إدريس عبدالله
_22 _June _2015هـ الموافق 22-06-2015م, 01:43 PM
Fourth: what to recite in witr prayers
The sunnah for one who performs three unit of prayer for witr is to recite suratul ‘Ala after fatiha in the first unit, suratul Kafirun after fatiha in the second unit, and suratul Ikhlaas after fatiha in the third unit. This is based on the hadith of Saeed bin Abdurrahman bin Abza from his father narrated from Ubay bin Ka’b who said: “the Prophet-peace be upon him- used to perform witr with suratul ‘Ala, suratul Kafirun and suratul Ikhlaas” (reported by Ahmad, Abu Dawud, An-Nisai and others)
According to Imam Malik and As-Shafi’ee it is recommended to recite suratul Falaq and Nass after suratul Ikhlaas. This is because of the hadith of Aisha reported by Ab Dawud, At-Tirmidhee, and Ibn Maaja: “that the Prophet-peace be upon him- used to recite suratul ‘Ala in the first unit, suratul Kafirun in the second unit, and in the third unit he recites suratul Ikhlaas, Falaq and Nass”. A similar hadith from Aisha was also reported by Ibn Hiban in his Saheeh, and At-Tahawee and Al-Hakam. However, in that hadith there was no mention of the recitation of Falaq and Nass after suratul Ikhlaas. That was why Imam Ahmad bin Hambal and Yahya bin Ma’een renounced their recitation. The explanation of this is as follows:
The first narration of Aisha has a disconnection in its chain of narration; because ibn Jareer did not narrate hadiths from Aisha according to Imam Ahmad, Ibn Hiban and others. Albukhari also said in his book “At-Tareekh Alkabeer” narrations of Abdulazeez bin Jareer from Aisha are not accepted. Furthermore, Khaseef bin Abdurrahman who narrated from Abdulazeez bin Jareer is weak in memorization. Ahmad, ibn Khuzaima and Sa’eed ibn Alqatan also rendered him weak.
As for the second hadith, it is not authentic and that Yahya bin Ayub reported it alone is not likely. Al-Athram said: I heard Abu Abdallah being asked about Yahya Bin Ayub Almasree and he said: he used to relate hadith from his memorization and makes a lot of mistakes. So I mentioned his narration from Aisha to him and he said this is not likely.
Al-uqailee also said: as for the recitation of suratul Falaq and Nass, it is not authentic. Therefore, it is legislated to recite them after the suratul Ikhlaas because of the weakness in the narrations. Hence, a person should recite what was reported with authentic narrations. Some scholars opine that one should not recite these suras always in the witr prayer because that will lead to believing that it is obligatory. This can be true because the prophet does not recite them always. However, their reason is weak because if that is so, then every other sunnah of the prophet observed always will be seen as obligatory which is not true.
You should also know that it is recommended that when he says salam after completing the witr he should say: “subhaanal malikul qudus” three times because of the hadith of Ubay bin K’ab that “the Prophet-peace be upon him- used to say so three times” (reported by An-Nisai).
The sunnah for one who performs three unit of prayer for witr is to recite suratul ‘Ala after fatiha in the first unit, suratul Kafirun after fatiha in the second unit, and suratul Ikhlaas after fatiha in the third unit. This is based on the hadith of Saeed bin Abdurrahman bin Abza from his father narrated from Ubay bin Ka’b who said: “the Prophet-peace be upon him- used to perform witr with suratul ‘Ala, suratul Kafirun and suratul Ikhlaas” (reported by Ahmad, Abu Dawud, An-Nisai and others)
According to Imam Malik and As-Shafi’ee it is recommended to recite suratul Falaq and Nass after suratul Ikhlaas. This is because of the hadith of Aisha reported by Ab Dawud, At-Tirmidhee, and Ibn Maaja: “that the Prophet-peace be upon him- used to recite suratul ‘Ala in the first unit, suratul Kafirun in the second unit, and in the third unit he recites suratul Ikhlaas, Falaq and Nass”. A similar hadith from Aisha was also reported by Ibn Hiban in his Saheeh, and At-Tahawee and Al-Hakam. However, in that hadith there was no mention of the recitation of Falaq and Nass after suratul Ikhlaas. That was why Imam Ahmad bin Hambal and Yahya bin Ma’een renounced their recitation. The explanation of this is as follows:
The first narration of Aisha has a disconnection in its chain of narration; because ibn Jareer did not narrate hadiths from Aisha according to Imam Ahmad, Ibn Hiban and others. Albukhari also said in his book “At-Tareekh Alkabeer” narrations of Abdulazeez bin Jareer from Aisha are not accepted. Furthermore, Khaseef bin Abdurrahman who narrated from Abdulazeez bin Jareer is weak in memorization. Ahmad, ibn Khuzaima and Sa’eed ibn Alqatan also rendered him weak.
As for the second hadith, it is not authentic and that Yahya bin Ayub reported it alone is not likely. Al-Athram said: I heard Abu Abdallah being asked about Yahya Bin Ayub Almasree and he said: he used to relate hadith from his memorization and makes a lot of mistakes. So I mentioned his narration from Aisha to him and he said this is not likely.
Al-uqailee also said: as for the recitation of suratul Falaq and Nass, it is not authentic. Therefore, it is legislated to recite them after the suratul Ikhlaas because of the weakness in the narrations. Hence, a person should recite what was reported with authentic narrations. Some scholars opine that one should not recite these suras always in the witr prayer because that will lead to believing that it is obligatory. This can be true because the prophet does not recite them always. However, their reason is weak because if that is so, then every other sunnah of the prophet observed always will be seen as obligatory which is not true.
You should also know that it is recommended that when he says salam after completing the witr he should say: “subhaanal malikul qudus” three times because of the hadith of Ubay bin K’ab that “the Prophet-peace be upon him- used to say so three times” (reported by An-Nisai).