Q 4: A person, after performing `Isha' (Night) Prayer, offers two Rak`ahs (unit of Prayer) then the Shaf` prayer (two units of Prayer, particularly before the final unit of the odd-number prayer). After that, he goes home and after midnight, he offers two Rak`ahs as Tahajjud (optional late night Prayer) before he offers one Rak`ah as Witr. Is this permissible? A: The minimum for Witr (Prayer with an odd number of units) is one Rak`ah and it has no maximum limit. Therefore, there is no harm in performing one, three, five, seven, nine, eleven, thirteen Rak`ahs, or more as Witr. And as for what you mentioned in your question regarding a person who begins the night prayer by offering two Rak`ahs then another two Rak`ahs after midnight before he offers one Rak`ah as Witr, there is also no harm in doing this; rather this is preferable, for the Prophet (Peace be upon him) said: Make Witr (odd prayer) your last prayer at night. (Agreed upon by Al-Bukhari and Muslim). The Prophet (peace be upon him) also said: The (optional) Salah during the night should consist of pairs of Rak`ahs, but if one of you fears morning is near, he should pray one Rak`ah, which will make his Salah an odd number for him. (Agreed upon by Al-Bukhari and Muslim). He further said: If anyone is afraid that he may not get up in the latter part of the night, he should observe Witr in the first part of it; and if anyone is eager to get up in the last part of it, he should observe Witr at the end of the night, for Prayer at the end of the night is witnessed (by the angels) and that is preferable. (Related by Imam Muslim). It is however desirable to offer Witr as eleven (Part No. 6; Page No. 62

A: The minimum for Witr (Prayer with an odd number of units) is one Rak`ah and it has no maximum limit. Therefore, there is no harm in performing one, three, five, seven, nine, eleven, thirteen Rak`ahs, or more as Witr. And as for what you mentioned in your question regarding a person who begins the night prayer by offering two Rak`ahs then another two Rak`ahs after midnight before he offers one Rak`ah as Witr, there is also no harm in doing this; rather this is preferable, for the Prophet (Peace be upon him) said: Make Witr (odd prayer) your last prayer at night. (Agreed upon by Al-Bukhari and Muslim). The Prophet (peace be upon him) also said: The (optional) Salah during the night should consist of pairs of Rak`ahs, but if one of you fears morning is near, he should pray one Rak`ah, which will make his Salah an odd number for him. (Agreed upon by Al-Bukhari and Muslim). He further said: If anyone is afraid that he may not get up in the latter part of the night, he should observe Witr in the first part of it; and if anyone is eager to get up in the last part of it, he should observe Witr at the end of the night, for Prayer at the end of the night is witnessed (by the angels) and that is preferable. (Related by Imam Muslim). It is however desirable to offer Witr as eleven (Part No. 6; Page No. 62) or thirteen Rak`ahs to be performed two by two and then offer one Rak`ah of Witr. It is authentically reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him) used to do that and in most cases he used to offer Witr as eleven Rak`ahs.May Allah grant us success. May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and Companions.