What tahajjud, witr and salat al-layl refer to

Question

Are tahajjud and witr one prayer or two separate prayers? From looking at various hadiths it appears that the term “witr” is sometimes applied to tahajjud and to every night vigil (qiyam al-layl), while many other narrations indicate that witr and tahajjud are distinct. Furthermore, it is established from the Prophet ﷺ that he performed tarawih and the night prayer (salat al-layl) in congregation in the nights after Ramadan (?), as mentioned in Majmu'at al-Fatawa and elsewhere.

Answer

Witr and tahajjud are two separate prayers. For witr, a special emphasis has come in the noble hadith. The term “salat al-layl” (night prayer), in one sense, may correctly be applied to any prayer performed at night: the fard, sunna and nafl of maghrib, and the fard, sunna, witr and nafl of 'isha', and tahajjud — it is correct to call all of these salat al-layl.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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