Prophetic Sunnah: Qunoot an-Nawazil
Practice Sunnah
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
When great calamity struck, such as the betrayal and massacre of the Prophet’s (pbuh) companions, the Prophet (pbuh) would perform the Qunoot, making du’a to Allah because of the calamity. This is called Qunoot an-nawazil. After that massacre, the Prophet (pbuh) did qunoot an-nawazil for one month [Muslim].
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Qunoot, according to the definition of the fuqaha’, “is the name of a du’a (supplication) offered during prayer at a specific point while standing.”
Qunoot an-nawazil is specific to when a calamity strikes. Some scholars state that the qunoot can be done in any of the obligatory prayers, others say they are restricted to maghrib and fajr, while the hanafis hold that it can only be prayed during the fajr prayer. It is established the the most common time the Prophet (pbuh) prayed it was during fajr, but there are reports that he did qunoot at other times too.
How to perform qunoot
Qunoot an-nawazil is similar to the qunoot of witr. It is performed after standing up from rukoo’ and saying “sami’a Allahu liman hamidah”. After that, a person makes du’a for Allah to remove the calamity, to help those who are oppressed and to defeat the oppressors. The du’a should be specific to the situation. For example, the Prophet (pbuh) prayed specifically against those who had massacred the 70 Companions (Abu Dawud). He also prayed for the salvation of the weak and oppressed in Makkah, saying: “O Allah, O Allah, save al-Waleed ibn al-Waleed, Salamah ibn Hishaam, ‘Ayyaash ibn Abi Rabee’ah and the weak and oppressed believers.” [Muslim]
The Ummah is in dire need of our prayers. Try to get together with friends and family at fajr at least and ask the Imam to perform the qunoot for the oppressed, particularly in now in Gaza and Syria.
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