The Prayer That Makes the Night Odd

Witr is the odd-numbered prayer that closes the day's worship in Islam, prayed after the night prayer of Isha and before the dawn. Its name means odd, and it is defined by ending on an uneven count, most commonly one or three rak'ah, though larger odd numbers are prayed, so that the total of the night's voluntary units is left odd. A well-known saying gives the reason in devotional terms: God is one and loves the odd number, and so the servant seals the night with an uneven prayer.

Witr is the most emphasised of the non-obligatory prayers. The Prophet Muhammad is reported never to have omitted it, whether at home or travelling, and to have urged the community to make it the last of their night prayer. Because of this insistence it occupies a distinctive middle ground between the strictly obligatory and the freely voluntary, and the schools differ over exactly where to place it on that scale.