At every part of the night, the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) prayed Witr: at its beginning, middle, and end. Finally he settled on performing Witr just before dawn

Chapter: The timing of the Salat-ul-Witr (Witr prayer)

Authentic hadith of Sahih al-Bukhari Muttafaq ‘alayh (Bukhari and Muslim) Sahih al-Bukhari 996

حَدَّثَنَا عُمَرُ بْنُ حَفْصٍ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا أَبِي قَالَ، حَدَّثَنَا الأَعْمَشُ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنِي مُسْلِمٌ، عَنْ مَسْرُوقٍ، عَنْ عَائِشَةَ، قَالَتْ

كُلَّ اللَّيْلِ أَوْتَرَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم وَانْتَهَى وِتْرُهُ إِلَى السَّحَرِ‏.‏

‘Ā'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported: 'At every part of the night, the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) prayed Witr: at its beginning, middle, and end. Finally he settled on performing Witr just before dawn.

Reported by Al-Bukhari (No. 996), Muslim (No. 745a, 745b, 745c), At-Tirmidhi (No. 456), An-Nasa’i (No. 1681), Ibn Majah (No. 1185), Ahmad (No. 23058, 23615, 24512, 24513) and Ad-Darimi (No. 1540).

Explanation

The Mother of the Believers ‘Ā'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) mentions the time when the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) used to pray Witr at night. He used to pray it at any time at night, without restricting himself to a certain time. Sometimes he would pray it at the beginning of the night after praying ‘Ishā'. Sometimes he would pray in the middle of the night after the first third of the night had passed. Sometimes he would pray in the last part of the night after two thirds had passed, even in the last hour of the night.

Explanation in Arabic

تخبر عائشة أم المؤمنين رضي الله عنها عن الوقت الذي كان النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم يصلي الوتر فيه من الليل، وأنه لا يتقيد بساعة دون أخرى، ففي كل ساعات الليل كان يوتر، أحيانا من أوله حين يصلي العشاء وما شاء الله بعدها، وأحيانا من أوسطه بعد مُضِي ثلثه الأول، وأحيانا من آخره حين يمضي ثلثاه حتى تكون آخر ساعة من الليل.

جواز صلاة الوِتْر في أول الليل، وأوسطه، وآخره، لأن الجميع وقتها.
أن الأفضل أن يكون وِتْر في آخر الليل، لمن وثق من نفسه بالقيام.
الوِتْر من صلاة العشاء إلى طلوع الفجر.

Classical commentary

Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani — Fath al-Bari

قَوْله : ( حَدَّثَنَا أَبِي ) هُوَ حَفْص بْن غِيَاث , وَمُسْلِم هُوَ أَبُو الضُّحَى لَا اِبْن كَيْسَانَ. قَوْله : ( كُلّ اللَّيْل ) بِنَصْبِ " كُلّ " عَلَى الظَّرْفِيَّة. وَبِالرَّفْعِ عَلَى أَنَّهُ مُبْتَدَأ وَالْجُمْلَة خَبَره , وَالتَّقْدِير أَوْتَرَ فِيهِ. وَلِمُسْلِمٍ مِنْ طَرِيق يَحْيَى بْن وَثَّاب عَنْ مَسْرُوق " مِنْ كُلّ اللَّيْل قَدْ أَوْتَرَ رَسُول اللَّه صَلَّى اللَّه عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ : مِنْ أَوَّل اللَّيْل وَأَوْسَطه وَآخِره فَانْتَهَى وِتْره إِلَى السَّحَر " وَالْمُرَاد بِأَوَّلِهِ بَعْد صَلَاة الْعِشَاء كَمَا تَقَدَّمَ. قَوْله : ( إِلَى السَّحَر ) زَادَ أَبُو دَاوُدَ وَالتِّرْمِذِيّ " حِين مَاتَ " وَيُحْتَمَل أَنْ يَكُون اِخْتِلَاف وَقْت الْوِتْر بِاخْتِلَافِ الْأَحْوَال , ف…

Scholar	Grade	Applies to	Work
Al-Bukharid. 256 AH	Authenticصحيح	The hadith	صحيح البخاري No. 996

Grades of other versions (6)

AuthenticShu'ayb al-Arna'ut صحيح — تخريج المسند لشعيب (25693)
Good chain (hasan)Shu'ayb al-Arna'ut إسناده قوي — تخريج المسند لشعيب (825)
Good chain (hasan)Shu'ayb al-Arna'ut إسناده قوي — تخريج المسند لشعيب (1215)
Good chain (hasan)Shu'ayb al-Arna'ut إسناده حسن — تخريج المسند لشعيب (1260)
Authentic chainShu'ayb al-Arna'ut إسناده صحيح على شرط الشيخين — تخريج المسند لشعيب (24691)
AuthenticMuslim صحيح — صحيح مسلم (745)

Other versions

Authentic Muttafaq ‘alayh (Bukhari and Muslim) Sahih Muslim 745a

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) observed the Witr prayer every night and he completed Witr at the time of dawn.

مِنْ كُلِّ اللَّيْلِ قَدْ أَوْتَرَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَانْتَهَى وِتْرُهُ إِلَى السَّحَرِ ‏.‏

Narrated by Ā’ishah

Authentic Muttafaq ‘alayh (Bukhari and Muslim) Sahih Muslim 745b

Masruq reported on the authority of 'A'isha that she said that the Messenger Of Allah (ﷺ) used to observe the Witr prayer every night, maybe in the early part of night, at midnight and in the latter part, finishing his Witr at dawn.

مِنْ كُلِّ اللَّيْلِ قَدْ أَوْتَرَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم مِنْ أَوَّلِ اللَّيْلِ وَأَوْسَطِهِ وَآخِرِهِ فَانْتَهَى وِتْرُهُ إِلَى السَّحَرِ ‏.‏

Narrated by Ā’ishah

Authentic Muttafaq ‘alayh (Bukhari and Muslim) Sahih Muslim 745c

'A'isha reported that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to observe Witr every night, and he would (at times) complete his Witr at the end of the night.

كُلَّ اللَّيْلِ قَدْ أَوْتَرَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَانْتَهَى وِتْرُهُ إِلَى آخِرِ اللَّيْلِ ‏.‏

Narrated by Ā’ishah

Authentic Muttafaq ‘alayh (Bukhari and Muslim) Jami' at-Tirmidhi 456

he asked Aishah about the Witr of the Prophet. She said: "He would perform Witr during all of the night; (either) its beginning, its middle, or its end. So when he died, his Witr ended, during the approachof As-Sahar."

مِنْ كُلِّ اللَّيْلِ قَدْ أَوْتَرَ أَوَّلِهِ وَأَوْسَطِهِ وَآخِرِهِ فَانْتَهَى وِتْرُهُ حِينَ مَاتَ إِلَى السَّحَرِ ‏

Narrated by Ā’ishah

Authentic Muttafaq ‘alayh (Bukhari and Muslim) Sunan an-Nasa'i 1681

"The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) prayed witr at the beginning (of the night) and at the end, and in the middle. And toward the end of his life, he settled on performing witr at the end of the night."

أَوْتَرَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم مِنْ أَوَّلِهِ وَآخِرِهِ وَأَوْسَطِهِ وَانْتَهَى وَتْرُهُ إِلَى السَّحَرِ ‏.‏

Narrated by Ā’ishah

Authentic Muttafaq ‘alayh (Bukhari and Muslim) Sunan Ibn Majah 1185

“I asked ‘Aishah about the Witr of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). She said: ‘He prayed Witr at every part of the night, at the beginning, in the middle and at the end, when he died (he would perform it) just before dawn.’”

مِنْ كُلِّ اللَّيْلِ قَدْ أَوْتَرَ. مِنْ أَوَّلِهِ وَأَوْسَطِهِ، وَانْتَهَى وِتْرُهُ، حِينَ مَاتَ، فِي السَّحَرِ ‏.‏

Narrated by Ā’ishah

See all 14 versions

Not graded Muttafaq ‘alayh (Bukhari and Muslim) Musnad Ahmad 23058