Shafi'i Innovation of Regular Qunut in Fajr

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

والصلاة والسلام على رسوله الكريم

والعاقبة للمتقين

Blind-followers of the Shafi’i madhhab insist on reading the Qunut during the final rak’a of  Salat al-Subh on a regular basis.

عَنْ مُحَمَّدٍ، قَالَ سُئِلَ أَنَسٌ أَقَنَتَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم فِي الصُّبْحِ قَالَ نَعَمْ‏.‏ فَقِيلَ لَهُ أَوَقَنَتَ قَبْلَ الرُّكُوعِ قَالَ بَعْدَ الرُّكُوعِ يَسِيرًا‏

Muhammad b. Sirin^RA asked Anas b. Malik^RA, “Did the Prophet (upon him be peace) recite the Qunut during the Subh (Fajr) prayer?”, (Anas) said: “Yes”. He was further asked, “Did he recite Qunut before Ruku?” (Anas) said: “After Ruku for some time.” (Sahih al-Bukhari #1001)

The word yasir in this Hadith indicates shortness of time as explained by the Ulama such as al-Kirmani. This is in fact further eludicated to refer to the period of a month in which the Prophet (upon him be peace) read the Qunut al-Nazila, as explained by Badr al-Din al-Ayni (d. 855 H) in his well-know work Umdat al-Qari

قوله: " بعد الركوع يسيرا " ، قال الكرماني : أي زمانا يسيرا، أي قليلا، وهو بعد الاعتدال التام. وقال الطرقي : أراد يسيرا من الزمان لا يسيرا من القنوت ; لأن أدنى القيام يسمى قنوتا، فاستحال أن يوصف بالحقارة

وقال بعضهم: قد بين عاصم في روايته مقدار هذا اليسير حيث قال فيها: إنما قنت بعد الركوع شهرا. (قلت): رواية عاصم رواها البخاري على ما يجيء عن قريب، ورواها أيضا مسلم في صحيحه: حدثنا أبو بكر بن أبي شيبة ، وأبو كريب قالا: حدثنا أبو معاوية ، عن عاصم ، عن أنس قال: سألت عن القنوت بعد الركوع، أو قبل الركوع، فقال: قبل الركوع. قال: قلت: فإن ناسا يزعمون أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قنت بعد الركوع ! فقال: إنما قنت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم شهرا يدعو على أناس قتلوا أناسا من أصحابه يقال لهم: القراء . انتهى. فهذا صريح بأن المراد من قوله: " يسيرا "، يعني: شهرا، وهو يرد على الكرماني فيما قاله

In another narration, sayyidina Anas^RA narrates the fact that this Qunut during the Fajr prayer read after the Ruku was the Qunut al-Nazila and the Prophet (upon whom be peace) only did it for a month, after which he stopped:

عَنْ أَنَسِ بْنِ مَالِكٍ، أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ كَانَ يَقْنُتُ فِي صَلاَةِ الصُّبْحِ يَدْعُو عَلَى حَىٍّ مِنْ أَحْيَاءِ الْعَرَبِ شَهْرًا ثُمَّ تَرَكَ

It was narrated from Anas bin Malik that Allah’s Apostle (upon whom be peace) used to recite Qunut in the Subh prayer supplicating against one of the Arab tribes for a month, then he stopped doing so. (Sunan Ibn Maja #1243)

Finally, we have a Hadith from one of the Prophet’s companions, Tariq al-Ashja’i^RA who prayed behind not only the Prophet (upon whom be peace) but all of his rightly-guided successors (Allah be pleased with them) and concluded that the practice of regularly offering Qunut in the Fajr prayer was an innovation in the Religion:

عَنْ أَبِي مَالِكٍ الأَشْجَعِيِّ، سَعْدِ بْنِ طَارِقٍ قَالَ قُلْتُ لأَبِي يَا أَبَتِ إِنَّكَ قَدْ صَلَّيْتَ خَلْفَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ وَأَبِي بَكْرٍ وَعُمَرَ وَعُثْمَانَ وَعَلِيٍّ هَا هُنَا بِالْكُوفَةِ نَحْوًا مِنْ خَمْسِ سِنِينَ فَكَانُوا يَقْنُتُونَ فِي الْفَجْرِ فَقَالَ أَىْ بُنَىَّ مُحْدَثٌ

Abi Malik al-Ashja’i, Sa’d bin Tariq said: I asked my father: “O my father, verily you prayed behind Allah’s Apostle (upon whom be peace), and (behind) Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and (behind) Ali here in Kufa for about five years. Did they recite Qunut in Fajr?” So he said: “O my son, this is an innovation.” (Sunan Ibn Maja #1241)

But in defense of this innovation, the Shafi’is cite the following Hadith:

عَنْ أَنَسِ بْنِ مَالِكٍ قَالَ : مَا زَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَقْنُتُ فِي الْفَجْرِ حَتَّى فَارَقَ الدُّنْيَا

Anas bin Malik said: Allah’s Apostle upon whom be peace did not cease reciting Qunut in Fajr until he departed (this) world. (Musnad Ahmad)

The sanad of this narration contains the narrator Abu Ja’far Isa b. Mahan al-Razi:

“Abu Ja’far al-Raazi’s name was ‘Eesa ibn Maahaan al-Raazi. He was classed as da’eef (weak) by many scholars. Ahmad ibn Hanbal said: He is not strong (qawiy) in hadeeth. Yahya ibn Ma’een said: He writes his hadeeth but he makes mistakes. ‘Amr ibn ‘Ali said: There is some weakness in him; he is sincere but he has a bad memory. Abu Zur’ah said: An old man who is often confused. Al-Nasaa’i said: He is not strong. Ibn Hibbaan said: He differed from the well known narrators of hadeeth by narrating munkar reports, and I would not like to quote his hadeeth as evidence except in cases where he narrated something that was also narrated by trustworthy narrators. Al-‘Ajli said: He is not strong. End quote from Tahdheeb al-Tahdheeb (12/57).” (Islam Question & Answer)