Mu'jam al-Saghir

Hadith Commentary:
Vocabulary of the Hadith:
Qunoot:
Prayer (salah),
Standing (qiyam),
Humility and submissiveness (khushu‘ wa khudu‘),
Incapacity and humility,
Silence and quietness,
Supplication (du‘a) and obedience and compliance,
It is used for all these meanings, and all these meanings are present in prayer. Here, by consensus, its meaning is standing (qiyam).
That is, to prolong the recitation,
Because without lengthy recitation, the standing cannot be prolonged.

Hadith Commentary: Benefits and Issues: There is no narration regarding the supplication of Qunoot in Witr according to the conditions of the author, which is why the Imam did not mention the supplication of Qunoot.

The position of the four Imams is as follows: According to Imam Malik rahimahullah, there is no Qunoot in Witr. According to the remaining three Imams, Qunoot is part of Witr. According to Imam Abu Hanifah rahimahullah, it is throughout the entire year, and this is also one of the statements of Imam Ahmad rahimahullah. According to Imam Shafi‘i rahimahullah, it is in the last half of Ramadan, because Ubayy ibn Ka‘b radi Allahu anhu used to perform Qunoot in Witr only in the last half of Ramadan when he began leading the Tarawih prayer by the order of ‘Umar radi Allahu anhu. The second statement of Imam Ahmad rahimahullah is also this.

According to Imam Shafi‘i rahimahullah and Imam Ahmad rahimahullah, the time and place for Qunoot is after the bowing (ruku‘), because in other prayers Qunoot is performed after ruku‘. According to the Hanafis, Qunoot is before ruku‘. If all the hadiths are considered together, it becomes clear that in Witr, both options are permissible: one may recite it before ruku‘ or after ruku‘.

1:
This hadith indicates that prolonging the standing (qiyam) is superior to increasing the number of bowings (ruku) and prostrations (sujud). A group of scholars, among whom is Imam Shafi'i, have also adopted this view, and this is the correct position. The hadiths that mention the virtue of ruku and sujud are not contrary to this, because the virtue of these two does not necessitate their superiority over prolonging the standing. It should be noted that this pertains to voluntary (nafl) prayers, because, firstly, the units (rak‘ahs) of obligatory (fard) prayers are fixed, and secondly, the imam has been instructed to lead a light (not lengthy) prayer.

Benefit:
In this hadith, the virtue of lengthy recitation and martyrdom is mentioned, and also the charity that a poor person earns through hard labor, and from that meager compensation, whatever he gives in the way of Allah, Allah Ta’ala will make that handful of charity into the mountain of Uhud on the Day of Judgment. And the charity of a wealthy person, even if it amounts to millions of rupees but is given with an incorrect intention, will be surpassed by the charity of the poor person. Whatever is available, even if it is just a piece of a date, one should give it in charity.