What is the decree about performing witr prayer according to madhhabs?

Dear Brother / Sister,

Witr is a prayer that is unanimously demanded to be performed. (Fathul-Qadir, I, 300-310) For, the Prophet (pbuh) said, "O people of the Quran! Perform witr prayer because Allah is one. He loves one." (Abu Dawud and Tirmidhi narrated it stating that it was sound.) Witr prayer was fard for the Prophet (pbuh). The evidence for it is the following hadith: "There are three things that are fard for me but not for you: Duha prayer, sacrificing an animal and witr prayer." (Hakim and Ahmad reported this hadith from Ibn Abbas. Dhahabi said Hakim kept silent about the hadith. The hadith is munkar and gharib. Nasbur-Raya, II, 115)

According to Abu Hanifa, witr prayer is a wajib prayer like eid prayers. According to Imam Abu Yusuf and Imam Muhammad and other fiqh scholars, it is sunnah muakkadah.

The evidence Abu Hanifa bases his view on is the following hadith: "Allah has given you an extra prayer. It is witr; perform it between the night prayer and the daybreak." (Tirmidhi narrated it.) The word perform in the hadith is an order, which shows that it is wajib. The reason why a person who denies this prayer does not become an unbeliever according to all Hanafis is that it became certain with ahad sunnah. This is the meaning of the view reported from Abu Hanifa that witr is sunnah. Therefore, it is not permissible to perform witr prayer by sitting or on a mount without an excuse according to Abu Hanifa.

Some other hadiths strengthen that hadith. One of them is the following hadith reported from Abu Ayyub: "Witr is true. He who wants to perform it as five rak’ahs should do so; he who wants to perform it as three rak’ahs should do so; he who wants to perform it as one rak’ah should do." The following is stated in the narration of Ibn Burayda: "Witr is true. He who does not perform it is not one of us." (Ahmad narrated this hadith.)

The majority of fiqh scholars showed some hadiths as evidence that witr prayer is sunnah. Some of those hadiths are as follows:

"A Bedouin asked Hz. Prophet (pbuh), "Are there any fard prayers I have to perform?" The Prophet (pbuh) said, "Five daily prayers." The Bedouin asked, "Do I have any other fard prayers to perform?" The Prophet (pbuh) said, "No, except for nafilah prayers." (Bukhari and Muslim agreed on this hadith.)

Ubada b. Samit opposed to a person who said witr prayer was wajib and said, "I heard the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) say, ‘Allah rendered five prayers a day fard for His slaves." (Abu Dawud and Ahmad narrated this hadith.)

The following was reported from Hz. Ali: “Witr is not wajib like fard prayers. However, it is a sunnah prayer performed by the Prophet (pbuh).”( Ahmad and Tirmidhi narrated this hadith.)

It is permissible to perform witr prayer on an animal without any excuse too. According to the narration of Ibn Umar, "Hz. Prophet (pbuh) performed witr prayer while traveling on his camel." (Bukhari and Muslim narrated it.)

Hadith scholars criticized some of those hadiths. The following hadith is weak: "He who does not perform witr is not one of us." The narrators of the hadith "Witr is true" from Abu Eyyub are reliable but it is interpreted as it is strongly mustahab. For, Imam Ahmad stated the following: "A person who abandons witr prayer deliberately is a bad man. His witnessing should not be accepted." (İslam Fıkhı, Zuhayli, Vol. II, p. 130-131)

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