Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) used to state that whoever prays at night should make his last prayer the Witr, because the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded this. Then, when Fajr comes, the time for every night prayer and Witr ends. Indeed, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The Witr prayer is before Fajr." This is the narration of Muhammad bin Yahya Qat'i. Other narrators have said that indeed the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Pray Witr before Fajr." And Al-Ramadi said: "(When Fajr appears) then the time for night prayer and Witr ends."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "Whoever reaches the morning without having prayed Witr, then he has no Witr."

Some of those who have not deeply studied knowledge and have not written from knowledge what is used to interpret the detailed report by the explained report have imagined that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, performed Witr after the rising of the second Fajr.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had promised Sayyiduna Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) to give him some camels, so he sent me to the service of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) after ‘Isha. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was staying at the house of Sayyidah Maymunah bint Harith (may Allah be pleased with her). The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) then went to sleep, so I also used the pillow of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) as a pillow (and lay down). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) slept for a short while, then he got up, performed ablution, completed the ablution, and used little water. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) started praying, so I also got up and performed ablution, then I stood on his left side. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) moved me back with his blessed hand and, holding my ear, made me stand on his right side. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) started saying salam after every two rak‘ahs, and Sayyidah Maymunah (may Allah be pleased with her) was menstruating, so she got up and performed ablution, and sat behind the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and began to remember Allah Almighty. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to her:“Has your devil made you get up?”She replied,“O Messenger of Allah, may my parents be sacrificed for you, do I also have a devil?”The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:“By the One Who sent me with the truth, yes, I also have a devil, but Allah Almighty has helped me against him, so I am safe from his evil.”Then, when Fajr appeared, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) got up and performed one rak‘ah of Witr, then he performed the two rak‘ahs of Fajr, then he lay down on his right side until Sayyiduna Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) came and informed the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) of the Fajr prayer (so the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) got up).

Not after the rising of the second dawn, which is followed by daytime, along with the evidence that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, did not pray the two rak‘ahs of Fajr upon completing Witr; rather, he waited after completing Witr until the second dawn became bright, which is after the brightness of daytime and not nighttime.

Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates that I went to my maternal aunt (Sayyidah Maymunah, may Allah be pleased with her). Then he narrated part of the hadith. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) went towards the mosque and began to pray there. I also stood on your (peace be upon him) left side. You (peace be upon him) remained for a while, then when you (peace be upon him) were certain that I wanted to pray with you, you (peace be upon him) took hold of me by my forehead and pulled me until you made me stand on your right side. Thus, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) performed his night prayer in sets of two rak‘ahs. Then, when the first dawn appeared, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) stood and prayed nine rak‘ahs, saying salam after every two rak‘ahs, and prayed one rak‘ah of witr. And this was the ninth rak‘ah. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) stopped until the dawn became bright. Then you (peace be upon him) stood and performed the two sunnah rak‘ahs of Fajr. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) lay down on his side. Then Sayyiduna Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) came. The rest of the hadith was narrated ahead. Imam Abu Bakr (may Allah have mercy on him) says: I have narrated the words of Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) in Kitab al-Kabir. Imam Abu Bakr (may Allah have mercy on him) says: In this narration of Sayyiduna Ibn Jubayr, there is evidence that the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) performed witr after the first dawn had appeared and before the second dawn appeared. Thus, there are two types of Fajr. The first Fajr appears at night (while a part of the night still remains), and the second Fajr is that after which the day begins. The issue which I dictated in refutation of some scholars who objected to my companions, that it is not permissible to pray one rak‘ah of witr, I have dictated here the narrations regarding three rak‘ahs of witr reported from the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and their reasons. Imam Abu Bakr (may Allah have mercy on him) says: Regarding the qunoot of witr, I do not remember any hadith proven from the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). In this matter, I have mentioned the reason and chains of transmission of the narration of Sayyiduna Ubayy ibn Ka‘b (may Allah be pleased with him) regarding the qunoot in witr reported from the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). And I have also mentioned here that the mention of qunoot in the hadith of Sayyiduna Ubayy (may Allah be pleased with him) is not authentic. Because even the hadith of Ubayy (may Allah be pleased with him) regarding three rak‘ahs of witr is not established. Whereas the narration of Burayd ibn Abi Maryam, through the means of Abi Hawra, is reported from Sayyiduna Hasan ibn Ali (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) taught him a supplication to recite in witr.

Sayyiduna Hasan bin Ali (may Allah be pleased with both of them) narrates that I learned some supplicatory words from the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) which I recite in the Qunoot (of Witr). (The Imam narrates the above-mentioned narration through another chain as well.) Sayyiduna Hasan bin Ali (may Allah be pleased with both of them) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) taught me some supplicatory words which I recite in the Qunoot of Witr. (Those words are:) «‏‏‏‏الّٰھُمَّ اهْدِنِي فِي مَنْ هَدَيْتَ، وَعَافِنِي فِي مَنْ عَافَيْتَ، وَتَوَلَّنِي فِي مَنْ تَوَلَّيْتَ، وَبَارِكْ لِي فِيمَا أَعْطَيْتَ، وَقِنِي شَرَّ مَا قَضَيْتَ، فَاِنَّكَ تَقْضِي وَلَا يُقْضَى عَلَيْكَ، وَإِنَّهُ لَا يَذِلُّ مَنْ وَالَيْتَ، تَبَارَكْتَ رَبَّنَا وَتَعَالَيْتَ» ‏‏‏‏ "O Allah, grant me guidance among those whom You have guided. And grant me well-being and safety among those whom You have granted well-being and safety. And make me a friend among those whom You have befriended. And bless me in what You have given me, and protect me from the evil of what You have decreed. Surely, You alone decree and none can decree against You. And indeed, the one whom You befriend cannot be humiliated. O our Lord, You are Most Blessed and Most Exalted." This is the narration of Waki'. However, Yusuf narrated «‏‏‏‏إِنَّهُ لَا يَذِلُّ مَنْ وَالَيْتَ» ‏‏‏‏ without the waw, and Ibn Rafi' narrated this sentence «‏‏‏‏إِنَّكَ تَقْضِي وَلَا يُقْضَى عَلَيْكَ» ‏‏‏‏ with a fa and without the waw, and this sentence «إِنَّهُ لَا يَذِلُّ مَنْ وَالَيْتَ» ‏‏‏‏ without the waw. Imam Shu'bah also narrated this hadith from Burayd bin Abi Maryam in the story of the supplication, but did not mention Qunoot and Witr.

Imam Shu’bah narrates from Buraid bin Abi Maryam, and he from Abu Hawra, who says: I asked Sayyiduna Hasan bin Ali (may Allah be pleased with them both),“Which supplication did you memorize from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)?”He replied: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to teach us this supplication: «‏‏‏‏الّٰھُمَّ اهْدِنِي فِي مَنْ هَدَيْتَ» ‏‏‏‏ He narrated about the supplication in the same manner as the hadith of Waki’, and did not mention anything about Qunoot or Witr (i.e., he did not say that we used to recite this supplication in the Qunoot of Witr). And Imam Shu’bah is firm and strong in memorization from numerous narrators like Yunus bin Abi Ishaq. As for Abu Ishaq, it is not even known whether he heard this narration from Buraid or committed tadlis from him. However, it is possible, as some of our scholars claim, that every narration which Yunus narrates from the teachers of his father Abu Ishaq, Yunus has heard that narration from his father Abu Ishaq along with his teachers. And if it is proven from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he commanded the Qunoot of Witr or recited the supplication of Qunoot in Witr, then in my view, it is not permissible to oppose the hadith of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). But I do not know of this hadith being established.

Imam Zuhri narrated from Sa'id bin Musayyib and Abu Salamah bin Abdur Rahman, from Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him), that the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) would not perform Qunoot except when supplicating for or against a people. So, when he (peace be upon him) wanted to supplicate for a people or against a people, he would perform Qunoot after raising his head from the bowing (ruku') of the second rak'ah of Fajr prayer.

The elder of Kufa, 'Ala bin Salih, narrated from Zubaid, from the chain of Abdur Rahman bin Laila, regarding the prayer of the Prophet (peace be upon him). Zubaid said that he asked Abdur Rahman bin Abi Laila about Qunoot in Witr, so he said that Sayyiduna Bara' bin 'Azib (may Allah be pleased with him) informed us that this is an ongoing and established Sunnah. This elder, 'Ala bin Salih, made a mistake in the word "fi al-witr" (Qunoot in Witr). Indeed, the word is "fi al-fajr" (Qunoot in Fajr prayer), not "fi al-witr" (Qunoot in Witr). Perhaps in his book, a letter between the "fa" and "jeem" was erased, and the "fa" became a "waw", and the "jeem" was written small so it resembled a "ta", (and the word "fajr" became "witr"). It is also possible that he saw the people of his city performing Qunoot in Witr, and their scholars did not perform Qunoot in Fajr prayer, so he became confused and thought that the narration of Sayyiduna Bara' bin 'Azib (may Allah be pleased with him) was about Qunoot in Witr (whereas it is about Qunoot in Fajr).

Imam Sufyan Thawri (may Allah have mercy on him) narrated from Zubaid al-Yamami that he said: I asked Abdur Rahman bin Abi Laila about Qunoot in Fajr prayer, so he said that it is an ongoing and established Sunnah. Therefore, Imam Sufyan Thawri (may Allah have mercy on him), who surpassed narrators like 'Ala bin Salih in memorization and precision, informed that Zubaid asked Abdur Rahman bin Abi Laila about Qunoot in Fajr prayer, not about Qunoot in Witr. So he told Zubaid that (Qunoot in Fajr prayer) is an ongoing and established Sunnah. And he did not mention Sayyiduna Bara' (may Allah be pleased with him) in his narration.

Imam Sufyan Thawri and Imam Shu'bah (may Allah have mercy on them), who were the two Imams of hadith in their time, narrated from 'Amr bin Murrah, from Abdur Rahman bin Abi Laila, and he from Sayyiduna Bara' (may Allah be pleased with him), that the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) performed Qunoot in Fajr prayer.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Bara’ (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) performed Qunoot in the Fajr prayer.