The 365 · Sunnah · Day 319 · Sleep
Performing Witr as the Last Prayer Before Sleep
The hadith
«أَوْصَانِي خَلِيلِي ﷺ بِثَلَاثٍ: صِيَامِ ثَلَاثَةِ أَيَّامٍ مِنْ كُلِّ شَهْرٍ، وَرَكْعَتَيْ الضُّحَى، وَأَنْ أُوتِرَ قَبْلَ أَنْ أَنَامَ». وَقَالَ ﷺ: «اجْعَلُوا آخِرَ صَلَاتِكُمْ بِاللَّيْلِ وِتْرًا».
Abū Hurayrah narrated: 'My beloved ﷺ advised me to do three things: to fast three days of every month, to pray two rakaʿāt of ḍuḥā, and to perform witr before I sleep.' (Bukhari 1981, Muslim 721). And the Prophet ﷺ said: 'Make the last of your night prayers witr.' (Bukhari 998, Muslim 751)
Svenska: Abū Hurayrah berättade: 'Min älskade ﷺ rådde mig att göra tre saker: att fasta tre dagar varje månad, att be två rakaʿāt ḍuḥā, och att utföra witr innan jag sover.' (Bukhari 1981, Muslim 721). Och Profeten ﷺ sade: 'Låt er sista nattbön vara witr.' (Bukhari 998, Muslim 751)
Bukhari 1981; Muslim 721; Bukhari 998; Muslim 751
The story
The Prophet ﷺ called witr 'the prayer Allah added to your prayers' and warned: 'do not abandon witr; whoever does not pray witr is not from us' (Abū Dāwūd 1418, with some disagreement on the strictness of obligation among scholars). Whether wajib or strongly emphasized Sunnah, the Companions never abandoned it.
Why it's here
Witr is the Prophet's ﷺ beloved emphasis: an odd-numbered prayer that seals the night. He instructed Abū Hurayrah to make it the last thing before sleep. For those confident of waking for tahajjud, witr can be delayed; for those unsure, witr is performed before sleep. Either way, the believer's day ends with witr.
Try it today
If you wake for tahajjud regularly, pray witr after tahajjud. If not, pray witr (one to three rakaʿāt) after Isha and before sleep. The Prophet ﷺ often prayed three rakaʿāt with one final rakaʿah after a brief sitting. Recite al-Aʿlā (87) in the first, al-Kāfirūn (109) in the second, al-Ikhlāṣ (112) in the third.
In your day
Witr is the night's seal. It marks the believer's day as complete in worship. Without it, the night is open-ended. The brief three rakaʿāt takes five minutes. The structure it provides is invaluable.
A reflection to carry
Witr is the seal of the day's worship. The Prophet ﷺ instructed his most beloved Companions to never sleep without it.
Read the longer reflection
Witr is unique in the Prophet's ﷺ Sunnah. He called it the most beloved of the night prayers; he never abandoned it, in residence or travel; he advised those who feared not waking for tahajjud to perform it before sleep; he advised those confident of waking to perform it after tahajjud. The odd number (witr) is the Sunnah's signature: Allah is one (witr means 'odd, single'), and our night's seal should match His Oneness. Five minutes of witr produces a believer's day with definite closure. The believer wakes the next morning having completed yesterday's worship. May we, like Abū Hurayrah, take it as our beloved's advice and never sleep without it.
Sources: Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, Abu Dawud. The Qur'an and its translation are verified; the scholarship is retold faithfully in our own words and credited to its sources, never reproduced verbatim.
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