May I Follow the View to Pray Qunut in Witr throughout the Year?

Question

If someone is following the sub-dominant opinion within Shafi‘i madhab of making Qunut in Witr throughout the year, then will it still be recommended for him to make Qunut in Fajr daily? Can one make Qunut in Witr as well as in Fajr on daily basis?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.

May Allah alleviate our difficulties and guide us to that which is pleasing to Him. Amin.

Yes, it is permissible to follow that view. Even though the view that the Qunut prayer should be read in the final cycle of the Witr prayer throughout the year is not the relied-upon view of the Shafi’i School, it remains a view within the School that great scholars, such as Imam Nawawi in some of his books, preferred, and Allah knows best. [Shirbini, Mughni al-Muhtaj]

Praying the Qunut prayer in Fajr is unrelated to praying the Qunut prayer in Witr. Therefore, you may pray both, and Allah knows best. [Ibid.]

I pray this is of benefit and that Allah guides us all.
[Shaykh] Irshaad Sedick
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Irshaad Sedick was raised in South Africa in a traditional Muslim family. He graduated from Dar al-Ulum al-Arabiyyah al-Islamiyyah in Strand, Western Cape, under the guidance of the late world-renowned scholar, Shaykh Taha Karaan.

Shaykh Irshaad received Ijaza from many luminaries of the Islamic world, including Shaykh Taha Karaan, Mawlana Yusuf Karaan, and Mawlana Abdul Hafeez Makki, among others.

He is the author of the text “The Musnad of Ahmad ibn Hanbal: A Hujjah or not?” He has served as the Director of the Discover Islam Centre and Al Jeem Foundation. For the last five years till present, he has served as the Khatib of Masjid Ar-Rashideen, Mowbray, Cape Town.

Shaykh Irshaad has thirteen years of teaching experience at some of the leading Islamic institutes in Cape Town. He is currently building an Islamic online learning and media platform called ‘Isnad Academy’ and has completed his Master’s degree in the study of Islam at the University of Johannesburg. He has a keen interest in healthy living and fitness.