IS THE QAZA PRAYER FOR WITR NECESSARY? OR JUST THE QAZA FOR ISHA PRAYER?

All praise and thanks are due to Allah ( ‫)سبحانه و تعالى‬, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger (
‫)صلى هللا عليه و سلم‬.
Shorter Answer: Witr is not obligatory in the view of Maalik and al-Shafi’i, while the opinion of Abu
Hanifah that the witr prayer is obligatory is considered to be weak. The fact that it is not obligatory is
indicated by the hadith narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim. Nevertheless, Witr prayer is Sunnah
mu’akkadah (a confirmed Sunnah) which the believer should adhere to and therefore, offer regularly.
The majority of the scholars maintain that it is correct to make qada’ for a missed witr prayer. It is
prescribed to make it up with an even number of rak’ahs if a person misses it, because the Prophet ( ‫صلى‬
‫ )هللا عليه و سلم‬used to do that. In other words, if he is habituated to offering three rak’ahs of witr, he
should perform four rak’ahs when he makes it up. Next, the Hanafi school holds that the witr qada’
should be performed during those times in which it is not forbidden to observe prayers. The Shafi’i
school say that it may be made up during any time of the night or day, while according to Maalik and
Ahmad, a missed witr prayer is to be made up for after the dawn.
Long Answer: Witr prayer is Sunnah mu’akkadah (a confirmed sunnah)Witr prayer is Sunnah
mu’akkadah (a confirmed Sunnah) which the believer should adhere to and therefore, offer regularly.
The majority of the scholars maintain that it is correct to make qada’ for a missed witr prayer. It is
prescribed to make it up with an even number of rak’ahs if a person misses it, because the Prophet ( ‫صلى‬
‫ )هللا عليه و سلم‬used to do that. In other words, if he is habituated to offering three rak’ahs of witr, he
should perform four rak’ahs when he makes it up. Next, the Hanafi school holds that the witr qada’
should be performed during those times in which it is not forbidden to observe prayers. The Shafi’i
school say that it may be made up during any time of the night or day, while according to Maalik and
Ahmad, a missed witr prayer is to be made up for after the dawn.

Long Answer: Witr prayer is Sunnah mu’akkadah (a confirmed sunnah) according to the majority of
scholars, and some of the fuqaha’ regarded it as obligatory. The fact that it is not obligatory is indicated
by the hadith narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim from Talhah ibn ‘Ubayd-Allah ( ‫ )رضي هللا عنه‬who said: A
man [Bedouin] came to the Messenger of Allah ( ‫ )صلى هللا عليه و سلم‬and said: “O Messenger of Allah, what
prayers has Allah enjoined on me?” He said: “The five prayers, unless you do anything voluntarily.” The
version narrated by Muslim says: “Five prayers every day and night.” He said: “Do I have to do anything
else?’ He said, “No, unless you do it voluntarily.”

Al-Nawawi said: This indicates that Witr prayer is not obligatory.

Al-Haafiz said in al-Fath: This indicates that no prayers during the day and night are obligatory apart
from the five prayers; this is contrary to the view of those who say that Witr or the two Sunnah rak’ahs
of Fajr are obligatory.

However, it is the most confirmed Sunnah and was enjoined by the Prophet ( ‫ )صلى هللا عليه و سلم‬in more
than one hadith.

Muslim narrated from Abu Sa’eed ( ‫ )رضي هللا عنه‬that the Prophet (‫ )صلى هللا عليه و سلم‬said: “Perform Witr
before morning comes.” Abu Dawood narrated that ‘Ali ( ‫ )رضي هللا عنه‬said: The Messenger of Allah (‫صلى‬
‫ )هللا عليه و سلم‬said: “O people of the Qur’an, pray Witr, for Allah is One and loves that which is odd-
numbered.” (Classed as sahih by al-Albani in Saheeh Abi Dawood)

Hence, we should continue to offer Witr prayer regularly, whether travelling or not, as the Prophet (‫صلى‬
‫ )هللا عليه و سلم‬used to do. Al-Bukhari and Muslim narrated that Ibn ‘Umar ( ‫ )رضي هللا عنه‬said: The Prophet (
‫ )صلى هللا عليه و سلم‬was on a journey, atop his mount, whichever direction it was facing, gesturing the
motions of the night prayer, except the obligatory prayer, and he prayed Witr atop his mount.”

Ibn Qudamah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Witr is not obligatory. This is the view of Maalik and
al-Shafi’i. Abu Hanifah said: it is obligatory. Then he said: Ahmad said: Whoever omits to pray Witr
deliberately is a bad man, whose testimony should not be accepted. He wanted to emphasize that it is
confirmed because of the ahadith which say that it is enjoined and encouraged. (al-Mughni)

The scholars of the Standing Committee were asked: Is Witr prayer obligatory, and will the one who
prays it on some days and not on others be punished for that?

They replied: “Witr prayer is Sunnah mu’akkadah (a confirmed Sunnah) which the believer should
adhere to. Whoever prays it on some days and not on others will not be blamed for that, but he should
be advised to pray Witr regularly. It is prescribed to pray two rak’ahs during the day instead if a person
misses it, because the Prophet ( ‫ )صلى هللا عليه و سلم‬used to do that, as it was narrated that ‘Aa’ishah (‫رضي‬
‫ )هللا عنهما‬said: If sleep or sickness kept him from praying at night, the Prophet ( ‫ )صلى هللا عليه و سلم‬would
pray twelve rak’ahs during the day. (Narrated by Muslim in his Saheeh) The Prophet ( ‫)صلى هللا عليه و سلم‬
usually prayed eleven rak’ahs at night, saying the salaam after each two rak’ahs then praying one rak’ah
on its own. But if sleep or sickness kept him from doing that, he would pray twelve rak’ahs during the
day, as ‘Aa’ishah (‫ )رضي هللا عنهما‬stated. Based on this, if a person usually prays five rak’ahs at night but
he sleeps or misses them for any other reason, it is prescribed for him to pray six rak’ahs during the day,
saying salaam after each two rak’ahs. If his habit is to pray three rak’ahs, then he should pray four
rak’ahs with two salaams, and if his habit is to pray seven rak’ahs, he should pray eight with the salaam
after each two rak’ahs. (Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah)

(The above reply is based on answer provided by Shaykh Muhammad Saalih al-Munajjid on the
topic)The following is an excerpt from the book ‘Fiqh Us-Sunnah’ by As-Sayyid Sabiq:

The opinion of Abu Hanifah that the witr prayer is obligatory is a weak opinion. Ibn al-Mundhir says: “I
don ‘t know anyone who agrees with Abu Hanifah on this point.” …

Ahmad, Abu Dawud, An-Nasa’i, and Ibn Majah record that AI-Mukhdaji [a person of the Kinana tribe)
heard from one of the Ansar, nicknamed Abu Muhammad, that the witr prayer is obligatory. He went to
‘Ibadah ibn as-Samit and mentioned to him what Abu Muhammad had said. ‘lbadah observed: “Abu
Muhammad is mistaken for I heard the Messenger of Allah say: ‘Five prayers are ordained by Allah for
his slaves. Whoever fulfills them properly without any shortcoming, he will have a pact with Allah that
He will admit him into paradise. whoever does not do them, he will have no pact with Allah, and if He
wills He may punish him and if He wills He may forgive him.’” …

According to al-Baihaqi and al-Hakim, the majority of the scholars maintain that it is correct to make
qada’ for a missed witr prayer. Al-Hakim grades the following report by Abu Hurairah as sahih according
to the criterion of al-Bukhari and Muslim. Abu Hurairah reports that the Prophet ( ‫ )صلى هللا عليه و سلم‬said: ”
If the morning approaches, and you have yet to pray witr, you should pray the witr prayer.” Abu Dawud
records from Abu Sa’eed al-Khudri that the Prophet ( ‫ )صلى هللا عليه و سلم‬said: “If one of you sleeps [past
the time of] the witr prayer or he forgets it, he should pray it when he remembers it.” (AI-‘Iraqi says that
the chain of this hadith is sahih)

Ahmad and at-Tabarani record with a hasan chain that the Prophet ( ‫ )صلى هللا عليه و سلم‬perform the witr
prayer in the morning [if, for some reason, he had missed it during the night]. Generally speaking, there
is a difference of opinion over what time it may be made up. The Hanafi school holds it should be
performed during those times in which it is not forbidden to observe prayers. The followers of Shafi’i say
that it may be made up during any time of the night or day, while according to Maalik and Ahmad a
missed witr prayer is to be made up for after the dawn.

Allahu A’lam (Allah (‫ )سبحانه و تعالى‬knows best) and all Perfections belong to Allah, and all mistakes belong
to me alone. May Allah