Syed Ahmed Owais, USA
As we experience the blessed month of Ramadan once again, the majority of us will be offering the witr prayer at the mosque in congregation. During this holy month of heightened worship, many might harbour a natural curiosity or confusion as to why we conclude our night with this specific three-rak’ah prayer. Why not two or four? What is the significance of this uneven number?
Through detailed research into Islamic jurisprudence, the Holy Quran and the profound spiritual insights provided by the Holy Prophetsa, the Promised Messiahas and the Khulafa, a magnificent philosophy emerges. Islam is a religion of absolute wisdom where nothing is left to chance. Every posture, every word and indeed every number holds a deep divine secret.
A significant insight
Recently, I saw a video of Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaa, who was drawing our attention to a fascinating jurisprudential and spiritual reality regarding our daily prayers. Huzooraa noted that the total number of farz (obligatory) rak’ah in a day – two for Fajr, four for Zuhr, four for Asr, three for Maghrib and four for Isha – totals exactly 17. (“This Week with Huzoor – Jalsa Salana UK 2025 Special,” MTA News, www.youtube.com)
Seventeen is an odd number. Furthermore, Huzooraa explained that Allah introduced the witr prayer (which literally translates to “odd”) at the end of the night. The wisdom behind this is that after offering all our sunnah and nawafil (voluntary) prayers, which are generally offered in sets of two (even numbers), we cap them off with an odd number. This makes the grand total of our voluntary worship odd, perfectly mirroring the odd number of our obligatory prayers.
The emphasis on odd numbers
But this brings us to a profound, overarching question: Why is there such a divine emphasis on the “odd” number?
The Holy Prophetsa explicitly provided the answer to this question:
“Verily, Allah is witr (Odd/Single), and He loves the witr (the Odd).” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab ad-da‘awat, Hadith 6410)
When we examine our Islamic customs, this mathematical pattern is omnipresent. During Hajj or Umrah, we perform tawaf (circumambulation) around the Ka‘bah exactly seven times. We perform sa‘i between Safa and Marwa seven times. When we throw pebbles at the jamarat, we throw seven pebbles. When we raise our hands for extra takbiraat in the Eid prayers, we do so an odd number of times.
To understand the unifying philosophy behind this numerical jurisprudence, we must turn to the Holy Quran. In Surah al-Fajr, Allah the Almighty takes a magnificent oath:
“And [by] the Even and the Odd.” (Surah al-Fajr, Ch.89: V.4)
To extract the nectar of this verse, we look towards the spiritual insights of the Promised Messiahas and the classical scholars of Islam. The common denominator behind all these injunctions is the grand concept of tawhid – the absolute, indivisible Oneness of God.
A divine distinction
In Islamic philosophy, the “even” (shaf‘) represents the creation. Allah states in the Holy Quran:
“And of everything have We created pairs, that you may reflect.” (Surah adh-Dhariyat, Ch.51: V.50)
Everything in this universe is dependent on a counterpart. We observe day and night, male and female, positive and negative, life and death, body and soul. Mathematically, an “even” number can be perfectly divided into two halves. It represents duality and dependency. It is the hallmark of the creation, which cannot exist without its partner or its Creator.
The “odd” (witr), however, represents the Creator. God does not have a pair. He does not have a partner. He is Ahad – indivisible and unique. If you try to divide an odd number equally, you cannot do it without breaking it into fractions. It refuses to be split into two equal, independent halves. It possesses a solid, indivisible core.
Therefore, when the Holy Prophetsa states that Allah is witr and He loves the witr, he is teaching us a profound theological reality. Allah is the Indivisible One and He loves for our actions to reflect His Oneness.
Let us connect the dots of our jurisprudence. Why do we pray 17 farz rak’ah? Because 17 is not just an odd number; it is a prime number – indivisible, standing alone, much like the decree of Allah.
Why did the Holy Prophetsa command us to end our night prayers with witr?
The Promised Messiahas explains in his writings that Islam desires the zahir (outer physical form) to perfectly reflect the batin (inner spiritual reality). (Noah’s Ark [Kashti-e-Nuh], 2018, pp. 19-20)
Throughout the day, we live in the “even” world. We interact with our families, manage our businesses and navigate the dualities of joy and sorrow. However, when the night falls and a believer stands on their prayer mat, they leave the world of pairs behind. They pray their nawafil in twos, but at the very end, they must offer the witr.
By adding that odd number, the believer places the seal of divine oneness upon their entire night’s worship. They physically and mathematically declare to their Lord that while they live in a world of pairs, their ultimate return and devotion is entirely to the One.
This is the exact same logic behind the rituals of Hajj. As a pilgrim revolves around the House of God, their physical body traces a circle. The number seven ensures that they do not end in a number of duality. They end their rotation on an odd number to declare that at the centre of the universe, there is only One God.
This is the magnificent beauty of Islamic jurisprudence. It is not merely a set of arbitrary rules but a harmonious spiritual symphony. The philosophy uniting the 17 farz prayers, the witr of the night, the seven circuits of tawaf and the verse “And the Even and the Odd,” is tawhid.
Conclusion
Allah has structured our worship in odd numbers so that our physical bodies, our tongues and the very mathematics of our daily lives are constantly singing the song of His Oneness.
He desires to pull our minds away from the shaf‘ – the distracting multiplicities and pairs of this temporary world – and anchor our souls to the witr: the Single, Unique and Everlasting Lord of the worlds.
As we stand in the mosque this Ramadan to offer our witr prayers, may we internalise this profound reality. May we not just pray the witr, but may our hearts become singularly devoted to the One True God, completely free from all worldly partners.