was in Fajr. He did not regularly offer qunūt in Fajr or any other prayer. Indeed, it is established in the two Sahīh collections that Anas said:

“He only offered qunūt after bowing for one month.”

As for the hadith reported by al-Hākim and others through al-Rabī‘ ibn Anas, from Anas, who said:

“He continued to offer qunūt until he departed this world,”

this statement, in its context, refers only to qunūt before bowing. Even if this report contradicted the authentic hadith, it would carry no weight, since al-Rabī‘ ibn Anas is not among the narrators of the Sahīh. Yet it does not contradict it at all. It simply means that he always prolonged his standing in Fajr before bowing. As for the claim that he regularly supplicated in Fajr while bowing or afterward, whether audibly or inaudibly, this is unquestionably false. Anyone who carefully considers the authentic hadiths will necessarily recognize this and realize that, had this occurred, the Companions and Successors would have transmitted it. They would not have neglected to report his regular qunūt prescribed for us, when they reported his qunūt that is not prescribed in that exact form, but only in a comparable form. For the Muslims agree that supplicating for those particular individuals and against those particular individuals is not prescribed; rather, comparable supplication is prescribed.

Thus, when calamities strike, it is prescribed to offer qunūt in Fajr and other prayers, supplicating for the believers and against the disbelievers. This is how ‘Umar offered qunūt when he fought the Christians, using his supplication that includes:

“O Allah, curse the disbelievers among the People of the Book,”

and so on.