What Is the Ruling on the Qunut for the Fajr Prayer?

All praise be to Allah, and prayers and peace be upon Our Master Muhammad ﷺ, the Messenger of God, his family, his Companions, and those who followed him.

The sunnahs that are performed during the prayer are divided into two types, Ab’aad and Hay’aat.

The Ab’aad are everything that if neglected call for the prostration of forgetfulness at the end of the prayer.

The Hay’aat are those things that don’t require the prostration of forgetfulness if neglected.

And from the Ab’aad is the Qunut when standing after the rukuh of the second rakah in the Fajr prayer, and the last rakah of the Witr prayer in the second half of Ramadan.

The Sunnah for the morning prayer is to do the Qunut in the second rakah, due to what Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) has narrated, that the Prophet ﷺ did the Qunut for a month, making dua against them, then he left it. And as for the morning prayer, he continued doing the Qunut until he left the dunya. Bukhari narrated this Hadith (number 956), and Muslim (677).

The Qunut is done after rising from bowing, as it has been reported that Anas was asked, “Did the Messenger of Allah ﷺ recite the Qunut in the morning prayer?” He said, “yes”, “and it was said before bowing or after it?” He said, “after bowing.”

And the sunnah is to say:

اللَّهُمَّ اهْدِنِي فِيمَنْ هَدَيْتَ وَعَافَنِي فِيمَنْ عَافَيْتَ وَتَوَلَّنِي فِيمَنْ تَوَلَّيْتَ وَبَارِكْ لِي فِيمَا أَعْطَيْتَ وَقِنِي شَرَّ مَا قَضَيْتَ إنَّكَ تَقْضِي وَلا يُقْضَى عَلَيْكَ إنَّهُ لا يَذِلُّ مَنْ وَالَيْتَ تَبَارَكْتَ وَتَعَالَيْتَ

Allahum-ahdinee fi man hadayta wa Aafinee fi man Aafayta wa tawalani fi man tawalayta wa baarik li fi maa Aa’tayta Waqini Shara Ma Qadayta innaka taqdee wa la Yuqdaa alayka innahu la yazilu man wa layta tabarakta wa ta’alayta

And it is recommended to send salawaat on the Prophet ﷺ after the dua for what has been reported in the Hadith of Al Hassan may Allah be well pleased with him on Al Witr that he said:

تَبَارَكْتَ وَتَعَالَيْتَ وَصَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ وَسَلَّمَI

Atabarakta wa ta’alayta wa Sallallahu ala al Nabi wa sallam

It is recommended for the one praying behind the imam to say “Ameen” after the dua, according to what Ibn Abbas narrated (may Allah be well pleased with both father and son), that he said, the Messenger of Allah did the Qunut and those behind him said ameen.

And it is recommended to participate with the imam in his praising Allah, as it is not correct to say ameen to this; thus, participating in this is better.

And the Qunut has tremendous good and sublime blessings in it, as a person begins his day with Al Dhikr, and taking refuge in Allah and praising Him, may Allah accept our prayers and duas.

Al-Majmoo’ Sharh Al-Muhadhdhab 3/492-511. Systematic jurisprudence on the doctrine of Imam Shafi’i, may God Almighty have mercy on him.

[Shaykh] Mohammad Fayez Awad