Dua Qunoot: Both Versions in Arabic and English, and When to Recite Them

Dua qunoot is the supplication said while standing in prayer, most often in the last rak'ah of Witr. There are two well-known versions, and which one you say, and when, depends on your school of law. Both are given in full below, with their sources and the positions of the four schools.

Key takeaways

• "Dua qunoot" usually means one of two texts: Allahumma-hdini fiman hadayt, which the Prophet ﷺ taught his grandson al-Hasan ibn Ali for Witr (Abu Dawud 1425), and Allahumma inna nasta'inuka, the wording the Hanafi school uses in Witr.
• The schools differ on when it is said. Hanafis say it in Witr every night, before bowing. Hanbalis say it in Witr every night, after bowing. Shafi'is say it in Witr in the second half of Ramadan and in every Fajr. Malikis say it in Fajr, not in Witr.
• You can make qunoot before you have memorized either text: the Hanafi texts allow a short supplication such as Rabbana atina fid-dunya hasanah, and the Shafi'i texts accept any supplication.
• Dua qunoot is not part of the Quran. It comes from the Sunnah and from the practice of the Companions.

What dua qunoot is

Qunoot (قنوت) is an Arabic word with several meanings, among them obedience, prayer, long standing and silence; the best known is supplication. In prayer it means a supplication made at a set point while standing, and that is what "dua qunoot" refers to. The Kuwaiti Encyclopedia of Islamic Jurisprudence (vol. 34, p. 57) lists these meanings at the start of its entry on qunoot, and notes that qunoot in prayer is limited to three settings.

Those settings are Witr, which the Prophet ﷺ told his Companions to make the last prayer of their night (Sahih al-Bukhari 998); Fajr, in the schools that recite it there; and the obligatory prayers in times of calamity, known as qunoot al-nazilah. For tonight's Isha and tomorrow's Fajr where you live, see the prayer times for your city; both shift with the sun through the year, as explained in how prayer times are calculated.

The two versions of dua qunoot

Version 1: "Allahumma-hdini fiman hadayt"

Al-Hasan ibn Ali said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ taught him words to say in Witr. The report is in Sunan Abi Dawud 1425, graded sahih by al-Albani, in Jami' al-Tirmidhi 464, where al-Tirmidhi calls it hasan and says nothing better is known from the Prophet ﷺ on qunoot in Witr, and in Sunan al-Nasa'i 1745.

اللَّهُمَّ اهْدِنِي فِيمَنْ هَدَيْتَ وَعَافِنِي فِيمَنْ عَافَيْتَ وَتَوَلَّنِي فِيمَنْ تَوَلَّيْتَ وَبَارِكْ لِي فِيمَا أَعْطَيْتَ وَقِنِي شَرَّ مَا قَضَيْتَ إِنَّكَ تَقْضِي وَلاَ يُقْضَى عَلَيْكَ وَإِنَّهُ لاَ يَذِلُّ مَنْ وَالَيْتَ وَلاَ يَعِزُّ مَنْ عَادَيْتَ تَبَارَكْتَ رَبَّنَا وَتَعَالَيْتَ

Transliteration: Allahumma-hdini fiman hadayt, wa 'afini fiman 'afayt, wa tawallani fiman tawallayt, wa barik li fima a'tayt, wa qini sharra ma qadayt, innaka taqdi wa la yuqda 'alayk, wa innahu la yadhillu man walayt, wa la ya'izzu man 'adayt, tabarakta Rabbana wa ta'alayt.

Translation: O Allah, guide me among those You have guided, give me well-being among those You have given well-being, be my protecting friend among those You have befriended, bless me in what You have given me, and shield me from the evil of what You have decreed. For You decree, and nothing is decreed over You. Whoever You befriend is never humbled, and whoever You take as an enemy is never honoured. Blessed are You, our Lord, and Exalted.

Sunan Abi Dawud 1425

The line wa la ya'izzu man 'adayt ("whoever You take as an enemy is never honoured") is in Abu Dawud's narration; al-Tirmidhi 464 and al-Nasa'i 1745 do not have it. Some prayer books also end with fa lakal-hamdu 'ala ma qadayt, astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk ("praise is Yours for what You have decreed; I ask Your forgiveness and turn to You in repentance"). Shafi'i scholars recorded this as an addition there is no harm in saying, and they recommend closing qunoot with a blessing on the Prophet ﷺ (Kuwaiti Encyclopedia, 34/60).

An imam leading others says it in the plural, Allahumma-hdina ("guide us"), so that he does not keep the supplication for himself (Kuwaiti Encyclopedia, 34/61).

Version 2: "Allahumma inna nasta'inuka"

This is the qunoot of the Hanafi school. Ibn Nujaym calls it the supplication well known in Abu Hanifa's school, and some Hanafi scholars single it out because the Companions agreed on it; the same texts recommend saying version 1 after it (al-Bahr al-Ra'iq, 2/44–45). Its wording is reported from Umar ibn al-Khattab, who said it in Fajr after rising from bowing (al-Bayhaqi, al-Sunan al-Kubra 2/210–211, cited in the Kuwaiti Encyclopedia, 34/60–61).

اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّا نَسْتَعِينُكَ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُكَ وَنُؤْمِنُ بِكَ وَنَتَوَكَّلُ عَلَيْكَ وَنُثْنِي عَلَيْكَ الْخَيْرَ كُلَّهُ نَشْكُرُكَ وَلَا نَكْفُرُكَ وَنَخْلَعُ وَنَتْرُكُ مَنْ يَفْجُرُكَ، اللَّهُمَّ إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَلَكَ نُصَلِّي وَنَسْجُدُ وَإِلَيْكَ نَسْعَى وَنَحْفِدُ نَرْجُو رَحْمَتَكَ وَنَخْشَى عَذَابَكَ إِنَّ عَذَابَكَ بِالْكُفَّارِ مُلْحِقٌ

Transliteration: Allahumma inna nasta'inuka wa nastaghfiruka wa nu'minu bika wa natawakkalu 'alayka wa nuthni 'alaykal-khayra kullahu, nashkuruka wa la nakfuruka, wa nakhla'u wa natruku man yafjuruk. Allahumma iyyaka na'budu wa laka nusalli wa nasjudu wa ilayka nas'a wa nahfidu, narju rahmataka wa nakhsha 'adhabaka, inna 'adhabaka bil-kuffari mulhiq.

Translation: O Allah, we ask Your help and Your forgiveness, we believe in You and put our trust in You, and we praise You with every good. We thank You and are not ungrateful to You, and we cast off and leave whoever defies You. O Allah, You alone we worship, to You we pray and prostrate, and toward You we hurry and hasten. We hope for Your mercy and fear Your punishment; Your punishment will surely reach the disbelievers.

al-Bahr al-Ra'iq, 2/45

Printed versions differ by a word here and there. Al-Shurunbulali's Nur al-Idah adds wa nastahdika ("we ask Your guidance") and wa natubu ilayk ("we turn to You in repentance") near the start (Maraqi al-Falah, p. 140) and reads inna 'adhabaka al-jidda ("Your true punishment") at the end (p. 142), and Ibn Nujaym notes variants of his own. These differences do not affect your prayer: the Hanafi texts say that reciting a different supplication in qunoot is also valid (Kuwaiti Encyclopedia, 34/62).

When qunoot is recited: Witr, Fajr and times of hardship

All four Sunni schools have qunoot, but they place it differently. The table summarises the positions recorded in the Kuwaiti Encyclopedia of Islamic Jurisprudence (vol. 34, pp. 58–65).

School	Qunoot in Witr	Qunoot in Fajr
Hanafi	Required (wajib) in Abu Hanifa's view, sunnah for Abu Yusuf and Muhammad; every night, before bowing	Not said, except in a calamity
Maliki	Disliked in the school's well-known view	Recommended, said silently, preferably before bowing, with a text close to version 2
Shafi'i	Recommended in the second half of Ramadan, after bowing	Emphasized sunnah, after bowing in the second rak'ah
Hanbali	Sunnah every night, after bowing (before is also allowed)	Disliked, except in a calamity

Sources: Fajr, 34/58–61; Witr, 34/61–65. On the hands, Hanafis raise them to the ears for the takbir before qunoot, Shafi'is (in the more correct view) and Hanbalis raise them while supplicating, and Malikis do not raise them. "Umar's qunoot" in the Shafi'i and Hanbali texts is the report of Umar ibn al-Khattab mentioned above; its wording is close to version 2 but not identical, and the Maliki wording differs by a few phrases as well.

The question of before or after bowing goes back to the reports themselves. Anas ibn Malik was asked about it and said qunoot came before bowing, and that the Prophet ﷺ made qunoot after bowing for one month (Sahih al-Bukhari 1002).

How to recite qunoot in Witr, step by step

Before bowing (Hanafi)

1. In the third rak'ah of Witr, recite al-Fatiha and a surah as usual.
2. Without bowing, raise your hands to your ears and say "Allahu akbar".
3. Bring your hands down and place the right over the left, as in standing, then recite version 2, and version 1 after it if you know it. The Hanafi texts prefer saying it quietly.
4. Say "Allahu akbar", bow, and complete the prayer.

This is the order in Nur al-Idah and its commentary Maraqi al-Falah (p. 140), which also records that Abu Hanifa kept the right hand over the left during qunoot while Abu Yusuf raised his hands, and in the Kuwaiti Encyclopedia (34/62–63). If you forget qunoot and only remember once you have bowed, you do not go back to it; you make the prostration of forgetfulness (sujud al-sahw) instead (34/63).

After bowing (Shafi'i and Hanbali)

1. In the last rak'ah of Witr, recite and bow as usual.
2. Rise from bowing, saying "Sami'a Allahu liman hamidah" and "Rabbana lakal-hamd".
3. Still standing, raise your hands and recite qunoot. Shafi'is say version 1, adding Umar's qunoot after it only when praying alone or leading a small group happy with a longer prayer. Hanbalis say Umar's qunoot, then version 1, then Allahumma inna na'udhu bi-ridaka min sakhatik.
4. Go down into prostration and complete the prayer.

The Hanbali texts describe the hands raised to chest height with the palms facing the sky, and also allow qunoot before bowing (Kuwaiti Encyclopedia, 34/65). For Shafi'is this applies in the second half of Ramadan (34/64), and the rule on combining the two texts is at 34/61.

Behind an imam who says qunoot aloud, Shafi'i and Hanbali followers say "amin" to his supplication, and Shafi'is say the lines of praise along with him (34/61, 34/65). In the Hanafi school, Abu Yusuf held that the follower recites qunoot too, and the texts call this the preferred view (34/63).

If you have not memorized it yet

You do not have to wait until you know a full text by heart. The Hanafi and Shafi'i texts both address this.

• Hanafi: someone who cannot say qunoot in Arabic, or has not memorized it, can say "Ya Rabb" three times, "Allahumma-ghfir li" three times, or Allahumma Rabbana atina fid-dunya hasanatan wa fil-akhirati hasanatan wa qina 'adhaban-nar ("O Allah, our Lord, give us good in this world and good in the Hereafter, and protect us from the punishment of the Fire"). Ibn Nujaym preferred the last for being the most complete, and said the option is not limited to people who don't know Arabic (Kuwaiti Encyclopedia, 34/62).
• Shafi'i: qunoot has no wording you are bound to, so any supplication fulfils it, including Quranic verses that contain a supplication; the wording from the Sunnah is still the best (Kuwaiti Encyclopedia, 34/60, citing al-Nawawi's al-Majmu' 3/497).

Version 1 is the easier one to learn. It falls into nine short lines, and the first three share one pattern: a request, then fiman ("among those whom"), then the same verb in the past tense. Learning each line with its meaning keeps the order straight.

Line	Transliteration	Meaning
1	Allahumma-hdini fiman hadayt	O Allah, guide me among those You have guided
2	wa 'afini fiman 'afayt	give me well-being among those You have given well-being
3	wa tawallani fiman tawallayt	be my protecting friend among those You have befriended
4	wa barik li fima a'tayt	bless me in what You have given me
5	wa qini sharra ma qadayt	shield me from the evil of what You have decreed
6	innaka taqdi wa la yuqda 'alayk	for You decree, and nothing is decreed over You
7	wa innahu la yadhillu man walayt	whoever You befriend is never humbled
8	wa la ya'izzu man 'adayt	whoever You take as an enemy is never honoured
9	tabarakta Rabbana wa ta'alayt	Blessed are You, our Lord, and Exalted

Qunoot al-nazilah: qunoot in times of calamity

Qunoot al-nazilah is a supplication added to the obligatory prayers when a calamity strikes Muslims. Its basis is the month in which the Prophet ﷺ made qunoot against the tribes of Ri'l and Dhakwan (Sahih al-Bukhari 1003). Ibn Abbas reports that he did so in all five daily prayers, in the last rak'ah after "Sami'a Allahu liman hamidah", with those behind him saying "amin" (Sunan Abi Dawud 1443, graded hasan by al-Albani).

The schools differ on who says it and in which prayers. Shafi'is, and some Malikis, hold it to be recommended in every obligatory prayer during a calamity such as plague, drought or fear of an enemy. Hanafis have the imam say it in the prayers recited aloud, and al-Tahawi mentions Fajr. Hanbalis make it a sunnah for the head of state, in every obligatory prayer except Jumu'ah, and not for plague. The well-known Maliki view keeps qunoot to Fajr alone (Kuwaiti Encyclopedia, 34/66–67).