1698 - Isma‘il ibn Mas‘ud informed us, saying: Bishr ibn al-Mufaddal narrated to us, saying: Sa‘id narrated to us, from Qatadah, from Zurarah ibn Awfa, from Sa‘d ibn Hisham, that ‘A’ishah narrated to him that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, did not give the taslim in the two rak‘ahs of the witr.(1)

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It is also found with Malik in al-Muwatta’ 1/120, and from his transmission it was recorded by Ahmad (24073), (24446), and (24732), al-Bukhari (1147), (2013), and (3569), Muslim (738), Abu Dawud (1341), al-Tirmidhi (439), and the author in al-Kubra (393), (411), (453), and (1425), and Ibn Hibban (2430).

(1) Its narrators are trustworthy, except that its text is shadhdh (anomalous). The well-known version of this hadith — as previously explained in narration (1601), and as will come in narration (1721) — is that he, peace and blessings be upon him, did not give the taslim after sitting in the eighth rak‘ah. Al-Nawawi, in al-Majmu‘ 4/18, after mentioning this hadith, quoted al-Bayhaqi as saying: “It appears that this is an abridgment of her hadith concerning performing the witr with nine.” Ibn al-Mulaqqin, in al-Badr al-Munir 4/308, quoted from al-Muntaqa by Majd ibn Taymiyyah that Imam Ahmad declared the chain of this hadith weak. Sa‘id is Ibn Abi ‘Arubah, and Bishr ibn al-Mufaddal’s narration from him was before his ikhtilat (confusion in old age). It is in al-Sunan al-Kubra under number (1404).

It was also recorded by Ibn Abi Shaybah (6912), al-Tahawi in Sharh Ma‘ani al-Athar 1/195, al-Daraqutni (1684), and al-Hakim 1/304, via multiple routes from Sa‘id ibn Abi ‘Arubah, with this chain.

It was also recorded by al-Hakim 1/304 and al-Bayhaqi in al-Sunan 3/28, via the route of Shayban ibn Farrukh, from Aban, from Qatadah, with this chain, in the wording: “He, peace and blessings be upon him, used to perform the witr with three, not giving the taslim except at the end of them.” Regarding Shayban, al-Hafiz said in his Taqrib: “Truthful, but he makes mistakes.”

Ahmad (25223) also recorded, via the route of Yazid ibn Ya‘fur, from al-Hasan, from Sa‘d ibn Hisham, from ‘A’ishah, that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, when he had prayed the ‘isha’, entered his home, then prayed two rak‘ahs, then prayed after them two rak‘ahs longer than them, then performed the witr with three, not separating between them... the hadith. Regarding Yazid ibn Ya‘fur, al-Dhahabi said: “He is not an authoritative proof.”

This hadith is also contradicted by the authentic hadith of Abu Hurayrah: “Do not perform the witr with three; perform the witr with five or seven, and do not resemble the Maghrib prayer.” It is found with Ibn Hibban (2429) and al-Hakim 1/304, who declared it authentic, and al-Dhahabi agreed with him.