Source: Fatāwā Muḥammadiyyah, Vol. 1, p. 517
What do the scholars of Islam say regarding the narration in al-Mustadrak al-Ḥākim that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ instructed al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī رضي الله عنهما to recite Duʿā’ al-Qunūt in Witr after rukūʿ? What is the status of its narrators and chain?
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu wa-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, ammā baʿd!
Imām al-Ḥākim narrated with his chain:
عَنِ الْحَسَنِ بْنِ عَلِيٍّ قَالَ: عَلَّمَنِي رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ فِي وِتْرِي إِذَا رَفَعْتُ رَأْسِي وَلَمْ يَبْقَ إِلَّا السُّجُودُ:
«اللَّهُمَّ اهْدِنِي فِيمَنْ هَدَيْتَ، وَعَافِنِي فِيمَنْ عَافَيْتَ، وَتَوَلَّنِي فِيمَنْ تَوَلَّيْتَ، وَبَارِكْ لِي فِيمَا أَعْطَيْتَ، وَقِنِي شَرَّ مَا قَضَيْتَ، إِنَّكَ تَقْضِي وَلَا يُقْضَى عَلَيْكَ، إِنَّهُ لَا يَذِلُّ مَنْ وَالَيْتَ، تَبَارَكْتَ رَبَّنَا وَتَعَالَيْتَ»
(al-Mustadrak, Bāb Manāqib al-Ḥasan wa-l-Ḥusayn, p. 122)
Imām al-Ḥākim’s ruling:
“This ḥadīth is ṣaḥīḥ according to the conditions of al-Bukhārī and Muslim, except that Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar ibn Abī Kathīr differed from Ismāʿīl ibn Ibrāhīm ibn ʿUqbah in the isnād.”
Chain includes: Ibn Abī Maryam → Mūsā ibn ʿUqbah → Abū Isḥāq → Yazīd ibn Abī Maryam → Abū al-Ḥawrāʾ → al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī رضي الله عنهما
Wordings include the famous Duʿā’:
«اللَّهُمَّ اهْدِنِي فِيمَنْ هَدَيْتَ، وَبَارِكْ لِي فِيمَا أَعْطَيْتَ، وَقِنِي شَرَّ مَا قَضَيْتَ، فَإِنَّكَ تَقْضِي وَلَا يُقْضَى عَلَيْكَ، وَإِنَّهُ لَا يَذِلُّ مَنْ وَالَيْتَ، تَبَارَكْتَ رَبَّنَا وَتَعَالَيْتَ»
After mentioning multiple narrations about reciting Qunūt before rukūʿ, he said regarding this narration of al-Ḥākim:
Albānī added:
“Then I found it with another isnād … and in its wording is the addition: ‘When I raise my head and nothing remains except sujūd’. This makes me inclined to prefer this version, as it is supported by corroborating narrations.”
(Irwāʾ al-Ghalīl, vol. 2, pp. 146, 169, 177)
He finally said: “fī thubūtihi naẓar” — “There remains some doubt in its firm establishment.”
In al-Talkhīṣ (p. 94), he remarked:
“It is necessary to consider the wording ‘when I raised my head and only sujūd remained’, as I found in the narrations of Ibn Mahraan al-Aṣbahānī …”
This indicates isnād differences and variation in matn.
Al-Albānī declared:
“This chain is ṣaḥīḥ — all its narrators are trustworthy. Abū Isḥāq and al-Bayhaqī also reported it through Yazīd ibn Abī Maryam.”
◈ The narration in al-Mustadrak al-Ḥākim about the Prophet ﷺ teaching al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī رضي الله عنهما Duʿā’ al-Qunūt in Witr is reported through more than one chain.
◈ One chain is ḥasan but has some variation in isnād and wording; the other chain is stronger and considered ṣaḥīḥ by al-Albānī.
◈ The text of the duʿā’ is well established and accepted in the practice of Muslims, though the exact placement (before or after rukūʿ) has narrational variation.
والله أعلم بالصواب
❖ Question
What do the scholars of Islam say regarding the narration in al-Mustadrak al-Ḥākim that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ instructed al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī رضي الله عنهما to recite Duʿā’ al-Qunūt in Witr after rukūʿ? What is the status of its narrators and chain?
✿ Answer
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu wa-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, ammā baʿd!
① First Narration (via ʿĀ’ishah رضي الله عنها → al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī)
Imām al-Ḥākim narrated with his chain:
عَنِ الْحَسَنِ بْنِ عَلِيٍّ قَالَ: عَلَّمَنِي رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ فِي وِتْرِي إِذَا رَفَعْتُ رَأْسِي وَلَمْ يَبْقَ إِلَّا السُّجُودُ:
«اللَّهُمَّ اهْدِنِي فِيمَنْ هَدَيْتَ، وَعَافِنِي فِيمَنْ عَافَيْتَ، وَتَوَلَّنِي فِيمَنْ تَوَلَّيْتَ، وَبَارِكْ لِي فِيمَا أَعْطَيْتَ، وَقِنِي شَرَّ مَا قَضَيْتَ، إِنَّكَ تَقْضِي وَلَا يُقْضَى عَلَيْكَ، إِنَّهُ لَا يَذِلُّ مَنْ وَالَيْتَ، تَبَارَكْتَ رَبَّنَا وَتَعَالَيْتَ»
(al-Mustadrak, Bāb Manāqib al-Ḥasan wa-l-Ḥusayn, p. 122)
Imām al-Ḥākim’s ruling:
“This ḥadīth is ṣaḥīḥ according to the conditions of al-Bukhārī and Muslim, except that Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar ibn Abī Kathīr differed from Ismāʿīl ibn Ibrāhīm ibn ʿUqbah in the isnād.”
② Second Narration (via Abū al-Ḥawrāʾ → al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī)
Chain includes: Ibn Abī Maryam → Mūsā ibn ʿUqbah → Abū Isḥāq → Yazīd ibn Abī Maryam → Abū al-Ḥawrāʾ → al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī رضي الله عنهما
Wordings include the famous Duʿā’:
«اللَّهُمَّ اهْدِنِي فِيمَنْ هَدَيْتَ، وَبَارِكْ لِي فِيمَا أَعْطَيْتَ، وَقِنِي شَرَّ مَا قَضَيْتَ، فَإِنَّكَ تَقْضِي وَلَا يُقْضَى عَلَيْكَ، وَإِنَّهُ لَا يَذِلُّ مَنْ وَالَيْتَ، تَبَارَكْتَ رَبَّنَا وَتَعَالَيْتَ»
Statements of the Scholars
❖ Shaykh al-Albānī رحمه الله
After mentioning multiple narrations about reciting Qunūt before rukūʿ, he said regarding this narration of al-Ḥākim:
- The isnād is ḥasan, its narrators are those of al-Bukhārī except al-Shaʿrānī (al-Faḍl ibn Muḥammad), about whom al-Ḥākim said: thiqqah (trustworthy), no valid criticism has been raised against him.
- Hence al-Ḥākim declared it ṣaḥīḥ, except for the discrepancy in the chain between narrators.
Albānī added:
“Then I found it with another isnād … and in its wording is the addition: ‘When I raise my head and nothing remains except sujūd’. This makes me inclined to prefer this version, as it is supported by corroborating narrations.”
(Irwāʾ al-Ghalīl, vol. 2, pp. 146, 169, 177)
He finally said: “fī thubūtihi naẓar” — “There remains some doubt in its firm establishment.”
❖ Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī رحمه الله
In al-Talkhīṣ (p. 94), he remarked:
“It is necessary to consider the wording ‘when I raised my head and only sujūd remained’, as I found in the narrations of Ibn Mahraan al-Aṣbahānī …”
This indicates isnād differences and variation in matn.
❖ On the Second Isnād
Al-Albānī declared:
“This chain is ṣaḥīḥ — all its narrators are trustworthy. Abū Isḥāq and al-Bayhaqī also reported it through Yazīd ibn Abī Maryam.”
Conclusion
◈ The narration in al-Mustadrak al-Ḥākim about the Prophet ﷺ teaching al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī رضي الله عنهما Duʿā’ al-Qunūt in Witr is reported through more than one chain.
◈ One chain is ḥasan but has some variation in isnād and wording; the other chain is stronger and considered ṣaḥīḥ by al-Albānī.
◈ The text of the duʿā’ is well established and accepted in the practice of Muslims, though the exact placement (before or after rukūʿ) has narrational variation.
والله أعلم بالصواب
