The Supplication of ‘Qunut’

Introduction

Requests have previously been received to cover and outline the differing views that have arisen with regards to the supplication of Qunūt.  Admittedly, there is quite wide disagreement among the scholars and the established legal schools about the nature, wording and performance of the Qunūt, such as whether it is recited in a specific prayer or not even at all.  Elsewhere we have covered issues relating to the prayer more generally and the Witr specifically, in the current compendium of issues.  To ease navigation and perusal of what is quite a lengthy discussion as it appears in al-Muḥalla, we’ve added sub-headers by theme as well as providing referencing where applicable.

Issue 459 the Qunūt

The Qunūt is a good deed, after rising from rukū (bowing) at the last rak’at of every obligatory prayer – (such as) in the dawn prayer and other than it, and in the Witr.[1]  So whoever left it, he has nothing to do with that.  It is that which is said after pronouncing (from rukū) ‘Rabbanā lakal ḥamd,’ and saying:

اللَّهُمَّ اهْدِنِي فِيمَنْ هَدَيْتَ وَعَافِنِي فِيمَنْ عَافَيْتَ وَتَوَلَّنِي فِيمَنْ تَوَلَّيْتَ وَبَارِكْ لِي فِيمَا أَعْطَيْتَ وَقِنِي شَرَّ مَا قَضَيْتَ إِنَّكَ تَقْضِي وَلاَ يُقْضَى عَلَيْكَ وَإِنَّهُ لاَ يَذِلُّ مَنْ وَالَيْتَ تَبَارَكْتَ رَبَّنَا وَتَعَالَيْتَ

O Allah, guide me among those whom You have guided, pardon me among those You have pardoned, turn to me in friendship among those on whom You have turned in friendship, and bless me in what You have bestowed, and save me from the evil of what You have decreed. For verily You decree and none can influence You; and he is not humiliated whom You have befriended. Blessed are You, O Lord, and Exalted.[2]

And he can make du’ā for whomever he wants, and call them by their names if he likes.  If he says that before rukū his prayer is not invalidated by that.  As for the Sunnah, what (is it that) we have mentioned?

Evidential basis

حدثنا عبد الله بن ربيع ثنا محمد بن معاوية ثنا أحمد بن شعيب أنا عبيد الله بن سعيد عن عبد الرحمن بن مهدي ثنا سفيان الثوري، وشعبة قالا: ثنا عمرو بن مرة عن عبد الرحمن بن أبي ليلى عن البراء بن عازب أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم كان يقنت في الصبح والمغرب

Abdullah ibn Rabih’ narrated it to us Muḥammad ibn Mu’āwiya narrated to us Aḥmad ibn Shu’ayb narrated to us Ubaydallah ibn Sa’eed reported to us from Abdar-Raḥman ibn Mahdi, Sufyan al-Thawri and Shu’ba narrated to us they said, ‘Amr ibn Murra narrated to us from Abdar-Raḥman ibn Abi Layla from al-Barā’ ibn ‘Aāzib that the Messenger of Allah peace be upon him was observing the Qunūt in the morning and evening (prayers).[3]

حدثنا حمام ثنا عباس بن أصبغ ثنا محمد بن عبد الملك بن أيمن ثنا أحمد بن محمد البرتي القاضي ثنا أبو معمر ثنا عبد الوارث هو ابن سعيد التنوري عن هشام بن أبي عبد الله الدستوائي عن يحيى بن أبي كثير عن أبي سلمة بن عبد الرحمن بن عوف عن أبي هريرة قال والله إني لأقربكم صلاة برسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم فكان أبو هريرة يقنت في الركعة الآخرة من صلاة الظهر، وصلاة العشاء الآخرة وصلاة الصبح، بعدما يقول: سمع الله لمن حمده، فيدعو للمؤمنين ويلعن الكفار؟ وقال أبو هريرة كان رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم إذا قال سمع الله لمن حمده، في الركعة الآخرة من صلاة العشاء قنت فقال: اللهم نج الوليد بن الوليد، اللهم نج سلمة بن هشام، اللهم نج عياش بن أبي ربيعة، اللهم نج المستضعفين من المؤمنين

Ḥammām narrated to us ‘Abbās ibn Aṣbagh narrated to us Muḥammad ibn Abdal-Malik ibn Ayman narrated to us Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Burati al-Qāḍi narrated to us Abu Ma’mar narrated to us Abdul-Wārith, he is Ibn Sa’eed al-Tanuri, narrated to us from Hishām ibn Abi Abdullah al-Distawāee’ from Yaḥya ibn Abi Kathir from Abi Salamah ibn Abdar-Raḥman ibn ‘Auf from Abu Hurayrah, he said: ‘No doubt, my prayer is similar to that of the Messenger of Allah peace be upon him.’ Abu Hurayrah used to recite Qunūt after saying Sami’ Allahu-liman Ḥamida in the last rak’at of the Zuhr, Isha and Fajr prayers. He would ask Allah’s forgiveness for the believers and curse the disbelievers.  And Abu Hurayrah said: ‘When the Messenger of Allah peace be upon him said, Sami’ Allahu-liman Ḥamida in the last rak’at of the Esha prayer, he used to invoke Allah, saying, O Allah! Save ‘Ayāsh ibn Abi Rabia’, O Allah! Save al-Waleed ibn al-Waleed; O Allah! Save the weak people among the believers.’[4]

حدثنا حمام بن أحمد ثنا عباس بن أصبغ ثنا محمد بن عبد الملك بن أيمن ثنا أبو عبد الله الكابلي ثنا إبراهيم بن موسى الرازي أنا محمد بن أنس عن مطرف عن أبي الجهم عن البراء بن عازب أن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم كان لا يصلي صلاة إلا قنت فيها

Ḥammām ibn Aḥmad narrated to us ‘Abbās ibn Aṣbagh narrated to us Muḥammad ibn Abdal-Malik ibn Ayman narrated to us Abu Abdullah al-Kābuli narrated to us Ibrāhim ibn Musa al-Rāzi narrated to us Muḥammad ibn ibn Anas reported to us from Muṭṭarif from Abi al-Jahm from al-Barā’ ibn ‘Aāzib that the Prophet peace be upon him did not pray a prayer except that it had the Qunūt in it.

حدثنا عبد الله بن ربيع ثنا محمد بن معاوية ثنا أحمد بن شعيب أنا قتيبة بن سعيد ثنا حماد هو ابن زيد عن أيوب السختياني عن محمد بن سيرين أن أنس بن مالك سئل: هل قنت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم في صلاة الصبح؟ قال: نعم، قيل له: قبل الركوع أو بعده؟ قال بعد الركوع

Abdullah ibn Rabih’ narrated it to us Muḥammad ibn Mu’āwiya narrated to us Aḥmad ibn Shu’ayb narrated to us Qutayba ibn Sa’eed reported to us Ḥammād, he is Ibn Zayd, narrated to us from Ayub al-Sakhtiyāni from Muḥammad ibn Sireen that Anas ibn Mālik was asked ‘Did the Messenger of Allah peace be upon him say the Qunūt in the morning prayer?’  He said: ‘Yes.’  He was asked: ‘Was that before rukū or after?’ He said: ‘After rukū.’[5]

Ali (Ibn Ḥazm) said: This is all the text of what we say, praise be to Allah.  If it has been said, it was narrated from Anas that he was asked about the Qunūt: before the rukū or after it?  So he said, before the rukū.  (In reply) we say: rather, Anas gave this report in relation to the rulers of his time, not from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him.  Similar to how he was also asked about some of the matters pertaining to Ḥajj, and was informed of the actions of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, thereafter he said: ‘Do as your rulers do.’  This is from Anas, either taqiyya or his opinion, and yet there is no authority in anyone after the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him.

Additional reporting lines

As for those after the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, we narrated from Yaḥya ibn Sa’eed al-Qahṭān: al-‘Awwām ibn Ḥamza narrated to us he said: ‘I asked Abu ‘Uthmān al-Nahdi about the Qunūt in the morning prayer.’  He said: ‘After the rukū.’  And I said (and it is) from whom?’  He said, ‘From Abu Bakr, Umar and Uthmān.’[6]  And also narrated by Shu’ba from ‘Aāṣim al-Aḥwal from Abu Uthmān al-Nahdi that Umar ibn al- Khaṭṭāb was doing the Qunūt after the rukū.  (And did not) Abu Uthmān al-Nahdi witness Abu Bakr, Umar and Uthmān?[7] 

From the channel of al-Bukhāri from Musaddad from Ismā’il ibn ‘Ulaya, Khālid ibn al-Ḥadthā’ reported to us from Abi Qilābah from Anas, he said ‘the Qunūt was in (the prayers of) Fajr and Maghrib.’[8]  From the channel of Sufyān al-Thawri from Salamah ibn Kuhayl from Abdullah ibn Ma’qil that Ali ibn Abi Ṭālib did the Qunūt in al-Maghrib after the Rak’at and he supplicated against some people.  From Ma’mar from Ayub from Ibn Sireen: That ‘Ubay ibn Ka’b did the Qunūt in the Witr after the rukū.  Narrated also from ‘Alqamah and al-Aswad: that Mu’āwiyah did the Qunūt in the prayer and also narrated from Ibn ‘Abbās: ‘the Qunūt is after the rukū.’

These are the Imām’s of guidance: Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthmān, Ali and Mu’āwiyah,[9] and with them, Ubay and Ibn ‘Abbās.  Some people went to the (extreme) that forbade the Qunūt, as what has been narrated from Abu Mālik al-Ash’aji from his father that he said ‘I prayed behind the Messenger of Allah peace be upon him and didn’t say the Qunūt, and I prayed behind Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthmān and Ali and they did not say the Qunūt – O my child, it is a bid’ah (innovation).’[10]  From ‘Alqamah and al-‘Aswad they said: ‘We prayed with Umar ibn al- Khaṭṭāb for a long time and he didn’t do the Qunūt.’[11]

And from al-Aswad ibn Yazeed, he said Ibn Mas’ud did not do the Qunūt in the morning prayer. From Ibrāhim al-Nakh’ai from Abi al-Sha’shā he said: ‘I asked Ibn Umar about the Qunūt in Fajr, so he said I didn’t feel anyone was doing it.’  From Mālik from Nāfi’ that Ibn Umar did not say the Qunūt in the Fajr (prayer) and narrated from Ibn ‘Abbās that he didn’t do the Qunūt.  From Sufyān ibn ‘Uyayna from Ibn Abi Najiḥ, he said: ‘I asked Sālim ibn Abdullah ibn Umar, was Umar ibn al- Khaṭṭāb doing the Qunūt in the morning prayer?’  He said: ‘No, it is something the people have invented.’  From Abdar-Razzāq from Ma’mar from al-Zuhri, that he used to say: ‘Where did the people take the Qunūt from?  It is amazing that the Messenger of Allah peace and blessings be upon him did the Qunūt for several days, then left that?’[12]

Ali (Ibn Ḥazm) said: Yaḥya ibn Yaḥya al-Laythi and Baqi ibn Makhlad were (of the view) that they haven’t seen the Qunūt performed in their mosques of Cordoba (Spain) up until now.  Ali said: As for the reported narrations from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthmān, Ali and Ibn ‘Abbās, may Allah be pleased with all of them, that they did not perform it, there is no proof in any of that, (including to argue for the) prohibition of the Qunūt, because it is authentically reported from all of them that they did the Qunūt and all of that is Ṣaḥīḥ.  They undertook the Qunūt and they left it, both are indeed permissible.  Allah the Exalted mentioned the Qunūt and it is a good deed; leaving it is permissible as it is not obligatory, but it is virtuous.

As for the saying of Abu Mālik al-Ash’aji concerning his father that it is a bid’ah, he did not know of this matter.  The one who knows of it affirms it more than the one who does not know it, and the proof is with the one who has knowledge, not with the one who is ignorant of it.  As for (the viewpoint of) Ibn Mas’ud, it is not reported by him that he considered the matter to be disliked or that he forbade it.  Rather, what has been mentioned is that he was not reciting the Qunūt in the Fajr prayer only, and this is permissible.  The Qunūt (was done) by others from among the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them.

As for (the viewpoint of) Ibn Umar, he did not know of this matter, just as he didn’t know about the ruling concerning masḥa (wiping, sic. as in wiping over the socks), but that doesn’t invalidate the knowledge of those who did know of it.  Concerning al-Zuhri, he was unaware of the Qunūt, viewing the matter as being Mansukh (abrogated), as has been authentically reported from him through that reporting line of transmission (which mentions that) the zakāt for cows is a male/female calf a year old for every thirty, and a cow for every forty (head of flock) – Mansukh.  And that the zakat is similar to that of the zakāt due upon camels.  If al-Zuhri’s viewpoint about the abrogation of Qunūt is considered authoritative, then it must also be authoritative in the abrogation of the zakāt for cattle.  But if his viewpoint is not a valid proof in that matter, then it is not a valid proof here either.  Indeed it is astonishing that the Mālikees and the detractors use Ibn Umar’s opinion as evidence when it aligns with their own practice, yet find it easy here to oppose Ibn Umar, his son Sālim, and al-Zuhri, who were from the scholars of Madina.  It is also astonishing that some use Sālim’s statement, ‘the people innovated it,’ as proof for abandoning Qunūt, while at the same time accepting as authoritative the statement of someone who said: ‘People substituted two mudds of wheat for one ṣāʿ of barley in the zakāt of al-fiṭr.’  This is all false ruling within matters of Deen.

And they said: ‘If Qunūt were a Sunnah, it would not have been hidden from Ibn Mas‘ud or from Ibn Umar.’  We say in reply: The practice of placing the hands on the knees during rukū was hidden from Ibn Mas‘ud, who persisted in the practice of taṭbīq (placing one hand between the other arm and thigh) until he died. And the ruling of masḥal-khufayn (wiping over the socks), was hidden from Ibn Umar, yet they did not consider that a valid argument.  So why, then, should the Qunūt being unknown to them be taken as proof?  Indeed, this is truly astonishing and a form of playing with the Deen.  Moreover, the Qunūt is something that could easily be unknown, for it is a quiet supplication connected to the standing after rukū only those who ask about it would know it. It is not an obligation such that everyone must know it.  How then, when Ibn Umar did in fact know of it, as we shall mention later, and Ibn Mas‘ud never denied it?

Some of the people said, the evidence regarding the abrogation of the Qunūt is what has been narrated from the channel of Ma’mar from al-Zuhri from Sālim ibn Abdullah from his father,[13] that he heard the Messenger of Allah peace and blessings be upon him when he raised his head in the last rak’at of the morning prayer, say: ‘O Allah, curse so-and-so and so-and-so,’ supplicating against some of the munāfiqeen (hypocrites). Then Allah the Mighty and Sublime revealed:

ليس لك من الأمر شيء أو يتوب عليهم أو يعذبهم فإنهم ظالمون

Whether Allah relents towards them or punishes them is not for you [Prophet] to decide they are wrongdoers.[14]

Ali (Ibn Ḥazm) said: This is a substantive proof concerning the Qunūt because there is no prohibition in relation to this.  Thus, this is an argument to demonstrate the falsity of the statement from those who claimed that Ibn Umar was ignorant of the Qunūt.  It is possible that Ibn Umar only objected to the Qunūt in the Fajr prayer before the rukū, and that is indeed a point open to objection. The various reports about him agree on this and this interpretation is preferable so that his words are not taken as being in contradiction to what has been authentically established from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him.  As for this particular narration, it merely conveys that the matter belongs to Allah Almighty, not to His Messenger peace and blessings be upon him and that those accursed people might be granted repentance by Allah, or that in His prior knowledge He knew they would later believe and nothing more.

Hardship and war

Some have argued that the Qunūt is only undertaken in times of warfare.  They cited as evidence what we have narrated from the channel of Ibn al-Mujālid from his father from Ibrāhim al-Nakha’i from ‘Alqamah and al-Aswad both of whom said that ‘the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, did not make the Qunūt in any of the prayers except when he was at war, for he would make Qunūt in all of the prayers. Neither Abu Bakr, nor Umar, or Uthmān did the Qunūt until they died.  Nor did Ali perform Qunūt until he fought the people of al-Shām (the Levant) then he performed Qunūt in all of the prayers.  Muʿāwiyah also performed Qunūt, each of them supplicating against the other.’

Ali (Ibn Ḥazm) said: There is no proof contained within it because it is a mursal channel to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and proof is not established by the mursal (report).[15]  Within the report it says that Abu Bakr, Umar and Uthmān did not perform Qunūt, yet there are more authentic reports establishing that they did perform it. The same applies to Ali and Muʿāwiyah.  And even if this report were sound, it does not include any prohibition of Qunūt outside times of warfare so, in fact, it would support our viewpoint.  But we are already sufficiently supported by the authentic evidence we have mentioned earlier, and all praise be to Allah the Almighty.

The legal schools

As for Abu Ḥanifah and those who make taqleed to him, they said: Qunūt is not to be performed in any of the prayers at all, except in the Witr, in which it is performed before rukū throughout the year. Thus, whoever omits the Qunūt in it, let him perform the two prostrations of forgetfulness.  As for Mālik and al-Shāfi’i, they said: ‘One should not perform the Qunūt in any of the obligatory prayers except in the Fajr prayer specifically.’[16] Mālik said: ‘Before rukū,’ and al-Shāfi’i said ‘After the rukū.’  He also said: ‘If a nāzila (calamity) befalls the Muslims – recite the Qunūt in all prayers, but not in the Witr, except in the night of the middle of Ramāḍan specifically (and then) after the rukū.’

Concerning the viewpoint of Abu Ḥanifah, we didn’t find this stemming from any of the Ṣaḥābah, namely, the notion of a prohibition of the Qunūt in any of the prayers except for Witr, for the Qunūt is performed in it and whoever leaves it is to perform the prostration of forgetfulness.  Similarly, for the viewpoint of Mālik in which he had specified the dawn prayer alone for the Qunūt.  We didn’t find this being reported from any of the Ṣaḥābah, nor from any of the Tābi’een.  The distinction made by al-Shāfi’i between Qunūt in the dawn prayer and it being done in the other prayers, this is among the matters in which they have opposed everything that has been transmitted under this matter from the Ṣaḥābah, may Allah be pleased with them.  This is despite their own (purported) censure of anyone who opposes even part of a narration from a Ṣaḥābi regarding a Sunnah that has been authentically established from the Messenger of Allah peace and blessings be upon him.

Ali (Ibn Ḥazm) said: And our viewpoint is that of the viewpoint of Sufyān al-Thawri.  It was narrated on the authority of Ibn Abi Layla: ‘I would not pray behind someone who doesn’t make the Qunūt,’ and that he used to make the Qunūt in the dawn prayer before rukū.  And from al-Layth (ibn Sa’d), it is reported that he disliked Qunūt altogether.  Yet it is also narrated from him that he used to perform Qunūt in the dawn prayer. And from Ashhab, it is reported that he abandoned Qunūt entirely.

Ali (Ibn Ḥazm) said: As for those who hold that Qunūt should be performed before the rukū, they have mentioned an athar (report) which we have transmitted through the channel of Yazeed ibn Zureeh’ from Sa’eed ibn Abi ‘Aruba from Qatādah from ‘Azra from Ibn Abza.  Ali (Ibn Ḥazm) said: ‘Azra is not a strong narrator.[17]

The Qunūt in Witr prayer

Regarding another report about Qunūt in Witr from the ḥadith of Ḥafṣ ibn Ghayāth, it was said that he erred in it, for what is firmly established is that the Qunūt is after the rukū, as we have mentioned.  The one who performs Qunūt before the rukū, he has not performed the preferred form, and his prayer is not invalidated, because he has remembered Allah the Almighty.  As for the Qunūt in Witr prayer:

فإن عبد الله بن ربيع حدثنا قال ثنا عمر بن عبد الملك ثنا محمد بن بكر ثنا أبو داود ثنا قتيبة بن سعيد وأحمد بن جواس الحنفي قالا: ثنا أبو الأحوص عن أبي إسحاق السبيعي عن بريد بن أبي مريم عن أبي الحوراء هو ربيعة بن شيبان السعدي قال قال الحسن بن علي علمني رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم كلمات أقولهن في الوتر قال ابن جواس في روايته: في قنوت الوتر ثم اتفقا: اللهم اهدني فيمن هديت، وعافني فيمن عافيت، وتولني فيمن توليت، وبارك لي فيما أعطيت، وقني شر ما قضيت، إنك تقضي ولا يقضى عليك، وإنه لا يذل من واليت تباركت ربنا وتعاليت

Abdullah ibn Rabeeh’ narrated to us he said Umar ibn ‘Abd al-Malik narrated to us Muḥammad ibn Bakr narrated to us Abu Dāwud narrated to us Qutayba ibn Sa’eed and Aḥmad ibn Jawwās al-Ḥanafi narrated to us, they said Abul’Ahwas narrated to us from Abu Isḥāq from Burayd ibn Abi Maryam from Abul’Ḥawra, he is Rabeeh’ ibn Shaybān al-Sa’di he said al-Ḥasan ibn Ali: The Messenger of Allah peace be upon him taught me some words that I say during the Witr. (In the channel of Ibn Jawwās it has): ‘I say them in the supplication of the Witr.’) They were: O Allah, guide me among those whom You have guided, pardon me among those You have pardoned, turn to me in friendship among those on whom You have turned in friendship, and bless me in what You have bestowed, and save me from the evil of what You have decreed. For verily You decree and none can influence You; and he is not humiliated whom You have befriended. Blessed are You, O Lord, and Exalted.[18]

Ali (Ibn Ḥazm) said: Qunūt is the remembrance of Allah, the Almighty and duʿā, therefore, we love it.  And although this narration is not of the type that can be used as definitive proof, we have found nothing else reported from the Messenger of Allah peace and blessings be upon him regarding this.[19]

Ahmad ibn Hanbal, may Allah have mercy upon him said: ‘A ḍaef (weak) hadith is more preferred to us than Ra’i (mere opinion).’  Ali (Ibn Ḥazm) said: And we say this too.  It has been mentioned from Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, that that he performed Qunūt in a manner different from this, and yet a musnad report is more beloved to us.  If it is said: ‘Umar would not have said it unless he had it from the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him,’ we say unto them – that which is definitively established in the narration as being from the Prophet, peace be upon him, is more authoritative than that which is merely attributed to him by way of conjecture or guesswork, which Allah the Exalted and His Messenger have forbidden.  So, if you say: ‘It is not conjecture,’ then include in your narration the statement that it is musnad.  So (go on and) say: ‘From Umar from the Prophet.’  If you do, then you have lied, and if you refuse, then you have confirmed that it is from you that you have said something against the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, based upon conjecture, about which Allah the Exalted said:

إن الظن لا يغني من الحق شيئا

Conjecture can be of no value at all against the truth.[20]

With regards to mentioning names within the du’ā, we have (previously) mentioned that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him did that, as is narrated:

حدثنا عبد الله بن يوسف ثنا أحمد بن فتح ثنا عبد الوهاب بن عيسى ثنا أحمد بن محمد ثنا أحمد بن علي ثنا مسلم بن الحجاج ثنا أبو الطاهر وحرملة بن يحيى قالا: أخبرنا ابن وهب أخبرني يونس بن يزيد عن ابن شهاب أخبرني سعيد بن المسيب وأبو سلمة بن عبد الرحمن أنهما سمعا أبا هريرة يقول كان رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يقول حين يفرغ من صلاة الفجر من القراءة ويكبر ويرفع رأسه: سمع الله لمن حمده، ربنا ولك الحمد ثم يقول وهو قائم: اللهم أنج الوليد بن الوليد، وسلمة بن هشام، وعياش بن أبي ربيعة والمستضعفين من المؤمنين اللهم اشدد وطأتك على مضر واجعلها عليهم سنين كسني يوسف، اللهم العن لحيان، ورعلا، وذكوان وعصية، عصت الله ورسوله ثم بلغنا أنه ترك ذلك لما أنزل الله تعالى ليس لك من الأمر شيء أو يتوب عليهم أو يعذبهم فإنهم ظالمون

Abdullah ibn Yusuf narrated to us Aḥmad ibn Fatḥ narrated to us Abdul-Wahāb ibn Esa narrated to us Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad narrated to us Aḥmad ibn Ali narrated to us Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj narrated to us Abul’Tāhir and Ḥarmala ibn Yaḥya narrated to us, they said Ibn Wahb reported to us, Yunus ibn Yazeed reported to me from Ibn Shihāb, Sa’eed ibn al-Mussayib and Abu Salamah ibn Abdar-Raḥman reported to me that they heard Abu Hurayrah saying: (When) Allah’s Messenger peace be upon him wished to invoke a curse or blessing on someone, he would do so at the end of the recitation in the dawn prayer, when he had pronounced Takbir and then lifted his head (saying): ‘Sami’ Allahu-liman Ḥamida: Rabbanā lakal ḥamd,’ he would then stand up and say: ‘Rescue al-Waleed ibn. Waleed, Salama ibn Hishām, and ‘Ayyāsh ibn Abd Rabi’a, and the helpless among the believers. O Allah!  Trample severely Muḍar and cause them a famine (akin to the time) of Joseph. O Allah!  Curse Liḥyān, Ri’l, Dhakwān, ‘Usayya, for they disobeyed Allah and His Messenger.’  (The narrator then adds): The news reached us that he abandoned (this) when this verse was revealed: Whether Allah relents towards them or punishes them is not for you [Prophet] to decide they are wrongdoers.[21]

And with the isnād to Muslim:

وبه إلى مسلم ثنا محمد بن محمد بن مهران الرازي ثنا الوليد بن مسلم ثنا الأوزاعي عن يحيى بن أبي كثير عن أبي سلمة بن عبد الرحمن أن أبا هريرة حدثهم أن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قنت بعد الركعة في صلاة شهرا، إذا قال: سمع الله لمن حمده يقول في قنوته: اللهم نج الوليد بن الوليد، اللهم نج سلمة بن هشام، اللهم نج عياش بن أبي ربيعة، اللهم نج المستضعفين من المؤمنين، اللهم اشدد وطأتك على مضر، اللهم اجعلها عليهم سنين كسني يوسف؟ قال أبو هريرة: ثم رأيت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ترك الدعاء بعد، فقلت أرى رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قد ترك الدعاء ؟ فقيل: وما تراهم قدموا

Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ibn Mihran al-Rāzi narrated to us al-Walid ibn Muslim narrated to us al-Awzā’i narrated to us from Yaḥya ibn Abi Kathir from Abu Salamah ibn Abdar-Raḥman, that Abu Hurayrah narrated to them that the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him recited Qunūt after rukū in prayer for one month at the time of reciting (these words): ‘Sami’ Allahu-liman Ḥamida,’ and he said in the Qunūt: ‘O Allah! rescue al-Waleed ibn al-Waleed; O Allah! rescue Salama ibn Hishām; O Allah! rescue ‘Ayyāsh ibn Abu Rabi’a; O Allah! rescue the helpless amongst the Muslims; O Allah!  Trample Muḍar severely; O Allah! Cause them a famine like that (which was caused at the time) of Joseph.’  Abu Hurayrah (further) said: I saw that the Messenger of Allah peace be upon him afterwards abandoned this du’ā.  I therefore said: ‘I see the Messenger of Allah peace be upon him abandoning this blessing upon them.’ It was said to him (Abu Hurayrah): Don’t you see that (those for who was blessing invoked by the Prophet) have come (i. e. they have been rescued)?

Ali (Ibn Ḥazm) said: He only left the du’ā because they had come (to pass).  The people have differed upon this.  It was narrated upon the authority of Ibn Mas’ud that he said: ‘Carry your needs upon the prescribed obligations.’[22]  And from ‘Amr ibn Dinār and other than him, from among the Tabi’ of the people of Mecca: ‘There is no prayer in which I make duʿā’ for my need that is more beloved to me than the prescribed (i.e. obligated prayer).’  And from al-Ḥasan al-Baṣri: ‘Supplicate in the farḍ (prayers) whatever you want.’  And from ‘Urwa ibn al-Zubayr, that he was saying in his sujud: ‘O Allah, forgive al-Zubayr ibn al ‘Awwām and Asma bint Abu Bakr.’  And it is said by Ibn Jurayj, al-Shāfi’i, Mālik, Dāwud and others.  We narrated from ‘Aṭā, Ṭāwus and Mujāhid, that there wasn’t a duā’ in the obligatory prescribed prayers for anything at all.  From ‘Aṭā: ‘Whoever supplicates in his prayer for a person, calling him by name, his prayer is invalidated.’  From Ibn Sireen: ‘There’s no duā’ in the prayer except with what is in the Qur’ān.’  Abu Ḥanifah took the view that whoever names a person his prayer, calling by his name, his prayer would be invalidated.  Then he increased to the extreme by saying – ‘whoever sneezed during his prayer and said ‘praise be to Allah, Lord of all creation;’ by moving his tongue this would invalidate his prayer.  And there is no duā’ in the prayer except by way of what is in the Qur’ān.’

Ali (Ibn Ḥazm) said: This is contrary to what is in the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, when he made duā’ for a people that he named, and he never made that prohibited and whoever supplicates as such like that has lied (in his viewpoint)?  Some of the people had objected to that with his saying, peace be upon him ‘Indeed, in this prayer it is not suitable for any speech of mankind.’[23]  Ali (Ibn Ḥazm) said: There is no proof for them in this, because this prohibition relates to those engaged in prayer from speaking to others.

Concerning the matter of du’ā – supplicating, it is a speech that is directed towards Allah the Exalted, otherwise, reading is the speech of people.  And it is authentically reported from the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him that he forbade a person praying from reciting the Qur’ān while in sujūd (prostration), and he commanded making duā’ in sujūd.  Hence Abu Ḥanifah’s viewpoint is invalidated.  It is also established that it is not permissible to make duā’ in sujūd using words from the Qur’ān if one intends by them recitation. And it is authentically reported from the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him that he said, after the tashahhud: ‘Then let one of you choose whatever duā’ he likes best and recite it.’[24] This is a matter in which Abu Ḥanifah opposed Ibn Masʿud, and we don’t know of any Saḥābi who disagreed with Ibn Mas’ud over this, may Allah be pleased with them all.

Endnotes

[1] Ibn Ḥazm al-Muḥalla [Vol. 3, pp. 54 / 64 (Dar al-Kotob al-Ilmiyah, Beirut, 2010 ed)].  Deriving from the trilateral root of [ق/ ن/ ت], the Qunūt is a supplication often expressed in English as being ‘obedience with humility,’ undertaken during the prayer.  Various word forms appear from that trilateral root in the Qur’ānic text, for example at [3: 43] and [4: 34], rendering the means of being obedient, submissive, humble and devout.  See: Elsaid M. Badawi and Muhammad Abdel Haleem (2008), Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’anic Usage, (Brill: Leiden), [pp. 776/777].

[2] The wording is taken from the narration found in the Sunan of al-Nasā’i (chapter on making du’ā in Witr) narrated by Ḥasan ibn Ali.  Other scholars too have included it in their collections, such as al-Bayhaqy Sunan al-Kubra [Vol. 2, no. 3138/3139].  Also the preferred wording as per al-Shāfi’i and Isḥāq, Malik’s preference was with the wording ‘Allāhumma innā nasta’īnuka, wa nastaghfiruka, wa nu’minu bika,’ [اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّا نَسْتَعِينُكَ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُكَ وَنَسْتَهْدِيكَ وَنُؤْمِنُ بِكَ] etc., as recorded in the Muṣṣanaf collections of Ibn Abi Shayba and Abdar-Razzāq [see: Ibn Rushd Bidāyatul Mujtahid, Vol. 1, p. 141 (Shamela edition)].

[3] Sunan of al-Nasā’i (chapter on clasping hands together).  The narration is also recorded by Muslim in his Ṣaḥīḥ and al-Tirmidhi amongst others.

[4] Recorded throughout the corpus of aḥādith.  Cited in the Ṣaḥīḥ collections of al-Bukhāri and Muslim, as well as in the Sunan of Abu Dāwud and Sunan al-Kubra of al-Bayhaqy.

[5] Recorded in Sunan al-Nasā’i as well as Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim.

[6] al-Bayhaqy Sunan al-Kubra [Vol. 2, no. 3108], commenting thereafter that the isnād is ḥasan.

[7] Ibn Sa’d has a detailed entry on Abu Uthmān al-Nahdi in al-Ṭabaqāt al-Kubra [Vol. 7, pp. 97/98], noting that his name was Abdar-Raḥman ibn Mull; he was alive in the time of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, but didn’t see him.  He was thiqa (trustworthy), having met and narrated from several senior Companions.  Although initially residing in Kufa, he died in Basra at the beginning of the governorship of al-Ḥajjāj.  In al-Taqreeb [p. 393, no. 4017], al-Ḥāfiz records he was thiqa thabt (resolutely trustworthy) being from the senior Tabi’een.  He died in the year 95AH.  He provided an eye witness account as to the depictions of the idols that the Arabs had worshipped, namely Wadd’, Suwā’ Yaghuth, Ya’uq, and Nasr.

[8] Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhāri (book of Witr)

[9] This is a very nasty mistake made by Ibn Ḥazm here, compounded by the evidences that do not include Mu’āwiyah among the Khilafah Rashida – the rightly guided Caliphs, not to mention the explicit Prophetic statements in relation to the ‘Fi al-Baghiya’ and killing ‘Ammār ibn Yassar.

[10] Narrated in the Sunan collections of al-Tirmidhi, al-Bayhaqy and al-Nasā’i.

[11] Versions of this are found in the Muṣṣanaf Abdar-Razzāq [Vol. 3, no. 4947, chapter on Qunūt]

[12] Ibid. [no. 4945]

[13] The narration is recorded in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhāri, but also found in the Sunan collections like that of al-Nasā’i.

[14] Qur’ān, 3: 128

[15] al-Muḥalla [Issue 93, Vol. 1, pp. 72/74]

[16] The Muwaṭṭā’ of Mālik doesn’t contain any set of the narrations upon the matter of Qunūt.  The only one appearing in the book relating to the shortening of prayers is: ‘Yaḥya narrated to me from Mālik from Nāfi that Abdullah ibn Umar did not say Qunūt in any of the prayers.’  In the Muwaṭṭā’ of Imām Muḥammad, al-Shaybāni he cites a narration specifying that it wasn’t in the dawn prayer, thereafter saying ‘We adhere to this, it is the viewpoint of Abu Ḥanifah.’

[17] Abu Dāwud mentions this channel in his Sunan in the chapter of the Qunūt in Witr after presenting a narration from Ali ibn Abi Ṭālib on what he would recite at the end of the Witr by way of du’ā.

[18] As per endnote (1).  Ibn Ḥajar also cites this too in Bulūgh al-Marām, noting that it is recorded across many collections including that of Aḥmad, Abu Dāwud, al-Tirmidhi and others, arguing that it is Ṣaḥīḥ.

[19] It does seem that Ibn Ḥazm doesn’t necessarily regard the narration per se as meeting his exacting standards.  In his Sunan, al-Tirmidhi seems to echoe this point too.  After citing the tradition of Ḥasan ibn Ali he says: ‘This is a ḥasan ḥadith. We only know it from this pathway, from the ḥadith of Abu al-Ḥawrā’ al-Sa’di, whose name was Rabi’a ibn Shaybān. We do not know of anything from the Prophet, peace be upon him about the Qunūt in Witr prayer that is better than this.’  .

[20] Qur’ān, 10: 36

[21] Qur’ān, 3: 128

[22] Recorded by al-Suyuṭi in Jāmi’ al-Kabir [Vol. 15, no. 13748 (print edition)] and by al-Ṭabarāni in Mu’jam al-Kabir [Vol. 9, no. 9388].

[23] This is a small excerpt taken from the ḥadith recorded in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim narrated by Mu’āwiyah ibn al-Ḥakam (book of mosques) in which he recounts the incident where someone had sneezed during the prayer and he replied; thereafter, the Prophet peace be upon him outlined that talking of such nature is not valid within the prescribed prayers.

[24] This is established and narrated across the corpus of aḥādith, appearing in the collections of Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhāri, Abu Dāwud, al-Nasā’i and many others.