Qunoot means humility, devotion, but it is generally used to indicate the special supplication offered while standing in prayer. When Rasulullah wanted to supplicate, he would perform qunoot in the last rak 'at, after rukoo' after having said:
"sami Allahu Ii man hamidah" (Allah listens to the one who praises Him) (Bukhari).
He would supplicate loudly (Bukhari);
raise his hands (Ahmad),
and those behind him would say "Aamin". (Abu Daud).
The Prophet (pBUH) was known to perform qunoot in all five daily prayers (Abu Daud)
although he would only perform qunoot in them when he supplicated (ibn Khuzaimah).
When he had finished the qunoot, the Rasul (PBUH) would say: 'Allahu Akbar' and then prostrate. (Nasai).
Aside from the qunoot in the five obligatory prayers, the Prophet (PBUH) also used to perform the qunoot in the odd rak'at of the witr prayer (Daraqutni)
sometimes he would perform it before rukoo '. He taught al-Hassan ibn Ali (R.A) to say after finishing his recitation in witr:
"Allahumma ahdini fiima hadayta wa aafini fiiman afayta, wa tawa/lani fiima tawallayta, wa barik lii fiima atayta wa qinni sharri ma qadayta, fa innaka taqdhi wa la yuqdha alayka, wa inn au la yudhillu ma waalayta, tabarakta Rabbana wata alayta. " ("0 Allah! guide me among those whom You have guided; and pardon me among those whom you have pardoned; and turn on me in friendship among those on whom You have turned in friendship; and bless me in what You have bestowed; and save me from the evil of what you have been decreed; for indeed You decree, and none can influence you: and he is not humiliated whom you have befriended. Blessed are you, 0 lord, and Exalted. "). (Ahmad).
This article was culled from the publications of Deen Communication Limited