Home » Shafi'i Fiqh » Qibla.com » Altering the du`a of the Prophet

Altering the du`a of the Prophet

Answered as per Shafi'i Fiqh by Qibla.com

Answered by Shaykh Amjad Rasheed

If I make a du`a that has come of the Prophet, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him, and it is in the singular form, is it better that I make it plural, intending to include a group of Muslims, or is it better to keep it as it is, because it has come to us in the singular?

Answer:
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Our imams have mentioned this issue, when they discussed the du`a of qunut in the dawn prayer. In that case, they said that if one is praying alone, he should recite the du`a in the singular, but if he is an imam, he should recite it in the plural because both matters [i.e., supplicating in the singular and in the plural] have been transmitted from the Prophet, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him.

This is also because it is disliked for the imam to single himself out in du`a, as Imam al-Nawawi said in the Adhkar, because of what Tirmidhi relates from the Prophet, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him with a good chain, “A servant should not single himself out in supplication to the exclusion of the rest. If he does, then he has betrayed them.”

As for du`as in the prayer other than the qunut, then what al-Qadi Husayn and Imam al-Ghazali have said is that it is just like the qunut: if one is praying alone, he should keep it to the singular, but if he is in a group, he should recite it in the plural because of what is known about the dislike of singling oneself out in du`a, as has been related by al-Khatib in the Mughni (1/166-167).

However, what Shaykh Ibn Hajar redacted in the Tuhfa (2/66) is that if one is reciting a Prophetic du`a, he should keep to its wording. So if it is in the singular he should keep it in the singular, and if it is in the plural, then he should keep it in the plural. As for one who comes up with his own du`a, (and is leading others in prayer), it is better that he recite it in the plural, and if he recites it in the singular form, it is disliked.

And Allah alone gives success.

Amjad Rasheed

السؤال: إذا دعوتُ بدعاء مأثور عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم وكان بلفظ المفرد فهل الأفضل أن أجعله بلفظ الجمع بنية الدعاء لجميع المسلمين أم الأفضل الدعاء به كما ورد بلفظ المفرد ؟

الجواب : ذكر أئمتُنا حكم هذه المسألة عند الكلام على دعاء القنوت في صلاة الصبح ، فذكروا هناك أن المصلي إن كان منفرداً أتى بالقنوت بلفظ الإفراد ، وإن كان إماماً أتى به بلفظ الجمع ؛ وذلك لورود الأمرين معاً ، ولأنه يكره للإمام تخصيص نفسه بالدعاء كما قاله الإمام النووي في “الأذكار” لما روى الترمذي بسندٍ حسن مرفوعاً :” لا يؤم عبدٌ قوماً فيخص نفسه بدعوة دونهم ، فإن فعل فقد خانهم “.
أما الدعاءُ في الصلاة في غير القنوت فالذي صرَّح به القاضي حسين والإمامُ الغزالي أنه كالقنوت إن كان المصلي منفرداً أتى به بلفظ الإفراد ، وإن كان في جماعة أتى به بلفظ الجمع لما علم من كراهة تخصيص نفسه بالدعاء كما نقله عنهما الخطيب في “المغني” (1/166-167) . لكن الذي حرَّره الشيخُ ابن حجر في “التحفة” (2/66) : أن الداعي إن أتى بدعاء مأثور اتبع لفظَه ؛ فإن كان بلفظِ الإفرادِ أتى به بلفظ الإفراد ، وإن كان بلفظ الجمع أتى به بلفظ الجمع ، أما إن اخترع دعوةً من عند نفسه فالأفضلُ أن يأتي بها بلفظ الجمع ، فإن أتى بها بلفظ الإفراد كان مكروها .

This answer was indexed from Qibla.com, which used to have a repository of Islamic Q&A answered by various scholars. The website is no longer in existence. It has now been transformed into a learning portal with paid Islamic course offering under the brand of Kiflayn.

Read answers with similar topics: