Question
What is witr and what is the correct manner to perform it? Is it wajib or not? How is it performed? I also want to share that if tell people that sunnah is nafl they will stop performing the sunnah salat. I know somebody who after reading all the explanation from your website stopped offering the sunnah and the witr.
Answer
Witr is part of tahajjud prayer. It is a necessary part of this prayer which itself is optional for us. For the form of the tahajjud prayer please refer to: The Optional Prayers
As for the issue of sunnah we believe that it is our duty to tell and educate people about the true status of things in the basic sources of the religion. As a result sometimes people start offering regular prayer which they previously avoided only because they thought they must for example offer 17 raka’at in isha. It also can make someone ignore the nawafil as you said. But we cannot add to the importance and change the position of things in the religion. We will try to make people realize how important it is to offer the nawafil and help them understand that it is only through these acts that we come near God inshaAllah.
Answered by: Tariq Mahmood Hashmi
Date: 2015-02-14
