may Allah bless him and grant him peace, offered qunūt, and it is reported of him:

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

This is al-Shāfi‘ī’s view. Some who held this view recommended it in all the prayers, since it is authentically established that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, offered qunūt in them. Reports through several chains establish this concerning Maghrib, ‘Ishā’, and Zuhr. However, no one narrated that he regularly offered qunūt using a particular supplication. They therefore recommended using the supplication for qunūt in Witr which the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, taught al-Hasan ibn ‘Alī:

“O Allah, guide me among those You have guided,”

and so on to its end.

Other scholars, including hadith-oriented jurists such as Ahmad, took a middle course, saying:

It is established that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, offered qunūt in response to calamities inflicted by the enemy, such as the killing or detention of his Companions and similar events. He offered qunūt seeking Allah’s help, just as he sought rain during drought. His seeking help when needed was like his seeking provision when needed, for people’s affairs depend upon victory and provision. As Allah Most High says:

“Who has fed them against hunger and made them secure against fear.”

And as the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Are you granted victory and provision except through the weak among you—through their supplications, prayers, and seeking forgiveness?”

And as he said in describing the abdāl:

“Through them you are provided for, and through them you are granted victory.”

Likewise, Allah mentions these two things in Sūrat al-Mulk and makes clear that both are in His hand, glory be to Him, saying:

“Or who is there to serve as an army for you, helping you against the Most Merciful? The disbelievers are only deluded.”

“Or who is there to provide for you if He withholds His provision?”

Then he discontinued qunūt, and a report explicitly explains that he discontinued it because the reason for it no longer existed.