Sayyiduna Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) reports that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Whoever fears that he may not be able to get up at the end of the night should perform Witr in the early part of the night (after ‘Isha). And whoever hopes to get up at the end of the night should perform Witr at the end of the night, because the prayer at night is such that angels are present in it, and it is superior.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: Perform Witr before dawn.

Sayyiduna Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him) reports that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Does any one of you like that when he returns to his house, he finds three large pregnant she-camels in it?" We said, "Yes." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "For any one of you, reciting three verses in prayer is better than three large, swift, pregnant she-camels."

‘Sayyiduna Abu Wa’il (may Allah be pleased with him) says: One day, after offering the Fajr prayer, we went early in the morning to the house of Abdullah bin Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with them). We stood at the door and greeted with salam, and we were granted permission. Abu Wa’il says: We stood at the door for a little while, then a girl came out and said,“Why do you not enter inside?”So we entered and saw that Abdullah bin Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with them) was sitting and reciting tasbih. He said,“When you were given permission, what prevented you from entering?”We said,“Nothing, we just thought that perhaps some of your family members might be asleep.”Abdullah bin Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with them) said,“Did you think the family of Ibn Umm ‘Abd to be heedless?”Then he became engaged in tasbih again until he thought that the sun had risen. He said to the girl,“Look, has the sun risen?”Abu Wa’il says: She looked and said,“No, the sun has not yet risen.”He again became engaged in tasbih until he thought that the sun had risen. He again said to the girl,“Look, has the sun risen?”She looked and said,“Yes, the sun has risen.”He said,“All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds, who has forgiven us in this day of ours.”Mahdi says: I think Abdullah bin Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with them) said,“And did not destroy us because of our sins.”Then a man from among the people said,“I have recited all the Mufassal surahs this night.”Abdullah bin Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with them) said,“You recited like poetry is recited.”We have indeed heard the pairs, and I remember those pairs which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to recite. They are eighteen surahs from the Mufassal and two surahs from Al-Ha-Meem. (By pairs, it is meant those surahs which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to recite two at a time in one rak’ah.)

Narrated from Umm al-Mu’minin Aisha Siddiqa (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) went out (approximately) at midnight and prayed in the mosque, and a few people prayed with him. Then in the morning, people began to talk about it, and the next day more people gathered. And the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) also came out, then people prayed with him, and in the morning people began to talk about it. Then on the third night, more people gathered in the mosque, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) came out, and people prayed with him. Then when the fourth night came and so many people gathered that the mosque became crowded, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) did not come out, people began to call out,“Prayer, prayer,”but he did not come out until he came for the morning prayer. Then when he had finished the prayer, he turned to the people, recited the two testimonies, and after praise and blessings, said:“Know that your condition tonight was not hidden from me, but I feared that the night prayer (Tarawih) might be made obligatory upon you and you would be unable to perform it.”And in one narration, it is mentioned that this incident took place in Ramadan.

Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him) reports that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to encourage the offering of Tarawih prayers in Ramadan, but did not make it obligatory. He said: Whoever prays during Ramadan with faith and seeking reward, his previous sins will be forgiven. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) passed away and the matter remained as it was. The same practice continued during the caliphate of Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him). And in the early period of the caliphate of Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), the same method remained (i.e., whoever wished would pray at night).