Etiquettes of the Qunoot
Islamic Knowledge
Feature Articles of the Month
Etiquettes of the Qunoot
Authentic Dua of the Prophet
(May Allah’s Peace be Upon Him)
By Shaykh Haitham Al-Haddad

All praise is due to Allah,
the One who hears the secret and whispered speech,
and provides relief from calamity and misfortune.
Peace and blessings be upon the Chosen Prophet,
his family and all of his Companions.
The tremendous suffering that
our Muslim brothers in Iraq,
Afghanistan and in many countries around the world
are facing makes it an obligation
on all the Muslims to support them
in any way they can.
Amongst the most important obligations
in this regard that the Muslims must do
to support their brothers is to make Du'a;
this being one of the most potent means of
repressing calamity.
One of the forms of Du'a is 'Qunoot',
of whose rules and mannerisms the following
is a brief explanation.
1) What is meant here by Qunoot
is supplication to Allah,
Mighty and Magnificent,
to relieve a calamity that has afflicted
a group of Muslims.

2) The main evidence for this Qunoot is the
Qunoot of the Prophet Muhammad
(May Allah's Peace be Upon Him)
for one full month,
when he supplicated against some Arab tribes
who had betrayed and killed the
Qur'an reciters that the Prophet
(May Allah's Peace be Upon Him)
had sent to them.
Similarly he (may Allah's Peace be Upon Him)
supplicated that Allah save some of his
Companions from the plots of the Quraysh.
Both these narrations are found in the
two famous authentic books
(Bukhari and Muslims).
Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him)
reported that whenever the Prophet
(may Allah's Peace be Upon Him)
wanted to supplicate against someone,
or for someone,
after he (May Allah's Peace be Upon Him)
would stand up from ruku, he would say,
"Allah hears him who praises Him,
to you is the praise",

he would then say:

"Oh Allah, save Al-Walid ibn Al-Walid,
Salamah ibn Hashim,
Iyash ibn Abi Rab'iah,
and the oppressed believers.
Oh Allah,
put hardship and pressure on the tribe of
Mudar and give them years of famine l
ike those during the time of Yusuf."
He would say this aloud.
In some of his
(May Allah's Peace be Upon Him) prayers,
the fajr prayer, he would say:
"Oh Allah, curse so and so",
cursing some tribes of Arabs
until Allah revealed:
"Not for you is the decision whether
He turns in mercy to (pardon)
them or punish them;
they are the evildoers."

3) Qunoot takes place after ruku in the last rak'ah of
all the obligatory prayers,
whether the prayer is silent or loud prayer
when performed in Jama'ah.
There is no harm if it be confined only to the
loud prayers since there is no specific evidence
concerning this,
as such the matter is flexible.

4) Qunoot can commence with supplicating
against the oppressors without mentioning
the praises of Allah and there is no harm in this,
indeed it seems to be closer to the literal
understanding of the practice of
the Prophet (May Allah's Peace be Upon Him)
in the ahadith previously mentioned.
Were one to commence with praising Allah,
there is no harm in this due to the generality of his
(May Allah's Peace be Upon Him) saying,
"If anyone makes du'a,
let him start with praising Allah,
then invoking salah on the Prophet,
then supplicating for what he wishes."

The same applies to invoking salah upon
the Prophet (may Allah's Peace be Upon Him):
the matter is flexible.

5) We should not start this Qunoot by using the
Qunoot of Witr which is:
"Allahumma ihdina fiman hadayt.",
because this, assuming that it is
authentically reported for the Qunoot of Witr,
is mentioned in a specific context
and not a general way.
The Qunoot for calamity is a completely
different situation and different mannerisms
are reported for it.

6) It is recommended to limit the du'a
to the calamity and not to prolong it
by mentioning other things,
this in compliance to the practice
of the Prophet (May Allah's Peace be Upon Him).

7) Du'a should be pronounced loudly by the Imam,
and those who follow him should respond
by saying“aamin” after those statements
that contain request.

8) When the Imam praises or glorifies Allah,
Mighty and Magnificent,
those who follow him should keep quiet,
not saying aamin, Ya Allah, Subhanaka, or the likes.
More than one of the follower (Tabi'in)
and Legal jurists have textually stated this.

9) If the specific calamity passes,
the Imam should stop performing this Qunoot
in the prayers.

10) You must follow the Imam
whom you pray behind when he makes Qunoot,
even if you don't agree with this opinion.
This is because following the Imam
in that which does invalidate
the prayer is obligatory.
Qunoot in the view of those
who do not allow it does not invalidate the prayer;
the difference is whether
it is a Sunnah or not.

11) We advise the Muslims to leave off going
to extremities in the Qunoot by beautifying it
with poetic words.
We should try to employ the supplications
of the Messenger (may Allah's Peace be Upon Him)
which were concise and comprehensive.

12) We must make supplication sincerely
and reflect on its meaning in our heart.
This is the means for it to be answered by Allah.
The Prophet (may Allah's Peace be Upon Him) said:
"Know that Allah will not answer a supplication
arising from negligent and heedless heart."

We ask Allah (alone) by His Beautiful Names
and Lofty Attributes to remove the Muslim
calamity in every place.
He is the One able to do so,
the All-Capable.
This is what comes to mind here.
Peace and Blessings be upon our Prophet, Muhammad,
upon his family and all his Companions.