Thus, qunūt is an occasional sunnah, not a regular one. It is established that he discontinued it when the occasion for it ceased, then resumed it on another occasion, and again discontinued it when that occasion ceased. It is also established in the Sahīh collections that he performed qunūt after bowing for only one month. This is reliably reported from Anas and others. No one has ever reported that he performed the disputed form of qunūt, either before or after bowing, nor is there anything to that effect in the Sahīh or Sunan collections. Indeed, Companions such as Ibn ‘Umar, Abū Mālik al-Ashja‘ī and others denied this.

It is known with certainty that, had the Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, performed qunūt aloud every day, he would have used a supplication that some of the Companions would have transmitted. They transmitted what he used to say in occasional qunūt and in the qunūt of the witr prayer, so there would have been still greater reason to transmit his supplication in a regularly observed qunūt. If, then, the supplication we recommend for it is merely that used in the qunūt of witr, it is clear that nothing concerning this has been transmitted from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. This is known with absolute certainty, just as the absence of an explicit text prescribing this and similar practices is known. It is inconceivable that all the Companions neglected to transmit it; such a supposition is certainly false.

Likewise, what is transmitted from Companions such as ‘Umar, ‘Alī and others is occasional qunūt: qunūt offered in times of calamity. ‘Umar’s supplication during it—namely:

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

and so forth—indicates that he offered it when he was killing Christians. The same applies to ‘Alī’s supplication when he was fighting some of those who face the qiblah in prayer. As for the hadith containing a report from