he cut came upon him; and his cutting is with the salam; if he does not cut it with the salam, he repeats the prayer.
The detail of the Maliki school is as follows: it is forbidden for the legally responsible person (mukallaf) to open a prayer, obligatory or voluntary, in congregation after the iqamah of the standing imam. If the standing prayer is called in a mosque, the worshipper cuts his prayer if he is in the mosque or in its courtyard, and joins the imam: whether his prayer is voluntary or obligatory, whether he is at the moment of the iqamah or otherwise, whether he has performed a rak'ah or not; with the salam or with something else, like speech or the intention to nullify it. On condition that he fears, by completing the prayer he is in, missing a rak'ah with the imam of the called prayer.
If the iqamah is pronounced in a mosque for its standing imam, the one who secures the reward of the congregation and who is in the mosque or its courtyard must leave it; the same applies to whoever prayed the maghrib or the isha and performed the witr. If he does not secure the reward of the congregation or did not pray it at all, the prayer is due from him if he fulfills the conditions of prayer and is not the imam of another mosque. When the prayer is called in the mosque while he prays it outside, or called outside while he prays it in the mosque, he completes it obligatorily in both cases.
It is disliked to prolong the bowing more than usual for the one who joins the prayer, except out of necessity, like fearing that his prayer becomes void or that the congregation escapes him: for example if that rak'ah is the last, because not prolonging causes the follower (ma'mum) to miss the reward of the congregation. As for the lengthening of the recitation in order to let someone join, it is not disliked (the book "al-Khulasa al-Fiqhiyya" on the school of the Maliki masters).
Al-Shirazi said in "al-Muhadhdhab" (1/94; "al-Tanbih" 1/38): if he is in a voluntary prayer and the congregation is called, if he does not fear missing the congregation he completes the voluntary prayer then joins the congregation; if he fears missing it, he cuts the voluntary prayer, for the congregation is superior. Al-Nawawi said: this question is well known among the companions of the school according to the detail mentioned by the compiler; and by his words "he feared missing the congregation" he means the loss of the congregation in its entirety: then he says the salam from his prayer, as explicitly declared by Sheikh Abu Hamid (al-Ghazali), Sheikh Nasr and others, and Allah knows best ("al-Majmu'" 4/180; "Asna al-Matalib" 1/231; "Mughni al-Muhtaj" 1/231).
Ibn Qudama said: if the prayer is called while he is in the voluntary prayer and he does not fear missing the congregation, he completes it without cutting it, by the word of Allah:
"And do not invalidate your deeds."
Surah Muhammad, 33
If he fears missing the congregation, there are two narrations: one, that he completes it; the other, that he cuts it, for what he catches of the congregation is greater in reward and richer in merit than what he loses by cutting the voluntary prayer, since the congregational prayer exceeds the prayer of the man alone by twenty-seven degrees ("al-Mughni" 1/272-273; "al-Kafi" 1/178; "al-Furu'" 1/281; "Fath al-Bari" by Ibn Rajab 4/73-74; "al-Mubdi'" 2/47; "al-Insaf" 2/220; "al-Rawd al-Murba'" 1/239).
The scholars differ, in two opinions, on the obligation of facing the qibla in the voluntary prayer performed on a mount. The first opinion: it is obligatory upon him; this is one of the two narrations transmitted from al-Shafi'i and Ahmad. Qadi Husayn said: al-Shafi'i explicitly stated, in one place, the obligation of facing, and, in another place, that it is not obligatory ("al-Majmu'" 3/208).
Ibn Muflih said in "al-Mubdi'" (1/402; "al-Mughni" 1/260): if the rider can open the prayer (by the state of consecration) facing the qibla, on his mount or by himself, like the one riding a single mount that obeys him, is that due from him? Two narrations: the first, it is due from him without hardship; the one who affirmed it in "al-Wajiz" decided it so, the majority transmitted and chose it, and Abu al-Ma'ali mentioned it, based on what Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) reported:
When the Prophet (peace be upon him) traveled and wanted to pray supererogatorily, he turned his mount toward the qibla, pronounced the takbir and prayed wherever it faced.Hasan hadith: reported by Ahmad and Abu Dawud (1225)
This is its wording. Since he could open the prayer facing the qibla, it becomes due from him, like the rider of a ship. The second narration: it is not due from him; Abu Bakr chose and preferred it in "al-Mughni" and elsewhere, because of the hardship it involves, because of the hadith of Ibn Umar, and because it is a part of the prayer resembling its rest; the first report is understood as a recommendation.
Imam Ahmad said: when a man prays supererogatorily on his mount, I like that he face the qibla at the takbir, according to the hadith of Anas ("Masail Abi Dawud" 110). The other opinion: facing the qibla is not obligatory upon whoever prays supererogatorily on his mount; it is merely recommended: this is the view of the Hanafis, the Malikis, al-Shafi'i, and Ahmad in one of the two narrations transmitted from him.
Ibn Abidin said: facing the qibla is not required at the opening, since the prayer is valid in a direction other than that of the Kaaba, the opening is valid as well ("Radd al-Muhtar" 2/487; "Tuhfat al-Fuqaha" 1/155). Ibn al-Mundir reported that al-Hasan said: the companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) used to pray on their mounts wherever their faces turned; the same was said by Tawus and Ata', and it is the view of Malik, Sufyan al-Thawri, al-Awza'i, al-Shafi'i, Ahmad, Abu Thawr and the partisans of opinion; Ahmad and Abu Thawr, however, recommended the worshipper traveling on a mount to face the qibla at the takbir, according to the hadith of Anas ("al-Awsat" 5/250-251; see "Fath al-Bari" by Ibn Hajar 2/575).
Ibn Abd al-Barr said: the jurists do not disagree on the permissibility of the voluntary prayer on the mount, in whatever direction it faces by its reins, in travel; the hadith of Jabir reports that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) prayed on his mount in the direction of his face. From al-Hasan: the companions of the Messenger of Allah prayed in their travels on their mounts, wherever their faces turned. This is a matter agreed upon, without disagreement among all the scholars, concerning the traveler's voluntary prayer on his mount: he gestures (with his head) in a way that makes the prostration lower than the bowing, performs the tashahhud and the salam while sitting on his mount, in its place; some of them only recommend that the worshipper open his voluntary prayer on his mount facing the qibla, pronouncing the takbir facing it, then not caring about the direction it takes; others do not recommend it, saying it is like his praying voluntarily in a direction other than the qibla, deliberately and knowingly: so is his opening toward it. Malik and his companions went toward this second saying, while al-Shafi'i, Ahmad ibn Hanbal and Abu Thawr held the first, and some of them argued with the previous hadith of Anas.
Ahmad ibn Hanbal and Abu Thawr said: this is how one who prays supererogatorily on his mount in travel should act. And Abdallah ibn Umar said concerning the word of Allah:
"So wherever you turn, there is the Face of Allah."
Surah al-Baqarah, 115
that it was revealed about the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) in travel, supererogatory, on his mount: it is a good interpretation supported by the Sunna ("al-Istidhkar" 2/255-256; "al-Tamhid" 17/72; "al-Mudawwana" 1/80). What Ibn Abd al-Barr reported from al-Shafi'i and Ahmad is one of the two narrations transmitted from them, as mentioned, with however a detail on their part.
Al-Nawawi summarized what the companions of the school said: the rider in travel who prays supererogatorily without being able to bow, prostrate or face the qibla throughout his prayer, like the one on a saddle with a high backrest or the like, has the obligation of facing the qibla at the opening discussed in four views. The soundest: if it is easy, it is obligatory; otherwise not. Easy is the case of a standing mount that he can turn aside or redirect, or a walking mount whose reins he holds; hard is that of a hobbled or unruly mount. The second view: facing is never obligatory, verified by the compiler, that is al-Shirazi, and his master Qadi Abu al-Tayyib. The third view: obligatory in all cases; if it becomes impossible, his prayer is not valid. The fourth view: if the mount is directed toward the qibla at the opening, he enters the consecration as it is; otherwise the opening is valid only facing the qibla. Qadi Husayn said: al-Shafi'i explicitly stated the obligation of facing in one place, and its absence in another; it was said: two sayings, it was said: two states, distinguishing the easy case from the other; and the consideration in facing rests on the rider, not on the mount: if he faces the qibla at the opening while the mount is deviated or curved, it is valid without disagreement, and the reverse would not be valid if we required the facing of the mount ("al-Majmu'" 3/208-209; "Kifayat al-Akhyar" 1/100; "Asna al-Matalib" 1/134; "Mughni al-Muhtaj" 1/143; "Tabaqat al-Shafi'iyya al-Kubra" by al-Subki 5/211).
Ibn Qudama concluded: if opening facing the qibla is possible, like the one riding a single mount that obeys him, two narrations emerge: it is due from him, according to the previous hadith of Anas, and because he could open the prayer facing the qibla, so it becomes due, like all prayer; or it is not due from him, because it is a part of the parts of the prayer, resembling its rest, and it is not free of hardship, so it falls, and the report of the Prophet (peace be upon him) is understood as a virtue and a recommendation ("al-Mughni" 1/290).
Ibn al-Qayyim said: among the guidance of the Prophet (peace be upon him) was praying supererogatorily on his mount in whatever direction it faced, gesturing with his head in the bowing and prostration, his prostration being lower than his bowing; Ahmad and Abu Dawud reported from him, in the hadith of Anas, that he faced the qibla at the opening takbir, then prayed the rest of the prayers wherever the mount faced. Then he said: "In this hadith there is a consideration: those who described his prayer (peace be upon him) on his mount stated absolutely that he prayed in it toward any direction it faced, without excepting the opening takbir or anything else, like Amir ibn Rabi'a, Abdallah ibn Umar and Jabir ibn Abdallah; their hadiths are sounder than this hadith of Anas, and Allah knows best" ("Zad al-Ma'ad" 1/475; "Sharh Sahih al-Bukhari" by Ibn Battaal 3/89).
Can the traveler whose journey does not require shortening the prayer perform the voluntary prayer on his mount or not? And can he pray on the mount in residence or not? The jurists disagreed about the traveler who does not shorten the prayer: may he perform the voluntary prayer on his mount or not? Two opinions.
The first opinion, that of Imam Malik and his companions: he does not pray supererogatorily on the mount except in a journey that shortens the prayer. Their proof: the travels in which Ibn Umar and others reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him) prayed on his mount supererogatorily were travels in which the prayer is shortened; the concession therefore came attached to that and must not be exceeded, as if he said: when you travel like this journey of mine, do as I did.
The other opinion, that of the majority of scholars: Abu Hanifa, al-Shafi'i, Ahmad and their companions: the voluntary prayer on the mount is permitted outside the city in every journey, whether the prayer is shortened in it or not. Their proof: none of the reports of this chapter specifies a journey; every journey permits it, unless some travels are specified with the obligation of complying ("al-Istidhkar" 2/256-258; "al-Tamhid" 17/72 and after; "al-Awsat" 5/250; "Tafsir al-Qurtubi" 2/81; "Tafsir Ibn Kathir" 1/159; "al-Mughni" 1/259-260; "Fath al-Bari" 2/575).
As for prayer on the mount while in residence: Abu Yusuf said that he prays in the city on the mount as well, by gestures; this is also the saying of Abu Sa'id al-Istakhri among the Shafi'is, and one of the two opinions in the madhhab of Imam Ahmad ("al-Majmu'" 3/212; "Majmu' al-Fatawa" 14/37; "Tuhfat al-Fuqaha" 1/155). Al-Nawawi enumerated four views on the resident's voluntary prayer:
Al-Athram said: Ahmad ibn Hanbal was asked about the voluntary prayer on the mount in residence; he replied: in travel we have heard; in residence we have heard nothing ("al-Istidhkar" 2/258). Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyya said: is that permitted in residence, that is, prayer on the mount? Two sayings in the madhhab of Ahmad and others ("Majmu' al-Fatawa" 24/37).
The scholars differ, in two opinions, on the validity of the traveler's voluntary prayer while walking. The first opinion: it is not permitted, according to Abu Hanifa, Malik and Ahmad ibn Hanbal in one of the two narrations transmitted from him. The other opinion: he may pray the voluntary prayer walking, according to the Shafi'is and Ahmad in the second narration.
Ibn Qudama said: the second narration of Ahmad is that he prays walking; Muthanna ibn Jami' transmitted it, and the Qadi and others mentioned it; he must face the qibla at the opening of the prayer, then turn toward the direction of his walking, recite while walking, bow and then prostrate on the ground: this is the madhhab of Ata' and al-Shafi'i.
Al-Amidi said: he gestures in the bowing and prostration like the rider, for it is a state in which leaving the facing was permitted, so the bowing and prostration are not due from him; according to the Qadi's opinion, the bowing and prostration are possible without interrupting his walking, so they are due from him like the standing person. They argued that prayer was permitted to the rider so that he would not leave the caravan in travel; this meaning is found in the walker: it is one of the two states of the traveler's walking, so prayer was permitted in it like the other. Then he answered: according to us (the first narration), nothing was transmitted, nor is it of the meaning of the transmitted, for it requires considerable effort and continuous walking that breaks the prayer and entails its nullity, absent in the rider, so it cannot be assimilated to him; and the word of Allah "And wherever you are, turn your faces toward it" (Surah al-Baqarah, 144) is general, left in the places of consensus with conditions present here: the obligation of facing remains in the rest according to the generality ("al-Mughni" 1/261; "al-Ikhtiyar" 1/95; "Tuhfat al-Fuqaha" 1/155; "al-Majmu'" 3/211; "Ihya 'Ulum al-Din" 2/262; "Rawdat al-Talibin" 1/213; "Mughni al-Muhtaj" 1/144; "Nihayat al-Muhtaj" 1/432).
The tarawih prayer is a sunna by the consensus of the scholars; it is an emphasized sunna, prescribed for men and women alike, and it is one of the apparent signs of religion ("Ma'ani al-Athar" 2/272; "al-Ikhtiyar" 1/68; "Radd al-Muhtar" 2/472; "Hashiyat al-Adawi" 1/352, 2/321; "al-Majmu'" 5/51; "Sharh Muslim" 6/38; "al-Mughni" 2/364). The first to legislate it was the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), who encouraged it:
The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) encouraged the night standing of Ramadan without commanding them strictly, and he would say: "Whoever stands in prayer during Ramadan with faith and seeking the reward, his previous sins are forgiven."Reported by Bukhari (37) and Muslim (759), from Abu Hurayrah
Al-Nawawi explained: this means that he did not command them in a binding and imperative manner, which would be the azima, but by an order of invitation and encouragement, mentioning its merit. By "with faith" is meant believing that it is the truth; and "seeking the reward": performing it for Allah the Most High, without showing off or the like. Al-Shirbini, al-Karmani and others said: they agreed that the night standing of Ramadan mentioned in this hadith refers to the tarawih prayer ("Fath al-Bari" 4/251; "al-Iqna'" by al-Shirbini 1/117; "Sharh Muslim" 6/38).
The Prophet (peace be upon him) prayed the tarawih with his companions some nights without persisting in it, and explained the reason for leaving the persistence: fear that it might be written upon them as an obligation and that they would be unable to perform it. From Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her):
One night, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) prayed in the mosque and some people prayed with him; he prayed again the following night and the people were more numerous; then they gathered on the third or fourth night, but the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) did not come out to them. In the morning he said: I have seen what you did, and nothing prevented me from coming out to you except that I feared it might be made obligatory upon you; and that took place in Ramadan.Reported by Bukhari (1077) and Muslim (761)
Bukhari added: "But I feared it might be made obligatory upon you and you would be unable to perform it." The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) passed away and the matter remained thus.
The hafiz Ibn Hajar said in "Fath al-Bari": his words "you would be unable to perform it" mean that it becomes hard for you, so that you leave it despite being able to perform it; total inability is not meant, for it would drop the obligation altogether. The apparent meaning of this hadith is that the Prophet (peace be upon him) anticipated that persistence would make the night prayer in congregation obligatory; the question raises difficulties, and some Malikis built it on their principle that starting is binding, which is debatable. Al-Muhibb al-Tabari answered that Allah may have revealed to the Prophet that, if he persisted in it with them, it would become obligatory upon them: he thus preferred to lighten their burden and left the persistence; or that it occurred within himself, as happened with some acts of worship he practiced with constancy and which became obligatory. It is also said: he feared that someone in this umma might conclude to the obligation from his persistence; al-Qurtubi inclined toward this latter meaning: his words "it might be made obligatory upon you" mean that you would consider it an obligation, so that it becomes due from whoever considers it so, like the mujtahid who considers something lawful or forbidden and must act upon his judgment. It is also said: the rule of the Prophet (peace be upon him) was that, if he persisted in a righteous deed and the people followed him in it, it was made obligatory upon them; this latter saying is clearly far-fetched, for the Prophet (peace be upon him) persisted in the obligatory prayers, his companions followed him, and nothing additional was imposed upon them.
Ibn Battaal said: it is possible that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said this while the night prayer was obligatory upon him alone, fearing that, if he came out to them and they committed to it with him, Allah would make them equal in its ruling; for the principle in the Law is equality between the Prophet (peace be upon him) and his umma in worship. It is also possible that he feared their persistence would weaken them, so that whoever left it would disobey by ceasing to follow him.
Al-Khattabi wondered at the origin of this fear, given what the Night Journey hadith contains: "They are five and they are fifty; the word is not changed with Me": if change is excluded, how could an increase be feared? This refutes the preceding answers. Al-Khattabi answered that the night prayer was obligatory upon the Prophet (peace be upon him), and his legal acts call for the umma's imitation when persistent: he therefore stopped coming out to them so that it would not enter the obligatory through the command to imitate him, not through creating a new obligation added to the five, like the man who makes a vow prayer binding upon himself, which becomes due from him without a new universal obligation arising in the Law. He proposed another possibility: Allah ordained the prayer fifty times, then reduced most of it through the intercession of His Prophet (peace be upon him); if the umma went back to what had been waived and committed to what their prophet (peace be upon him) had exempted them from, it would not be strange for it to be established as an obligation upon them, as some people had committed themselves to monasticism from themselves, then Allah blamed their falling short:
"But they did not observe it as it should have been observed."
Surah al-Hadid, 27
The Prophet (peace be upon him) therefore feared they would follow the path of those people, and he cut off the practice out of compassion for them. These two answers were received from al-Khattabi by a number of commentators, such as Ibn al-Jawzi; but they rest on the night prayer having been obligatory upon him (peace be upon him) and on the obligation of imitating his acts, both of which are disputed.
Al-Karmani answered that the Night Journey hadith shows that what Allah means by His words:
"The word is not changed with Me."
Surah Qaf, 29
is security from the decrease of any of the five, without touching upon the increase. However, the doubling in His words "They are five and they are fifty" also indicates the absence of increase, for doubling does not go below ten. Some answered the premise of the question by saying that era was open to abrogation, so there was no objection to fearing an obligation; but this is debatable, for "The word is not changed with Me" is a report which, on the sounder view, abrogation does not enter, and it is not like their example "Fast in perpetuity," where abrogation is possible. "Fath al-Bari" then opened three further answers:
The strongest of these three answers, in my view, is the first ("Fath al-Bari" 3/13-14; see "'Umdat al-Qari" 7/176; "Sharh al-Zarqani" 1/336).
The specification of the nights in which the Prophet (peace be upon him) prayed with his companions is reported by Abu Dawud and others, from Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him):
We fasted Ramadan with the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), and he did not stand in prayer with us a single night of the month until seven remained; then he prayed with us until a third of the night had passed. On the sixth he did not pray; on the fifth he prayed with us until half the night. I said: Messenger of Allah, will you not stand in prayer with us for the rest of this night? He said: when a man prays with the imam until he departs, the standing of that night is counted for him. On the fourth he did not pray; on the third he gathered his family, his women and the people, and prayed with us until we feared missing the felicity. I said: what is the felicity? He said: the suhur. Then he did not pray with us for the rest of the month.Authentic hadith: reported by Abu Dawud (1375), al-Nasa'i (1364) and Ahmad in the "Musnad" (5/159)
From al-Nu'man ibn Bashir (may Allah be pleased with him): "We stood in prayer with the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) in the month of Ramadan on the night of the twenty-third until a third of the first part of the night, then on the night of the twenty-fifth until half the night, then on the night of the twenty-seventh until we feared missing the felicity", and they called that the suhur. Authentic hadith (reported by al-Nasa'i 1606 and Ahmad 4/272).
The rightly guided caliphs and the Muslims, from the time of Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), persisted in the tarawih in congregation, and the tarawih prayer was attributed to Umar because he was the one who gathered the people behind a single imam: Ubayy ibn Ka'b. Abd al-Rahman ibn Abd al-Qari reported: "I went out one night of Ramadan with Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) to the mosque: the people were scattered, each man praying by himself, or a man praying and a group praying with him. Umar said: I see that if I gathered these people behind a single reciter, it would be better. He resolved and gathered them behind Ubayy ibn Ka'b. Another night, I went out with him and the people were praying behind their reciter; Umar said: what a good innovation this is, and what they leave out by their sleep is better than what they perform": he meant the end of the night, for the people prayed the beginning (reported by Bukhari, 1906).
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 twenty 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 twenty 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 twenty 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 two sayings, hold the standing of twenty 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 twenty-three 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 twenty rak'ahs" (reported by al-Bayhaqi 2/496, authenticated by al-Nawawi in "al-Majmu'" 5/52). Al-Bayhaqi said: reconciling the two reports is possible: they stood in eleven rak'ahs, then in twenty, and performed the witr in three ("Sunan al-Bayhaqi" 2/496).
Al-Qastallani said: Malik reported in the "Muwatta" from Yazid ibn Ruman twenty-three rak'ahs, and in another narration eleven; al-Bayhaqi reconciled them: they stood in eleven rak'ahs, then in twenty, and performed the witr in three; 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 eleven 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 twenty 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 twenty-three rak'ahs with the shaf' and the witr, as was the practice; then they were set at thirty-six 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 thirty-six 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 thirty-six rak'ahs and performing the witr in three" (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 two tarwihas and prayed two rak'ahs, without circumambulating after the fifth tarwiha; the people of Medina wanted to equal them and set in place of every circumambulation four rak'ahs, thus adding sixteen rak'ahs, with the witr in three: the total became thirty-nine, 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 thirty-six 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 thirty-nine, and in Mecca twenty-three, 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 twenty rak'ahs or in thirty-six ("Kifayat al-Talib" 1/582).
The Hanbalis say: one does not go below twenty rak'ahs, and exceeding twenty 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 forty rak'ahs and performed the witr after them in seven ("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 thirteen rak'ahs, but he lengthened the rak'ahs. When Umar gathered them behind Ubayy ibn Ka'b, he prayed with them twenty rak'ahs then the witr in three, 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 forty rak'ahs with the witr in three, others thirty-six with the witr in three; 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 ten rak'ahs plus three 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 twenty rak'ahs is the best: it is what most Muslims practice, a middle between ten and forty; and forty 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, eleven rak'ahs or thirteen, 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, twenty rak'ahs then the witr, lightening the standing: the doubling of the number compensated the length. A group of the early generations stood forty rak'ahs, with a lighter standing and the witr in three; others thirty-six 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 two are equal in superiority. This recommendation is conditional upon three 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 two 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 two 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: five 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 five. 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 five prayers in every day and night" (reported by Bukhari 1331 and Muslim 19); had the witr been obligatory, the obligatory prayers would be six 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 two 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 five obligatory prayers do not become six by adding the witr; and it is deduced thereby that the addition of the witr to the five 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 two. 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 two: the witr being a sunna, its time follows the isha time, for it follows it, like the time of the two 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" two things presupposes that those two 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).