"A man from among the Muslims asked the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ): 'How are prayers at night to be done?' He said: 'prayers at night are (offered) two by two, then if you fear that dawn will come, pray witr with one.'"
Hadith Text and Reference
"A man from among the Muslims asked the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ): 'How are prayers at night to be done?' He said: 'prayers at night are (offered) two by two, then if you fear that dawn will come, pray witr with one.'"
Source: Sunan an-Nasa'i 1672 | Book: The Book of Qiyam Al-Lail (The Night Prayer) and Voluntary Prayers During the Day
Commentary on the Method of Night Prayer
The Prophet (ﷺ) established that voluntary night prayers are performed in units of two rak'ahs each. This two-by-two pattern reflects the sunnah method for all supererogatory prayers performed at night, maintaining consistency with the fundamental unit of Islamic prayer.
The wisdom behind this instruction ensures the worshipper maintains proper prayer structure while allowing flexibility in the number of units offered according to one's spiritual capacity and time available.
Understanding the Witr Prayer
The hadith specifies that the night prayer concludes with witr - an odd-numbered prayer. The instruction "if you fear that dawn will come, pray witr with one" indicates that when time is short, one may perform a single rak'ah as witr to secure this important sunnah before the dawn prayer time enters.
Scholars explain that the complete witr is preferably three rak'ahs, but the Prophet (ﷺ) here demonstrates the concession for circumstances where only one rak'ah is feasible to complete the night worship before fajr.
Practical Implementation
A worshipper may pray two rak'ahs, then two more, continuing in pairs as they wish. The minimum night prayer would be two rak'ahs followed by one rak'ah of witr. There is no maximum limit for the pairs, but the night must conclude with an odd number through the witr prayer.
This teaching emphasizes both the structure of Islamic worship and the mercy in Islamic law, accommodating different circumstances while maintaining the core principles of night devotion.