Du’a al⁠-⁠ Qunut

It is prescribed in the Witr prayer after the ruku’ (bowing), according to the more correct of the two scholarly opinions.

If a calamity (nazilah) befalls the Muslims , it is prescribed to say Du’a al- Qunut after standing up from ruku’ in the last rak’ah of each of the five daily obligatory prayers, until Allah relieves the Muslims of that calamity. (See Tashih al-Du’a by Shaykh Bakr Abu Zayd, p. 460).

The worshipper should raise his hands to chest height and no more , because this du’a is not a du’a of supplication in which a person needs to raise his hands high. Rather it is a du’a of hope in which a person holds out his palms towards heaven… The apparent meaning of the scholar’s words is that the worshipper should hold his hands close together like a beggar who asks someone else to give him something.

It was narrated from ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to say at the end of Witr:

“Allahumma inni a’udhu bi ridaka min sakhatika wa bi mu’afatika min ‘uqubatika wa a’udhu bika minka, la uhsi thanaan ‘alayka anta kama athnayta ‘ala nafsika (O Allah, I seek refuge in Your pleasure from Your wrath and in Your forgiveness from Your punishment. I cannot praise You enough; You are as You have praised Yourself.” (Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 1727; classed as sahih by al-Albani in al-Irwa, 430; Sahih Abi Dawud, 1282).

Then he should send blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) as it was narrated that some of the Sahabah (may Allah be pleased with them) – including Ubayy ibn Ka’b and Mu’adh al-Ansary (may Allah be pleased with them) – did that at the end of Qunut al-Witr. (See Tashih al-Du’a by Shaykh Bakr Abu Zayd, p. 460).

When praying Qunut at the time of calamity , one should make supplication as is appropriate to the situation, as it was narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) cursed some Arab tribes who had betrayed his Companions and killed them, and he prayed for the weak and oppressed believers in Makkah, that Allah would save them. It was narrated that ‘Umar prayed Qunut with the following words:

“Allahumma inna nasta’inuka wa numinu bika, wa natawakkalu ‘alayka wa nuthni ‘alayka al-khayr, wa la nakfuruka. Allahumma iyyaaka na’budu wa laka nusalli wa nasjudu, wa ilayka nas’a wa nahfid. Narju rahmataka wa nakhsha ‘adhabaka, inna ‘adhabaka al-jadd bil kuffari mulhaq. Allahumma ‘adhdhib il-kafarata ahl al-kitab alladhina yasudduna ‘an sabilika

(O Allah, verily we seek Your help, we believe in You, we put our trust in You and we praise You and we are not ungrateful to You. O Allah, You alone we worship and to You we pray and prostrate, for Your sake we strive. We hope for Your mercy and fear Your punishment, for Your punishment will certainly reach the disbelievers. O Allah, punish the infidels of the People of the Book who are preventing others from following Your way).” (Narrated by al-Bayhaqi, 2/210; classed as sahih by al-Albani in al-Irwa, 2/170. Al-Albani said: This was reported from ‘Umar concerning Qunut in Fajr, and it seems that this Qunut is Qunut al-Nazilah (Qunut at times of calamity) as is indicated by his praying against the kuffar).