Praise be to Allaah.
Witr prayer is one of the greatest acts of worship that draw one closer to Allaah which the Muslim should observe regularly and not neglect.
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Allaah has prescribed for you a prayer (by which He may increase your reward), which is Witr; Allaah has enjoined it for you during the time between ‘Isha’ prayer until dawn begins.”
(Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 425; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Tirmidhi.)
The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever fears that he will not get up at the end of the night, let him pray Witr at the beginning of the night, but whoever thinks that he will be able to get up at the end of the night, let him pray Witr at the end of the night, for prayer at the end of the night is witnessed (by the angels) and that is better.”
( Narrated by Muslim, 755.)
The minimum number of rak’ahs for Witr is one rak’ah, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Witr is one rak'ah at the end of the night.”
(Narrated by Muslim, 752.)
And he (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The night prayers are two (rak’ahs) by two, but if one of you fears that dawn is about to break, let him pray one rak’ah to make what he has prayed odd-numbered.”
(Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 911; Muslim, 749.)
If a person limits himself to praying one rak’ah, then he has performed the Sunnah. But Witr may also be three or five or seven or nine.
Excerpt from : Islam Question And Answer
