"''Qunut''" is a
supplication
Supplication (also known as petitioning) is a form of prayer, wherein one party humbly or earnestly asks another party to provide something, either for the party who is doing the supplicating (e.g., "Please spare my life.") or on behalf of someon ...
type of prayer made while standing in
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
.
Etymology
"''Qunūt''" ( ar, القنوت) literally means "being obedient" or "the act of standing" in
Classical Arabic
Classical Arabic ( ar, links=no, ٱلْعَرَبِيَّةُ ٱلْفُصْحَىٰ, al-ʿarabīyah al-fuṣḥā) or Quranic Arabic is the standardized literary form of Arabic used from the 7th century and throughout the Middle Ages, most notab ...
. The word
duʿā' ( ar, دعاء) is Arabic for supplication, so the longer phrase duʿā' qunūt is sometimes used.
Qunut has many
linguistic meaning
Semantics (from grc, σημαντικός ''sēmantikós'', "significant") is the study of reference, meaning, or truth. The term can be used to refer to subfields of several distinct disciplines, including philosophy, linguistics and comput ...
s, such as humility, obedience and devotion. However, it is more understood to be a special du'a which is recited during the prayer.
Customs
It is permissible to make the ''qunut'' before going into ''ruku'' (bowing), or it may be recited when one stands up straight after the ''ruku''. Humaid says: "I asked Anas: 'Is the qunut before or after the ''ruku''?' he said: 'We would do it before or after." This
hadith
Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approval ...
was related by
Ibn Majah
Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Yazīd Ibn Mājah al-Rabʿī al-Qazwīnī ( ar, ابو عبد الله محمد بن يزيد بن ماجه الربعي القزويني; (b. 209/824, d. 273/887) commonly known as Ibn Mājah, was a medieval sch ...
and Muhammad ibn Nasr. In
Fath al-Bari
''Fatḥ al-Bārī fī Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī'' ( ar-at, فتح الباري, lit=Grant of the Creator) is a multi-volume commentary on the Sunni hadith collection ''Sahih al-Bukhari'', composed by Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani Shafi. Conside ...
,
Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani
Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī or ''Ibn Ḥajar'' ( ar, ابن حجر العسقلاني, full name: ''Shihābud-Dīn Abul-Faḍl Aḥmad ibn Nūrud-Dīn ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī al-Kināni'') (18 February 1372 – 2 Febru ...
comments that its chain is faultless.
The minority
Ibadi
The Ibadi movement or Ibadism ( ar, الإباضية, al-Ibāḍiyyah) is a school of Islam. The followers of Ibadism are known as the Ibadis.
Ibadism emerged around 60 years after the Islamic prophet Muhammad's death in 632 AD as a moderate sc ...
school of Islam rejects the practice of ''qunūt'' altogether.
Lecture on Ibadi Islam
by Valerie J. Hoffman However, it is normative in all daily prayers among the Twelver
Twelver Shīʿīsm ( ar, ٱثْنَا عَشَرِيَّة; '), also known as Imāmīyyah ( ar, إِمَامِيَّة), is the largest branch of Shīʿa Islam, comprising about 85 percent of all Shīʿa Muslims. The term ''Twelver'' refers t ...
Shia
Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his S ...
.
References
{{Authority control
Arabic words and phrases
Salah
Salah terminology