Qunoot al-Nazilah: Method, Timing, and Authentic Supplications

Source Information

This excerpt is taken from the book Ṣaḥīḥ Ṣalāh al-Nabawī ﷺ, authored by al-Shaykh ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ʿAzīz, published by Maktabah Dār al-Andalus.

The Description of Qunoot al-Nāzilah​

❀ When a calamity befalls the Muslims, the imām should supplicate with Qunoot.
Sayyidunā Abū Hurayrah رضي الله عنه said:

أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم كان إذا أراد أن يدعو على أحد أو يدعو لأحد قنت بعد الركوع

“Whenever the Messenger of Allah ﷺ intended to supplicate against someone or supplicate in favor of someone, he would perform Qunoot after the rukūʿ.”

Reference: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Kitab al-Tafsīr, Bab Laysa Laka min al-Amr Shay’: 4560

Reference: Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 675

❀ Qunoot al-Nāzilah may be performed in all five obligatory prayers.
Sayyidunā ʿAbdullāh bin ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهما said:

“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ continued performing Qunoot in all prayers for one month.”

Reference: Abu Dāwūd, Kitab al-Witr, Bab al-Qunoot fī al-Ṣalāh: 1443

(Ḥasan)

Method of Performing Qunoot al-Nāzilah​

❀ The supplication is made after rukūʿ in the last rakʿah of the obligatory prayer.

Reference: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 4560

Reference: Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 675

❀ Qunoot al-Nāzilah should be performed with raised hands.
Sayyidunā Anas رضي الله عنه said:

“I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ raising his hands in the Fajr prayer while supplicating against the disbelievers.”

Reference: Musnad Aḥmad: 3/137, Ḥadīth: 12429

(Declared ṣaḥīḥ according to the conditions of Muslim by Shuʿayb al-Arna’ūṭ)

❀ The Messenger of Allah ﷺ would supplicate aloud, and the followers would say ‘Āmīn’.

Reference: Abu Dāwūd, Kitab al-Witr, Bab al-Qunoot fī al-Ṣalāh: 1443

(Ḥasan)

❀ It is permissible to mention names of those for whom supplication or curse is being made in Qunoot al-Nāzilah.

Reference: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Kitab al-Adhān, Bab Yahwī bi al-Takbīr Ḥīna Sajada: 804

❀ Whenever a calamity descended, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would perform Qunoot al-Nāzilah. It is mentioned in Abu Dāwūd (1443) that he ﷺ continuously performed Qunoot al-Nāzilah in all five prayers for one month against the tribes of Riʿl, Dhakwān, and ʿUṣayyah. Yet today, despite being surrounded by calamities, Qunoot al-Nāzilah is not observed. Many people are unaware of it altogether, and only a few mosques practice it. There is a need for every mosque imām to revive Qunoot al-Nāzilah so that this Sunnah may be revived and the hardships of the Muslims may be alleviated.

Supplication of Qunoot al-Nāzilah​

❀ Sayyidunā ʿUmar bin al-Khaṭṭāb رضي الله عنه used to supplicate with the following duʿā’:

اللَّهُمَّ اغْفِرْ لَنَا وَلِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتِ وَالْمُسْلِمِينَ وَالْمُسْلِمَاتِ، وَأَلِّفْ بَيْنَ قُلُوبِهِمْ، وَأَصْلِحْ ذَاتَ بَيْنِهِمْ، وَانْصُرْهُمْ عَلَىٰ عَدُوِّكَ وَعَدُوِّهِمْ. اللَّهُمَّ الْعَنْ كَفَرَةَ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ الَّذِينَ يَصُدُّونَ عَنْ سَبِيلِكَ وَيُكَذِّبُونَ رُسُلَكَ وَيُقَاتِلُونَ أَوْلِيَاءَكَ. اللَّهُمَّ خَالِفْ بَيْنَ كَلِمَتِهِمْ وَزَلْزِلْ أَقْدَامَهُمْ وَأَنْزِلْ بِهِمْ بَأْسَكَ الَّذِي لَا تَرُدُّهُ عَنِ الْقَوْمِ الْمُجْرِمِينَ.

“O Allah! Forgive us, believing men and believing women, Muslim men and Muslim women. Unite their hearts and reconcile their affairs. Grant them victory over Your enemy and their enemy. O Allah! Send Your curse upon the disbelievers from the People of the Book who prevent people from Your path, deny Your Messengers, and fight against Your allies. O Allah! Create division among them, make their feet slip, and send upon them Your punishment which You do not avert from the criminal people.”

Reference: al-Sunan al-Kubrā by al-Bayhaqī: 2/210–211, Ḥadīth: 3143

(Imām al-Bayhaqī declared it ṣaḥīḥ)

For additional supplications, refer to the pamphlet titled “Duʿās of Qunoot al-Nāzilah” published by Dār al-Andalus.