WITNESS

Arabic shahīd ( شهيد‎ ), dual shahīdān ; pl. shuhadā , or shuhūd . Terms which are used for witne in legal cases, an account of which is given in the article on EVIDENCE ; and also for those who die as martyrs for the Muslim faith, or meet with sudden death from any accidental circumstance. [ MARTYR .] WITR ( وتر‎ ). Lit . “An odd number.” Witr rakʿahs are an odd number of rakʿahs, 3, 5, or 7, which may be said after the last prayer at night, and before the dawn of day. Usually they are added to the Ṣalātu ʾl-ʿIshā. Imām Abū Ḥanīfah says they are wājib , that is, ordered by God, although they are not authorised by any text in the Qurʾān. But they are instituted by traditions, each of which is generally received as a Ḥadīs̤ Ṣaḥīḥ; and so witr rakʿahs are regarded as being of divine authority. Imām Shāfaʿī, however, considers them to be sunnah only. The Traditions referred to are:— The Prophet said: “God has added to your prayers one prayer more: know that it is witr , say it between the Ṣalātu ʾl-ʿIshā and the dawn.” On the authority of Buzār, it is recorded that the Prophet said: “ Witr is wājib upon Muslims,” and in order to enforce the practice, he added: “ Witr is right; he who does not observe it is not my follower.” The Prophet, the Companions, the Tābiʿūn and the Tabaʿu ʾt-Tābiʿīn, all observed it. The word witr literally means “odd number,” and a tradition says: “God is odd, He loves the odd.” Musalmāns pay the greatest respect to an odd number. It is considered unlucky to begin any work, or to commence a journey on a day, the date of which is an even number. The number of lines in a page of a book is nearly always an odd number. [ SALATU ʾL-WITR .]