Q: 1. Is Witr salaah a part of Esha salaah?
2. If one does not pray witr salaah,will his 4 farz of Esha be valid? I had heard that if one does not pray witr wajib his Esha salaah will not be acceped.
3. If one has not prayed witr salaah for a long time will he have to do qaza of only witr wajib or both 4 farz and witr wajib?
A: 1) Witr salaah is part of Eshaa and is waajib in the Hanafi math-hab.
2) If one did not read the waajib witr, the Eshaa salaah is still valid. Not reading the witr does not affect or nullify the faradh or the sunnats of Esha.
3) If one did not read witr for many days, he must make qadha for all the witr missed. But there is no need to make qadha of the faradh of eshaa. The Eshaa is valid. One only needs to make qadh of the witr salaah.
Mufti Siraj Desai