the apparent command in his (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) statement: "So perform it" indicates the obligation of the witr prayer, and this is the opinion of the Ḥanafīs, contrary to the majority. If it were not for the conclusive evidence establishing that the obligatory prayers each day and night are limited to five, the Ḥanafī opinion would be closer to correctness. Therefore, it must be said that the command here is not for obligation, but to emphasize its recommendation. There are many noble commands that have been diverted from obligation by evidence less conclusive than these, and the Ḥanafīs have avoided this by saying that they do not claim that witr is obligatory like the five prayers, but it is an intermediary between them and the sunnah prayers, weaker in establishment than these, but stronger in emphasis than those! It should be known that this Ḥanafī opinion is based on a specific, novel terminology of theirs, unknown to the Companions and the pious predecessors, which is their distinction between obligatory and necessary in terms of establishment and recompense as detailed in their books. And their statement implies the admission that one who abandons witr will be punished on the Day of Judgment with a punishment less than that of abandoning an obligatory prayer, as is their view in their ijtihād. At that point, it is said to them: How can this be correct with his (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) statement to the one who resolved not to pray other than the five prayers: "The man has succeeded"?! How can success coincide with punishment?! There is no doubt that his (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) statement alone is sufficient to clarify that the witr prayer is not obligatory, and for this reason, the majority of scholars agreed on its being sunnah and not obligatory, and this is the truth. We say this while reminding and advising to pay attention to witr and not to neglect it due to this ḥadīth and others. And Allāh knows best.