Likewise, when ‘Alī—may Allah be pleased with him—fought a people, he offered qunūt, supplicating against them. Whoever offers qunūt should use a supplication appropriate to each calamity. It is good to name the believers for whom one supplicates and the disbelievers fighting against the Muslims against whom one supplicates.

As for qunūt in Witr, scholars hold three views:

One view is that it is not recommended under any circumstances, because it is not established that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, offered qunūt in Witr.

Another view is that it is recommended throughout the year, as reported from Ibn Mas‘ūd and others, and because the Sunan collections report that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, taught al-Hasan ibn ‘Alī—may Allah be pleased with them both—a supplication to recite in the qunūt of Witr.

A third view is that qunūt should be offered during the latter half of Ramadan, as Ubayy ibn Ka‘b used to do.

In fact, qunūt in Witr is a form of supplication permissible in prayer: whoever wishes may offer it, and whoever wishes may omit it. Just as a person may choose to offer Witr as three, five, or seven rak‘ahs, and, when offering three, may choose to separate them or join them together, so too may one choose whether to recite the qunūt supplication or omit it. When leading people in the night prayers of Ramadan, one does well to offer qunūt throughout the month, does well to offer it during the latter half, and does well to omit it altogether.