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Should the Shafa' and Witr prayers be performed after the Tarawih with the first Imam, or should they be delayed to be performed with the second Imam for the Tahajjud prayer?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

To reconcile the virtue of performing the night vigil (qiyam al-layl) with the imam, the prohibition of two witr prayers in one night, and the Prophet's command to make witr the last prayer of the night, it is advisable for someone who wishes to pray tahajjud after Tarawih to pray with the imam until he concludes the witr prayer. Then, he should stand up and add one rak'ah to make it an even number (shaf'). After that, he can pray as much as he wishes during the night and then pray witr later.

However, if he prays witr at the beginning of the night and then wishes to perform qiyam, the more preponderant opinion is that he may pray as much as he wishes without nullifying his initial witr, as it was narrated that the Prophet (peace be upon him) prayed after witr. There is also another opinion which suggests that he should add a rak'ah to his witr to make it an even number, then pray, and then pray witr again later.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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