📚 Source: Fatāwā ʿIlmiyyah, Vol. 3 – Issues Related to Ṣalāh, p. 121
Question
In Witr prayer, after the Qunūt duʿāʾ (اللَّهُمَّ اهْدِنِي فِيمَنْ هَدَيْتَ…), is it permissible to make other supplications — whether Qurʾānic, Sunnah-based, or personal — as is sometimes done by the Imām of the Ḥaram?
(From a female questioner)
Answer
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu wa-s-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh. Ammā baʿd:
The Qunūt supplication in Witr with the wording “اللَّهُمَّ اهْدِنِي فِيمَنْ هَدَيْتَ…” is authentically established from the Sunnah. However, there is no evidence specifying that only this duʿāʾ must be recited to the exclusion of all others.
Imām Muḥammad ibn Naṣr al-Marwazī رحمه الله said:
“ليس فيه شيء موقت“
“There is nothing fixed and strictly designated in it.”
(Mukhtaṣar Qiyām al-Layl, p. 301)
Therefore, by analogy to the principle of Qunūt Nāzilah, it is permissible to sometimes add other supplications in Witr — a practice observed in al-Ḥaramayn and other places, where additional duʿās are made after the Qunūt.
Best Practice
It is better and more virtuous to adhere to the Sunnah duʿāʾ, as the words and supplications transmitted from the Prophet ﷺ are the most blessed, comprehensive, and eloquent.
Clear Evidence for Permissibility
This allowance is explicitly mentioned in Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Khuzaymah (2/155–156, Hadith 1100 – authentic mawqūf chain).
ھذا ما عندي والله أعلم بالصواب
