We say, then, with Allah’s aid: All the hadiths of Anas are authentic; they confirm one another and do not contradict one another. The qunūt he mentioned before bowing differs from that which he mentioned after it, and the qunūt to which he assigned a time limit differs from that which he mentioned without such a limit. What he mentioned before bowing is prolonged standing for recitation, concerning which the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said: “The best prayer is that with the longest standing.” What he mentioned after bowing is prolonged standing for supplication. He did this for a month, supplicating against some people and for others, then continued to prolong this pillar of prayer for supplication and praise until he departed this world. Thus, in the two Sahīh collections (1), Thābit reports that Anas said: “I spare no effort to lead you in prayer as the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—used to lead us.” He said: Anas used to do something I do not see you doing: when he raised his head from bowing, he stood upright until someone would say, “He has forgotten”; and when he raised his head from prostration, he remained there until someone would say, “He has forgotten.”

This, then, is the qunūt he continued to perform until he departed this world. It is known that he did not remain silent during this prolonged standing; rather, he praised his Lord, glorified Him (2), and supplicated to Him. This differs from the qunūt limited to one month, which consisted of supplication against Ri‘l, Dhakwān, ‘Usayyah, and Banū (3) Lihyān, and supplication for the oppressed believers who were in Mecca.

As for mentioning this specifically in connection with Fajr, this was determined by the question asked: the questioner asked only about qunūt in Fajr, so he answered what he had been asked. Moreover, he used to prolong the Fajr prayer more than the other prayers, reciting between sixty and one hundred verses in it. And he would—as al-Barā’ ibn