But the Friday congregational prayer which has two rak‘ah s have two qunut s...

But the Friday congregational prayer which has two rak‘ah s have two qunut s, one before the ruku‘ of the first rak‘ah and the other one after the ruku‘ of the second rak‘ah . In the ‘Id al-Fitr and ‘Id al-Qurban prayers each of which has two rak‘ah s, we recite nine qunut s; five successive qunut s before the ruku‘ of the first rak‘ah and four successive qunut s before the ruku‘ of the second rak‘ah . Of course, there is a special supplication recorded for these qunut s.

Even in the salah al-ayat {prayer of natural signs} which has two rak‘ah s and five *ruku‘*s in every rak‘ah , it is recommended to recite the qunut before the second, fourth, sixth, and eight *ruku‘*s, though it is enough to have one qunut before the tenth ruku‘ .

The witr prayer, which is a one- rak‘ah prayer performed at the end of the night supererogatory prayers, has a long qunut and many recorded supplications, such as istighfar {to say, for example, “ astaghfirullah ”} 70 times, “ al-‘afwu ” 300 times and supplication for 40 believers. The prayer for rain, like the ‘Id prayers, has five qunut s in the first rak‘ah and four qunut s in the second rak‘ah . In any case, to prolong the qunut is recommended.

Abu Dharr asked the Prophet (S): “Which prayer is better?” The Prophet (S) replied: “The prayer whose qunut is longer and anyone who would recite his qunut longer will have more comfort during the time of the Day of Resurrection.”[^9] The qunut of the Infallibles (‘a) Ibn Mas‘ud said that the reason behind his acceptance of Islam was his witnessing the prayer of three persons, viz.

the Holy Prophet (S), Hadrat ‘Ali ( ‘a ) and Hadrat Khadijah ( r ).[^10] In the salam that we give in the Ziyarah Al Ya Sin to Hadrat al-Mahdi (may Allah, the Exalted, expedite his glorious advent), we read: “Peace be upon you when you are standing for prayer and qunut !” For each of the Infallibles ( ‘a ), there has been recorded long supplications in the qunut , which we cannot quote here for lack of space.

It is surprising that the qunut with all its blessings is not widely and frequently practiced. Were Hadrat ‘Ali and the Khulafa’ ar-Rashidun not reciting qunut in their prayers? During qunut we should not think of ourselves and our requests only. We have to learn from Hadrat Zahra who said: “ al-jaru thumma ’d-dar. ”[^11] That is, “Think of your neighbor first and then your family.” God has promised to grant the personal requests of anyone who would pray for others.