Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (AS)

The manner of praying Salat-ul-Witr, according to the Promised Messiah(as)

ایک صاحب نے سوال کیا کہ وتر کس طرح پڑھنے چاہئیں ۔ اکیلا بھی جائز ہے یا نہیں ؟
فرمایا :۔
اکیلا وتر تو ہم نے کہیں نہیں دیکھا ۔ وتر تین ہیں خواہ دو رکعت پڑھ کر سلام پھیر کر تیسری رکعت پڑھ لو۔ خواہ تینوں ایک ہی سلام سے درمیان میں التحیات بیٹھ کر پڑھ لو ۔ ایک وتر ٹھیک نہیں ۔
( الحكم 10 اپریل 1903 ء صفحہ 14 )

How should Salat-ul-Witr be prayed?
A man asked how should Salat-ul-Witr be prayed? Is one rak’at of Witr permissible?
He(as) stated:
We have not seen one rak’at of witr anywhere. Witr has three rak’at, whether it is read in two rak’at then salam followed by the third rak’at. Or whether all three rak’at are prayer with one salam, and Tashahhud is read in between, in the sitting position. A single rak’at Witr is not correct.

[Al Hakam, April 10, 1903, page 14]
[Fiqhul Masih, pg 97]

When to pray Salat-ul-Witr

حضرت صاحبزادہ مرزا بشیر احمد صاحب تحریر کرتے ہیں کہ میاں فضل محمد صاحب دکاندار محلہ دار الفضل نے بذریعہ تحریر مجھ سے بیان کیا کہ جبکہ مولوی کرم دین والا مقدمہ تھا اور گورداسپور میں اس کی پیشی تھی تو وہاں پر میں نے ایک شیشم کے درخت کے نیچے حضرت صاحب کے حضور عرض کی کہ حضور عشاء کی نماز کے بعد اگر وتر نہ پڑھے جائیں اور پچھلے وقت بھی رہ جاویں تو پھر ان کو کس وقت پڑھا جاوے۔ تب حضور نے فرمایا کہ بہتر یہی ہے کہ پہلے وقت ہی پڑھ لئے جاویں۔ یعنی نمازعشاء کے بعد ہی پڑھ لینے چاہئیں ۔

( سیرت المہدی جلد 2 صفحہ 172 )

It is better to pray Witr at the beginning of the night.

Hazrat Sahibzada Mirza Bashir Ahmad Sahib(ra) writes that Mian Fazal Muhammad Sahib, a shopkeeper of Mohallah Darul Fazal, wrote to me that when the case of Maulana Karam Din was going on and his hearing was in Gurdaspur, I asked Hazrat Sahib (as) under the shade of a shisham tree that if Witr is not prayed after Isha prayer and also not prayed before Fajr, then when should it be prayed? Then Huzoor (as) said that it is better to pray them at the first time, that is, they should be prayed after Isha prayer.

[Sirat ul Mahdi, Vol. 2, Pg. 172]
[Fiqhul Masih, pg 98]

How did the Promised Messiah (AS) pray Salat-ul-Witr

حضرت مسیح موعود علیہ السلام کا وتر پڑھنے کا طریق

سوال : حضرت مسیح موعود علیہ السلام و تر دورکعت پڑھ کر سلام پھیرتے تھے یا تین پڑھ کر؟ اس کے جواب میں حضرت مصلح موعودؓ نے فرمایا :۔ ” عمومًا دو پڑھ کر “۔ مولوی سید سرور شاہ صاحب نے کہا جس قدر واقف لوگوں سے اور روایتیں سنی ہیں ان سے بھی یہی معلوم ہوتا ہے کہ دو پڑھ کر سلام پھیرتے تھے پھر ایک پڑھتے ۔

( الفضل 12 جون 1922 ء صفحہ 7 )

The method of performing Witr prayer of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad(as)

Question: Did Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad(as) use to say salam after praying two rak’ats of Witr prayer, or would he complete all three rak’ats at once?

Answer: Hazrat Musleh Maud (ra) replied:

Generally, after offering two [rak’ats]. Mufti Syed Sarwar Shah Sahib(ra) said that from whatever knowledgeable people he had inquired from and the traditions he had heard, it appears that he(as) would say salam after praying two rakats and then pray the third rak’at.

[Al Fazl, vol. 7, Issue 12, June 12, 1922, pg. 3]
[Fiqhul Masih, pg 98]

Question: ‘Someone wrote a tract that all ritual prayer should be done in one’s own language.’

Answer by the Promised Messiah (as):

‘That may be some practice, we do not agree with it. The Noble Quran is a blessed book and the speech of the Glorious Lord. It should not be abandoned. We have only told those who are illiterate and cannot express themselves properly to say their supplications in their own language.’

[Al-Hakam, October 24, 1902, p. 12]

What is wrong with doing the entire ritual prayer in one’s own language?

The Promised Messiah (as) answered:
The speech of God Almighty ought to be recited in its language. There is a blessing in it, whether one understands it or not, and one ought to recite the transmitted supplications as they came from the Holy Prophet (sa)’s blessed tongue. This is a sign of love and respect. That said, one may supplicate in one’s own language even throughout the night.

[Al-Badr, Jan. 23; 30, 1903, p. 4]

Ritual Prayer ought to be done in Arabic

It is not appropriate to do the ritual prayer in one’s own language. The language in which the Holy Qur’an was kept by God Almighty should not be abandoned. However, one can express one’s needs in one’s own language before God Almighty after [the prayer in] the manner prescribed by the Sunna and its words of remembrance. However, the original language ought never be abandoned. What did the Christians gain by abandoning the original language? Nothing was left.

[Al-Hakam, May 31, 1902, p. 8]

Personal prayers can be done in your own language, however, ritual prayers, The Holy Quran, and hadith are to be said in Arabic

When you offer your prayer, besides the verses of the Quran which are the Word of God, and besides the various
prayers taught by the Holy Prophet, which are the words of the Messenger, make all your other entreaties in your native tongue so that the humility and meekness that they are born of may touch your heart.

[Noah’s Ark, page 110]

In conclusion, one must recite in Arabic during salat, The Holy Quran and prayers in hadith should be recited in Arabic only but personal prayers to God Almighty can be done in one’s own language.

All languages were created by God. One should do dua in Salat, in whatever language one is comfortable; because it affects the heart and produces humility.

Be sure to read the divine words in Arabic and learn its meaning but do dua in your own language. Those who perform Salat hastily and make long dua later are ignorant of the truth.

Salat is a time for dua. Pray a lot in Salat.

[Al Hakam, May 24, 1901]

Khalifatul Masih V (ATBA) answers the question “Why do we not raise our hands and pray like the other [non-Ahmadi] Muslims?“

As for those of your Pakistani friends or any others that raise their hands after prayer, ask them: did the Holy Prophet (sa) pray in this manner after the Salat?

This is not proven from the practice of the Holy Prophet (sa) that he would raise his hands to pray after Salat. Salat in itself is a prayer. The essence of worship is Salat. This is what has been mentioned in a Hadith. The most fundamental and basic aspect of prayer is Salat.

If we do not pray in Salat, then the Promised Messiah (as) has written that it is the equivalent of visiting a king, sitting down in his royal court, and when he asks “what do you require?,” one remains quiet and after that returns, or sits down and says things in a manner whereby they do not understand the request themselves, but then when they come out of his royal court, the person raises their hands and says “Your royal highness, please grant me such and such thing”. Is there any logic in this?

Therefore we pray in Salat, and whatever we wish to ask of Allah the Almighty, we ask for it in Salat. Praying afterwards is the same as abstaining from asking about one’s actual request and then enquiring about it after one has left.

This is something that one’s intellect cannot accept. For this reason we do not pray [after Salat] and nor is it proven from the practice of the Holy Prophet (sa) that he would raise his hands after Salat to pray.

We adopt those practices that were carried out by the Holy Prophet (sa). If the Holy Prophet (sa) raised his hands after Salat [to pray] then we would have done the same. However, reason rejects this practice altogether.

[Virtual Mulaqat, Nasirat Germany, 2023]