ONE HADITH A DAY
Sahih Muslim no. 1763
حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ الْمُثَنَّى، حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ جَعْفَرٍ، حَدَّثَنَا شُعْبَةُ، قَالَ سَمِعْتُ عُقْبَةَ بْنَ حُرَيْثٍ، قَالَ سَمِعْتُ ابْنَ عُمَرَ، يُحَدِّثُ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ " صَلاَةُ اللَّيْلِ مَثْنَى مَثْنَى فَإِذَا رَأَيْتَ أَنَّ الصُّبْحَ يُدْرِكُكَ فَأَوْتِرْ بِوَاحِدَةٍ " . فَقِيلَ لاِبْنِ عُمَرَ مَا مَثْنَى مَثْنَى قَالَ أَنْ يُسَلِّمَ فِي كُلِّ رَكْعَتَيْنِ .
“Ibn 'Umar reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying:The night prayer consists of pairs and when you see the approach of dawn, make this number odd by one rak'ah. It was said to Ibn 'Umar: What does the (word) pair imply? He said: (It means) that salutation is uttered after every two rak'ahs”