Taking from Other Schools to Avoid Conflict with Literalist Father
Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch
Question
Can I take a dispensation regarding the method of Witr prayer seeing as my father follows the Literalist way and scrutinizes my prayer?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate
In theory, it is permissible to pray the Witr prayer according to any of the Authoritative Imams of the religion. However, one will also take care to perform and maintain the purification in accordance with the Imam’s requirements. [Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]
This will make sure you do not fall into Talfiq (i.e, the contradictory combination of opinions in one action). [Ibid.]
Alternatives
Instead of taking from other schools, the following alternatives may work:
1) The Sunna of Witr prayer according to the rigorously authenticated (sahih) Prophetic narrations is to delay them till the last third of the night prior to the entrance of Fajr prayer time.
Our Mother ‘Aisha (Allah be pleased with her narrates) saying, “Every night the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and give him peace) would pray the Witr prayer: either in the beginning portion of the night, the middle, or the final portion. His most recent practice (before passing) was to pray just before dawn.” [Bukhari and Muslim]
You can tell your father, you want to act on the Sunna of delaying Witr till its recommended time allowing you to pray it alone at home without being watched.
2) At the end of your second rakat of Witr, turn your head right and left as though you are saying the closing Salam. Then, stand up and raise your hands to your ears as though you are performing the opening Takbir for the final rakat.
This way, you can perform the three straight units of Witr prayer according to the Hanafi school, while to the onlooker you are praying the 2 and 1 method.
Hope this helps
Allah knows best
[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Shaykh Yusuf Weltch is a teacher of Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he then completed four years at the Darul Uloom seminary in New York where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences. He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he stayed for three years studying in Dar Al-Mustafa under some of the greatest scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib. In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Qur’an and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Qur’anic exegesis, Islamic history, and a number of texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.
