what is witr prayer

Witr prayer is an Islamic prayer that is performed at night after Isha (night- time prayer) or before fajr (dawn prayer). It is not obligatory but highly recommended. Witr has an odd number of raka'at prayed in pairs, with the final raka'ah prayed separately. Therefore, as little as one raka'ah can be prayed, and eleven at most. The prayer can be performed anytime after Isha until the time for Fajr prayer. One may choose to pray one, three, five, seven, or nine Rak’ahs. In Witr prayers, recite Suratul Fatihah and some other verses from the Qur’an. Before or after Rukoo’ of the last Rak’ah raise your hands high up to the level of the shoulders and recite Du’a al-Qunut. The literal meaning of witr is "chord of a circle". It is called so because by offering the odd raka'at of witr as the last prayer of the night, a chord is created by pairing these two un-paired raka'ats of each of the maghrib's and witr's.