If a calamity occurs, does everyone perform qunut?

Question : The third issue: If a calamity occurs, such as what is currently happening in Bosnia and Herzegovina and other Islamic countries, does everyone perform qunut?

Answer : No, only the imam performs qunut. The Supreme Imam. Who is the Muslim imam? The Imam of the Princes of Mosques, the Supreme Imam. For example, here in the Kingdom, only King Fahd performs qunut, while others do not. Why? Because it is not recorded that anyone in the mosques of Madinah performed qunut except the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). Also, the one concerned with the affairs of the Muslims is the imam in the first place; otherwise, all people are concerned with their brothers. Therefore, the jurists said that only the Supreme Imam performs qunut. It was said that the Supreme Imam and his deputies, such as the princes, perform qunut. It was said that only the imam of every mosque performs qunut, not the individual people. It was said that every one who prays performs qunut. This is the most correct view: it is recommended (sunnah) for every one who prays to perform qunut. However, in the congregational mosques, it is not befitting for the word to be divided. They should issue from a single opinion. If the person in charge of the mosques in the country says, "Perform qunut," they perform qunut.
As for one person performing qunut and another not doing so, this divides the Muslims and leads to criticizing one of the two imams: either the one who performs qunut or the one who does not. People criticize the one who performs qunut, asking, "What is this? He is considering himself superior and performing qunut while others do not." And the one who does not perform qunut is said to be a man who does not care about the affairs of the Muslims and does not perform qunut. Look at such-and-such an imam who cares about the affairs of the Muslims; he performs qunut. Therefore, we hold that even though we choose the view that qunut is general, it is not befitting for the imams of the mosques to issue from anything but a single opinion, so that the word is united and so that people do not talk about the imams of the mosques.