Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates: When the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) sent Sayyiduna Mu’adh (may Allah be pleased with him) to Yemen, he said:“You are going to a people from among the People of the Book. The first thing you should call them to is that they worship Allah. When they come to know Allah, then inform them that Allah has made five prayers obligatory upon them during the day and night. When they do that, then inform them that Allah has made zakat obligatory upon them, which will be taken from their wealth and returned to their poor. If they obey you in this, then take zakat from them, but avoid taking the best of their wealth.”

(Imam Ibn Hibban, may Allah have mercy on him, says:) From narrations of this type, it can be deduced that witr is not obligatory, and in what we have mentioned earlier, there is abundant explanation of this matter, which will suffice the one whom Allah grants the ability to follow the straight path and guides to the way of guidance, that witr is not obligatory. Because the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) sent Sayyiduna Mu’adh (may Allah be pleased with him) to Yemen, and he sent him a few days before departing from this world. The Prophet (peace be upon him) instructed him to inform those people that Allah has made five prayers obligatory upon them during the day and night. If witr had also been obligatory, or if Allah had added anything else to the people’s prayers, as is claimed by the one who is unfamiliar with the science of hadith and cannot distinguish between authentic and unauthentic narrations, then the Prophet (peace be upon him) would have instructed Sayyiduna Mu’adh bin Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) that Allah has made six prayers obligatory upon them, not five. So, in what we have mentioned, there is a clear statement that witr is not obligatory. The rest is achieved by the help of Allah.