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 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 (Bukhary 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 like 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.
Written
by
Haitham al-Haddad
14th
Safar 1423 April 26th 2003
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