Narrated Nafi’: Ibn ‘Umar said, “While the Prophet was on the pulpit, a man asked him how to offer the night prayers. He replied, ‘Pray two Rakat at a time and then two and then two and so on, and if you are afraid of the dawn (the approach of the time of the Fajr prayer) pray one Rak’a and that will be the witr for all the Rakat which you have offered.” Ibn ‘Umar said, “The last Rakat of the night prayer should be odd for the Prophet ordered it to be so.”
My questions are:
i) Would it be okay if one has said witr with Namaz-e-Isha, and then prays Tahajud. Does he need to say Witr again? My concern is that if one keeps Witr for later and for some reason, does not wake up to say Tahajud, Witr prayers will also be missed.
ii) Alternatively, if one wants to say Tahajud and has already said his Witr prayers, why should he be constrained? Just because he has said his Witr prayers, should not stop him from saying one of the most rewarding of prayers: Tahajud.
Answer
i) The prophet, alaihissalaam, always said his Witr with Tahajud. The given hadith suggests that he advised people to do likewise as well. However, he is also known to have allowed people to say their witr at the end of Isha. Since witr is primarily a part of Tahajud, it is not obligatory. If someone is likely to get up for tahajjud, he/she should say witr at the end of Tahajud. If one gets up late, witr can still be said, although it wouldn’t be the ideal time of doing so. If your witr is left unsaid, it is still no sin.
ii) If you have already said your Witr with Isha and you want to say your Tahajud, there is nothing stopping you from doing it. The only thing is that your Tahajud would be different from what the prophet did himself and suggested to others. Although it wouldn’t constitute an offence, but, nonetheless, it would be lesser in value than the one that ends with Witr.