Discussion of the ruling on the supplication of qunut: "O Allah, guide me among those You have guided..." and an explanation of its meanings from the book al-Kafi fi Fiqh al-Imam Ahmad.

The Shaykh : As for qunut, it is a supplication, and because al-Hasan ibn 'Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: And if it is left off at times, based on the apparent Sunnah in the hadith of Ibn 'Abbas and others, that is also better; so one should perform it at times and leave it off at times.
As for Ramadan, if it were said that persisting in it is better, that would be better, because of the presence of the people and the unity of their word and their gathering behind an imam. So it should not be that this opportunity is missed without supplication, except if he leaves it off at times so that the common people do not think it is obligatory, as is the reality. The reality is that the common people think there is no witr without qunut, so much so that if the imam does not perform qunut, they go out talking, saying, "Today our imam did not perform witr," based on the assumption that qunut is the witr. It is necessary sometimes to leave off qunut so that it becomes clear to people that it is not a condition.
The reader: "And he says in his qunut what was narrated by al-Hasan ibn 'Ali, who said:

The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) taught me words to say in witr: O Allah, guide me among those You have guided, and grant me health among those You have granted health, and be my guardian among those You are the guardian of, and bless for me what You have given me, and save me from the evil of what You have decreed. Indeed, You decree and no one decrees over You. Indeed, he whom You befriend is not humiliated, and he whom You oppose is not made mighty. Blessed are You, our Lord, and Exalted.

علمني رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم كلمات أقولهن في الوتر: اللهم اهدني فيمن هديت وعافني فيمن عافيت وتولني فيمن توليت وبارك لي فيما أعطيت وقني شر ما قضيت إنك تقضي ولا يقضى عليك إنه لا يذل من واليت ولا يعز من عاديت تباركت ربنا وتعاليت

Sahih Ibn Hibban 7:344

Al-Tirmidhi narrated it and said: We do not know anything better than this from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding qunut. And from 'Ali, he said: ".

The Shaykh : The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) taught this hadith to al-Hasan ibn 'Ali. Al-Hasan ibn 'Ali is the son of the daughter of the Messenger. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said about him: And Allah will reconcile through him two groups of Muslims. He is better than his brother al-Husayn because the Messenger described him as a master (sayyid), and he said about al-Hasan and al-Husayn: both of them. Then the Messenger praised him by saying that Allah will reconcile through him two groups, and that is how it was, for he relinquished the caliphate to Mu'awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him), and thereby a great deal of blood was preserved.
He taught him this supplication. His saying: The guidance intended here is guidance of knowledge and guidance of success.
The meaning of this is health of the body and health of the heart. Some scholars said: Being granted health (ma'afah) is that Allah grants you health from people and grants people health from you, because a person is either one who is encroached upon or one who encroaches on others. So if Allah grants him health from eating the flesh of people, and grants people health from his eating their flesh, that is among the greatest health.
That is, the two types of guardianship: general or specific?
The student: Specific.

The Shaykh : Specific, because general guardianship is for everyone, even for disbelievers; Allah is their guardian, as He the Exalted said: .
From wealth, or from wealth and knowledge?

The questioner : The second one.

The Shaykh : From both of them. Bless for me what You have given me of wealth and what You have given me of knowledge.
And You did not decree? You decreed. And here "ma" is a relative pronoun, and it is not correct for it to be a nominalizer (masdar), because if you assumed it was a nominalizer, the meaning would be "the evil of Your decree," and in that case it would require figurative interpretation (ta'wil). But if we make it a relative pronoun, the meaning becomes "and save me from the evil of what You have decreed." So the evil is in the decreed matter, not in the decree itself. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: So the evil is in the decreed matter, not in the decree of Allah. As for the decree of Allah, which is His decree, meaning His action and determination, it is good. The evil that exists in His decrees is relative evil; you find it to be evil in one state and good in another state, or you find it to be evil for some people and good for others. Is that not so? Rain is good, and a man is building and has just poured the roof of his building, then heavy rains come, so this rain becomes for the owner of the house what? Evil, but it is good for others. Then, with regard to this person upon whom it was decreed, it is not pure evil, because it will be an expiation for great sins. Allah the Exalted said: So not everything that Allah decrees for a person as a calamity is evil; it may be much good that becomes clear later. Yes.
Yes, "You decree and no one decrees over You" means You rule and no one rules over You. For this reason, the scholars said that people have no obligatory right upon Allah except what He has obligated upon Himself. And in this, Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
"The wealth of the servants has upon You an obligatory right *** You, the Exalted, the Great, have obligated the great reward
No, and no deed is lost with You *** If it is with sincerity and excellence
If they are punished, it is by Your justice, or if they are blessed, it is by Your favor, and favor is for the Bestower"
Now, Whoever Allah is the guardian of is the Mighty, and he cannot be humiliated ever. 'Abdullah ibn Abi said: He intended by "the Mighty" himself and by "the humiliated" the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). So Allah the Exalted said, "Muslim," meaning that the Mighty will not be humiliated. But who is the Mighty? Read what comes immediately after: And He did not say "and the Messenger of Allah is the Mighty." He said: And you, O son of Abi, you have no might. If He had said "and the Mighty is the Messenger of Allah and the believers," it would be understood that the son of Abi has might, but that is not the case.
The important point is that whoever Allah is the guardian of has no humiliation. Correct, whoever Allah is the enemy of has no might. And what sometimes happens of the victory of disbelievers over Muslims does not contradict this, because that is a luring (istidraj) and a temporary victory, and it has a cause from the believers to be a calamity for them to purify them, like what happened in the Battle of Uhud. For this reason, Abu Sufyan said, "The day of Badr is a day of war, and war is a series of exchanges." He did not think that behind that was the wisdom of Allah that is hidden from him and his like. So the result is that whoever Allah is the enemy of has no might, and what sometimes happens of the victory of disbelievers over Muslims is a luring, a trial, and a purification for the believers, and it has great wisdom, as Allah the Exalted mentioned in Surat al-Imran.
"Blessed" means: Your blessings are great and Your good things are many. And "Exalted" means: You are elevated above every deficiency and every evil. And among that is also His elevation by His essence, (Glorified and Exalted is He). And Allah knows best.