❖ Five Evidences and Sharʿi Rulings Regarding Qunoot in Witr
Source: Fatāwā ʿIlmiyyah, Volume 1, Kitāb al-Ṣalāh, Page 413
❖ Question:
Should the Qunoot in Witr prayer be recited before bowing (rukūʿ) while raising the hands? What is the Sharʿi evidence on this matter?
(Asked by: A questioner)
❖ Answer:
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu was-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh. Ammā baʿd:
✦ Evidence for Reciting Qunoot Before Rukūʿ
A narration from Sayyidunā Ubayy ibn Kaʿb رضي الله عنه states:
“وَيَقْنُتُ قَبْلَ الرُّكُوعِ“
i.e., the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ would recite Qunoot in Witr before bowing (rukūʿ).
📚 Sunan al-Nasāʾī, Vol. 3, p. 235, Ḥadīth: 1700
📚 Sunan Ibn Mājah: 1182
✔ This ḥadīth is ṣaḥīḥ because Fṭr ibn Khalīfah corroborated Sufyān al-Thawrī in its chain.
See: Sunan al-Dāraqutnī, Vol. 2, p. 31, Ḥadīth: 16449
This narration was also transmitted by al-Ḍiyāʾ al-Maqdisī in al-Mukhtārah.
Hence, the preferred opinion is:
❀ Qunoot of Witr should be recited before rukūʿ.
As clarified by the author in his book:
“Hadiyyat al-Muslimīn fī Jamʿ al-Arbaʿīn min Ṣalāt Khātam al-Nabiyyīn ﷺ”
(Forty Authentic Aḥādīth on Prayer, p. 58, Ḥadīth 28)
✦ The Narration for Reciting Qunoot After Rukūʿ and Its Status
A narration appears in:
📚 Al-Sunan al-Kubrā by al-Bayhaqī (Vol. 3, pp. 38–39)
📚 Al-Mustadrak by al-Ḥākim (Vol. 3, p. 172)
“إذا رفعت رأسي ولم یبق إلا السجود“
“When I raised my head and nothing remained but prostration.”
✘ This narration is weak, due to the presence of the narrator:
Al-Faḍl ibn Muḥammad al-Musayyib al-Shaʿrānī
Although Ḥākim declared him trustworthy, other scholars deemed him weak:
- Al-Ḥusayn ibn Muḥammad al-Qatbānī labeled him a liar (kadhdhāb)
- Ibn Ḥazm stated:
“Truthful but extreme in Shīʿism.”
(Lisān al-Mīzān, Vol. 4, p. 448, Entry 1368) - Abū Ḥātim said:
“He was spoken against.”
(Al-Jarḥ wa al-Taʿdīl, Vol. 7, p. 92, Entry 11937)
❀ Thus, the criticism upon him is predominant (rājiḥ).
✦ Another Report on Qunoot in Witr and Its Analysis
Ibn Mandah narrated the same report from al-Faḍl ibn Muḥammad al-Musayyib in the following words:
“إني أقول إذا فرغت من قراءتي في الوتر“
📚 Al-Tawḥīd by Ibn Mandah, Vol. 2, p. 191
❀ The chain up to al-Faḍl is authentic.
Even this version clearly shows that Qunoot of Witr is recited before rukūʿ.
Another narrator in the chain:
Abū Bakr ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Shaybah
— has also been spoken against.
See: Tahdhīb al-Kamāl, Vol. 11, p. 284
In Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, he has only two narrations, both used only in corroborations (mutābaʿāt).
❀ Imām al-Bukhārī did not use them as evidence.
(Hadiyyat al-Sārī, Introduction to Fatḥ al-Bārī, p. 418)
❖ Summary of Findings
✔ The narration about reciting Qunoot after rukūʿ is weak in chain.
✔ The only sound basis for post-rukūʿ Qunoot exists in Qunoot Nāzilah, not Witr.
✦ Ruling on Raising Hands in Qunoot of Witr
There is no explicit ṣaḥīḥ ḥadīth mentioning raising the hands during Qunoot in Witr.
✔ Therefore, it is preferable not to raise the hands during Qunoot of Witr.
❀ However, if a person raises hands based on general evidences of duʿāʾ, then:
✔ It is also permissible.
وَاللهُ أَعْلَمُ بِالصَّوَابِ
This is what I hold; and Allāh knows best what is correct.
