The four schools
Dua e Qunoot in witr, school by school
Where each school says the qunoot, and the narrations each view rests on.
Dua e Qunoot in the four schools, at a glance
| School | Witr | Qunoot in witr | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hanafi | Wajib, from “witr is a duty” (Sunan Abi Dawud 1422) | Every night of the year | Third rak‘ah, before bowing, after a takbir with raised hands |
| Shafi‘i | Emphasised sunnah (Jami‘ at-Tirmidhi 453) | The second half of Ramadan | After rising from the last bowing |
| Maliki | Emphasised sunnah (Jami‘ at-Tirmidhi 453) | Not said in witr | The school’s qunoot is in Fajr |
| Hanbali | Emphasised sunnah (Jami‘ at-Tirmidhi 453) | Every night | After rising from bowing |
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Hanafi
Every night, before bowing. The Hanafi school counts witr as wajib, taking the hadith that witr is a duty on every Muslim (Sunan Abi Dawud 1422). It prays three rak‘ahs with one salam and says the qunoot every night in the third, before bowing, after raising the hands with a takbir; the words it teaches begin “Allahumma inna nasta‘inuka”, as in al-Marghinani’s al-Hidayah.
Shafi‘i
The second half of Ramadan, after bowing. The Shafi‘i school counts witr as an emphasised sunnah, following ‘Ali’s words that it is not obligatory like the prescribed prayers (Jami‘ at-Tirmidhi 453). It says the qunoot in witr in the second half of Ramadan, after rising from the last bowing, with the dua taught to al-Hasan (Jami‘ at-Tirmidhi 464), as an-Nawawi sets out in al-Majmu‘.
Maliki
Not in witr. The Maliki school also counts witr as an emphasised sunnah (Jami‘ at-Tirmidhi 453), prayed as one rak‘ah after an even pair. It does not say qunoot in witr; its qunoot belongs to the Fajr prayer, as Khalil’s Mukhtasar records.
Hanbali
Every night, after bowing. The Hanbali school counts witr as an emphasised sunnah (Jami‘ at-Tirmidhi 453) and says the qunoot in it every night of the year, after rising from bowing, with the dua taught to al-Hasan (Sunan Abi Dawud 1425), as Ibn Qudamah sets out in al-Mughni.
One dua, four practices
All four accept the same dua. Each view rests on its school’s reading of the same narrations, and all four accept the dua taught to al-Hasan (Jami‘ at-Tirmidhi 464). For your own practice, ask a scholar of the school you follow.