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Fatwa CenterThe intention when joining Shaf’ and Witr as three continuous rak‘ahs
Question
What should be my intention when performing the Witr prayer as three continuous rak‘ahs (units of prayer)? Should I intend performing the Shaf‘ and Witr or intend the three continuous rak‘ahs to be just witr?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
The Sunnah of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is to perform the night prayers in twos. Ibn ‘Umar 
reported that a man came to the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, while he was delivering a speech. The man asked, “How is the night prayer performed?” The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, replied, “It should be performed in twos. If you fear that the morning prayer is near, then pray one rak‘ah and it will be the Witr for all the previous rak‘ahs.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
It is disliked - according to the Maliki school of Fiqh - to join the Shaf’ and Witr prayers (i.e. perform them as three continuous rak‘ahs), as clarified by the Maliki scholar, Khaleel 
.
According to the Shafi‘i and Hanbali scholars, it is better to perform a two-rak‘ah Shaf’ prayer and then the Witr prayer. As for the Hanafi scholars, the correct opinion is to join the Shaf’ and Witr prayers and perform them as three continuous rak‘ahs. You may consult Al-Mawsoo‘ah Al-Fiqhiyah (i.e. the Kuwaiti Encyclopedia of Islamic Jurisprudence), Al-Mughni and other relevant books.
Therefore, it is better to perform two rak‘ahs as Shaf’, proclaim tasleem (i.e. concluding the prayer by saying ‘assalaamu alaykum’) and then perform a one-rak‘ah Witr prayer. This is the opinion of the majority of Muslim scholars. However, it is also allowable to perform three continuous rak'ahs with the intention to perform the Shaf’ and Witr prayers, but it is disliked by the Maliki scholars, as underlined previously.
If a worshipper wants to perform three continuous rak'ahs with the intention of performing the Witr prayer, then there is no harm in this as well. Umm Salamah 
reported that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, used to perform five or seven rak‘ahs as Witr with only one tasleem.” [An-Nasa'i, Ibn Majah and Ahmad]
Ibn Qudamah said in his book, Al-Mughni:
The opinion that is chosen by Imam Ibn Hanbal is to perform two rak‘ahs as Shaf', proclaim tasleem and then perform a one-rak‘ah Witr prayer. According to my opinion, it is allowable for a worshipper to perform three continuous rak'ahs with one tasleem at the end.
Allah knows best.
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