Does one recite the Qunut aloud in Salah?

Question: Does one recite Qunut aloud in Salah? What is the proof for doing so if it is done?

Answer:

الحمد لله رب العالمين ، وصلى الله على سيدنا محمد وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين، وبالله التوفيق

According to the established verdict of the Madhdhab of Imam Ash-Shafi’i the Qunut is to be recited aloud. Imam An-Nawawi said,

والأصح ندب الجهر به الامام , الصبح وغيرها

“And the most correct [view] is that it is recommended for the Imam to say [the qunut] aloud, in the morning prayer and other than it.”¹

The proofs for this view are found within the hadith of Abu Hurayrah (radiya Allahu ‘anhu) in which he said ‘Whenever the Nabi Muhammad wanted to make du’aa for someone or against someone he would make qunut after Ruku’ […he then narrates the Du’aa…], and he would do this loudly (يجهر بذلك). And he would say in some of his Salahs “Oh Allah curse so and so” until Allah revealed:

لَيْسَ لَكَ مِنَ الْأَمْرِ شَيْءٌ أَوْ يَتُوبَ عَلَيْهِمْ أَوْ يُعَذِّبَهُمْ فَإِنَّهُمْ ظَالِمُونَ

“Not for thee, (but for Allah), is the decision: Whether He turn in mercy to them, or punish them; for they are indeed wrong-doers.” [3:128]

This hadith is reported by Imam Ahmad in his Musnad 7153² and Sahih Al-Bukhari 4560³ , as well as Imam Al-Bayhaqi in his Sunan 2905. See also Talkhis Al-Habir of Hafith Ibn Hajr Al-’Asqalani page 713, Adwa’ us-Salaf published, to see his utilization of this hadith as well.

Some have misunderstood this hadith by saying that this narration (and the many others like it in Sahih Al-Bukhari) indicate that  the qunut was altogether abrogated by this verse, and thus the Nabi Muhammad abandoned it after the revelation of this verse. This is an incorrect notion, as the verse only stopped the Prophet Muhammad from cursing certain tribes, and did not stop the Qunut of Fajr. See the article “The Shafi’i Ruling as Well as the Proofs for Qunut in Fajr” for further elaboration.

There is also proof in the many narrations where the Sahabah narrating the incident said that they “heard the Messenger of Allah” saying […]. What is apparent from the many narrations that say such is that he (‘alayhis salam) would say it aloud, or else the narrators would not have been able to “hear” him.

There are also reports that the rightly guided Caliphs recited it aloud as well:

Through another chain from Abu Raf’i who said,

عن أبي رافع قال صليت خلف عمر بن الخطاب رضى الله تعالى عنه فقنت بعد الركوع ورفع يديه وجهر بالدعاء

“From Abu Rafi’ who said, I prayed behind Umar ibn Al-Khattab and he made Qunut after his Ruku’, he raised his hands, and he said the Du’aa aloud.”⁴

This is also narrated authentically from Abu ‘Uthman An-Nahdi in the Sunan of Imam Al-Bayhaqi. All of this proves that the Rasulullah and His companions said the Qunut aloud.

And Allah Knows Best!

Shafiifiqh.com Fatwa Dept.

1. Kitab At-Tahqiq, page 221, Dar Al-Jil Beirut [↩]
2. http://hadith.al-islam.com/Display/Display.asp?hnum=7153&doc=6&IMAGE=%DA%D1%D6+%C7%E1%CD%CF%ED%CB [↩]
3. electronic version 4194 [↩]
4. Sunan Al-Bayhaqi 2968 [↩]