Is the du’aa’ of Witr obligatory, and what should a person say if he cannot memorize it?

I have noticed that it takes me time to learn a certain dua or surah
by heart .i know that dua -e -qunood is farz in 3 witr prayer of the
isha prayer...i always used to read some other surah instead of this
dua as i didnot know the dua by heart but i recently found out that it
is farz so i triedto learn the dua but it is taking me time...so for
several days i have been doing this that when i do 3 witr , in the
third rakah iread from a book which i pick up from the side table
during the prayer..i still face the qiblah when ipick it up, infact i
do not have to move to pick it up....i want to know if thatis allowed
that u read a surah or dua from a book during the prayer.
Praise be to Allaah.
1 – There is noting wrong with reading the du'aa' of Qunoot from a
piece of paper or a booklet in Witrprayer until one is able to
memorize it, after which you can stop reading it and can recite it
from memory. It is also permissible to recite Qur'aan from the Mus-haf
during naafil prayers for those who have not memorized a lot of
Qur'aan.
Shaykh Ibn Baaz was asked about the ruling on reading Qur'aan from the
Mus-haf in Taraaweeh prayer, and what the evidence is for that from
the Qur'aan and Sunnah.
He replied:
There is nothing wrong with reading from the Mus-haf when praying at
night during Ramadaan because that will enable the believers to hear
all ofthe Qur'aan. And because the evidence of sharee'ah from the
Qur'aan and Sunnah indicates that it is prescribed to recite Qur'aan
in prayer, which includes both reading it from the Mus-haf and
reciting it by heart. It was narrated from 'Aa'ishah (may Allaah be
pleased with her) that she told herfreed slave Dhakwaan to lead her in
praying night prayers during Ramadaan,and he used to read from the
Mus-haf. This was narrated by al-Bukhaari (may Allaah have mercy on
him) in his Saheeh, in amu'allaq majzoom report.
Fataawa Islamiyyah, 2/155
2 – It is not obligatory for the du'aa' of Qunoot to bein the words
narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him);
rather it is permissible for the worshipper to say other words or to
add to them. Even if he were to recite verses from the Qur'aan that
include words of supplication, that would be sufficient. Al-Nawawi
(may Allaah have mercy on him) said: Note that there is no specific
du'aa' for Qunoot according to the preferred point of view. Any du'aa'
that is said will serve as Qunoot, even if one recites a verse or
verses from the Qur'aan that include words of supplication, thiswill
count as Qunoot, but it is better to recite the words that were
narrated in the Sunnah.
Al-Adhkaar al-Nawawiyyah, p. 50
3 – As for what the brother mentions about reciting Qur'aan instead
ofthe du'aa' of Qunoot, there is no doubt that he should not do this,
because the purpose behind Qunoot is du'aa' orsupplication. Hence if
these verses include words of supplication, it ispermissible to recite
themas Qunoot, for example, the verse in which Allaah says
(interpretation of themeaning):
"Our Lord! Let not our hearts deviate (from the truth) after You have
guided us, and grant us mercy from You. Truly, You are the Bestower"
[Aal 'Imraan 3:8]
4 – With regard to what the brother says about Qunoot being
obligatory, this is not correct, becauseQunoot is Sunnah. Based on
this, if a worshipper omits Qunoot, his prayer is still valid.
Shaykh Ibn Baaz (may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked about
theruling on reciting the du'aa' of Qunoot in Witr during the nights
of Ramadaan, and whether it is permissible to omit it.
He replied:
Qunoot is Sunnah in Witr and if a person omits it sometimes, there is
nothing wrong with that.
And he was asked about aperson who always recites Qunoot in Witr every
night – was that narrated from our forebears (the salaf)?
He replied:
There is nothing wrong with that, rather it is Sunnah, because when
the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) taught
al-Husayn ibn 'Ali (may Allaah be pleased with him) to say Qunoot in
Witr, he did not tell him to omit it sometimes or todo it all the
time. This indicates that either is permissible. Hence it was narrated
that when Ubayyibn Ka'b (may Allaah be pleased with him) led the
Sahaabah in prayer in the Mosque of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him), he used to omit Qunoot some
nights;perhaps that was in order to teach the people that itis not
obligatory. And Allaah is the Source of strength.
Fataawa Islamiyyah, 2/159.

If he missed something at the beginning of Taraweeh, how can he make it up?

If I enter the mosque late for 'Isha' prayer and I missed the 'Isha'
prayer incongregation and I pray iton my own, and I am late in joining
the Taraweeh prayers because of doing 'Isha', and I miss two rak'ahs
of Taraweeh, how should I do these two rak'ahs? Alone or what?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
If you miss 'Isha' and you arrive when the imam is praying Taraweeh,
it is better for you to join him with the intention of praying 'Isha'.
When he says the salaam, you should complete your prayer and not pray
aloneor with another jamaa'ah (congregation), so that there will not
be two jamaa'ahs at the same time, which may lead to distraction due
to the intermingling of voices.
Secondly:
As for what you have missed of Taraweeh, if you wish you may do it, so
you may pray two rak'ahs when the imam prays Witr, then pray what you
missed, then pray Witr.
What is meant by prayingtwo rak'ahs when the imam prays Witr is that
you do not say salaam with him when he ends his Witr, rather you
should stand up and pray another rak'ah, then say the salaam.
Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked: If I
join the people when theyare praying Taraweeh andI have missed part of
it, should I make up what I have missed after Witr or what should I
do?
He replied: Do not make up what you have missed after Witr, rather if
you want to make up what you have missed, then pray two rak'ahs when
the imam prays Witr, thenoffer the prayers you missed, then pray Witr.
Here there is an issue to which attention should bedrawn: If you
arrive whenthe imam is praying Taraweeh and you did notpray 'Isha'
yet, what should you do? Should you pray 'Isha' on your own or join
the imam in Taraweeh with the intention of praying 'Isha'?
The answer is that you should join the imam in Taraweeh with the
intention of praying 'Isha'.When the imam says salaam from Taraweeh,
then stand up and make up the rest of 'Isha'. ImamAhmad (may Allaah
have mercy on him) mentionedthe exact same issue, and this was also
the view favoured by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah, and this is the
correct view, because the correct view is that it is permissible to
offer an obligatory prayer in congregation behind an imam who is
offering a naafil prayer, based on the evidence of the hadeeth of
Mu'aadh ibn Jabal (may Allaah be pleased with him) who said that he
used to pray 'Isha' with the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him), then he would go back to his people and lead them in
offering that prayer – it was naafil for him and obligatory for them.
End quote from al-Liqa' al-Shahri.
It is better for you to make it up in congregation if you can, but if
that is not possible then there is nothing wrong with you making itup
on your own.
And Allaah knows best.

Making Taraweeh prayer lengthy

An imam leads people in taraweeh prayer and recites one page each
raka'ah, which may equal 15 verses. Some people say he prolongs
reciting, and some say the opposite. What is known from the Sunnah
regarding taraweeh prayer? Is there a way to know if it is long or not
according to the Sunnah?.
Praise be to Allaah.
It is proven in al-Saheeh that the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) used to pray eleven rak'ahs at night in Ramadaan
and at other times, but he would makethe recitation and other
essential parts of the prayer so long that on one occasion he recited
more than five juz' (sipara) in a single rak'ah, reciting slowly and
carefully.
And it is proven that he would get up halfway through the night, or
shortly before or after that, and he would carry on praying until it
was close to dawn, so he would pray thirteen rak'ahs in approximately
five hours. This requires making the recitation andother essential
parts of the prayer lengthy.
And it is proven that when 'Umar united the Sahaabah in praying
Taraweeh, they would pray twenty rak'ahs, reciting approximately
thirty verses of al-Baqarahin each rak'ah, i.e., roughlyfour or five
pages, so theywould recite Soorat al-Baqarah in eight rak'ahs, and if
they recitedit in twelve rak'ahs they would think that it was short.
This is the Sunnah in Taraweeh prayer: if the recitation is kept short
then the number of rak'ahs is increased to forty-one rak'ahs, as
someof the imams said. If a person wants to limit himself to eleven
rak'ahs or thirteen rak'ahs, then he should lengthen the recitation
and other essential parts of the prayer. There is no set number for
Taraweeh prayer, rather what is required is to pray in the time that
will enable you to attain tranquillity and not rush, no less than an
hour or so. Whoever thinks that this is too longis going against what
has been narrated and no attention should be paid to him.

Can we join ‘Isha and Taraaweeh together with Maghrib in Ramadaan if it is raining?

If it is raining at the time of Maghrib in Ramadaan, should we not
join Maghrib and 'Ishaa', or can we join Maghrib and 'Ishaa' and delay
Taraaweeh?
We put this question to Shaykh 'Abd al-'Azeez ibn Baaz (may Allaah
have mercy on him), who replied:
The matter is flexible, in sha Allaah. Putting the prayers together
(in this case) may make the people miss out on a lot of benefits.
And Allaah knows best.
Shaykh 'Abd al-'Azeez ibn Baaz (may Allaah have mercy on him)