What is the Witr prayer and how is it performed?

The Witr prayer is a three-unit (rak‘ah) obligatory (wajib) prayer performed after the ‘Isha (night) prayer according to the Hanafi school. In each rak‘ah of the Witr prayer, al-Fatiha and then a surah or several verses are recited. At the end of the second rak‘ah, one sits and recites only the tashahhud (tahiyyat) supplication. In the third rak‘ah, after completing the recitation (al-Fatiha and then a surah or several verses), the hands are raised to the ears and takbir is said; after folding the hands, the qunut supplications are recited. This obligatory prayer can be performed at any time after the ‘Isha prayer until the time for the Fajr (dawn) prayer begins (see Abu Dawud, Tafrī‘ abwāb al-witr, 1 [1418]; Ibn al-Humam, Fath al-Qadīr, 1/423-426).

It is more virtuous for someone who is confident they will wake up to perform the Witr prayer at the end of the night, that is, shortly before the time of imsak (pre-dawn) (Muslim, Salat al-Musafirin, 162-163 [755]). However, for someone who is unsure if they will wake up, it is appropriate to perform the Witr prayer before sleeping. If the Witr prayer is missed at its time, it is obligatory to make it up later (Ibn al-Humam, Fath al-Qadīr, 1/426). According to other schools of thought, performing the Witr prayer is considered a Sunnah (Ibn Qudamah, al-Mughni, 2/117).

Source: T.C. Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı, Din İşleri Yüksek Kurulu