The Ruling on Qunut in the Fajr Prayer

Question:
The questioner says: I pray in one of the mosques, which is close to my house. The Shafi'i imam recites the qunut every day, and the people of the mosque are always in disagreement about the qunut. Should I recite the qunut with them or not? It is known that if he forgets the qunut on any day, he performs the prostration for forgetfulness.

Answer:
This is what some scholars said, but the correct view is to leave it out. The correct view is that one does not recite the qunut in the Fajr prayer, but some scholars hold that the qunut is recited in Fajr, citing a weak hadith. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and the wording of the hadith is weak. The correct view is that there is no qunut in Fajr except when there are calamities befalling the Muslims, such as war, and the imam invokes against the polytheists and asks his Lord for victory, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did. He would recite the qunut in Fajr and other prayers during calamities, invoking against the polytheists and seeking victory for the Muslims. But if the prayer is ordinary, with no qunut and no compelling reason, then the Sunnah is not to recite it.
Regarding the hadith of Sa'd ibn Tariq, the meaning is that he said to his father, "You are divorced, O my father, for you are..." Did they recite the qunut in Fajr? So Tariq said to his son, "No, O my son, you are speaking of something new," meaning that reciting the qunut in Fajr is an innovation, something the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not do except in times of calamity. This is the Sunnah. The imam should be informed of this and it should be clarified to him that this is contrary to the Shari'ah. However, if one prays with them and the imam recites the qunut, he prays with them, because he has a doubt. If I said that some scholars have a doubt, then if he prays with them, he recites the qunut with them and prostrates with them for the prostration, following them, based on the hadith that the imam was made to be followed, that the imam was made to be followed, and it varies in its wording.