There is a saheeh report from Ameer al-Mu’mineen ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab (may Allah be pleased with him) that he used to recite in his qunoot soorat al-khal‘ and soorat al-hafd in Fajr prayer, and that this qunoot may be called as-sooratayn. This was narrated by Ibn Abi Shaybah in his Musannaf (2/315) and ‘Abd ar-Razzaaq in his Musannaf (4969).
However, is Dua-e-Qunut mentioned in the Quran?
Dua'a al-Qunut and surat al-Khal'a and al-Hafd
What was called surat al-Khal'a refers to the du'a saying:
اللهم إنا نستعينك ونستغفرك ونثني عليك الخير كله ونشكرك ولا نكفرك ونخلع ونترك من يفجرك.
“O Allah, verily we seek Your help and Your forgiveness, and we praise You and we are not ungrateful to You. And we disavow and disown anyone who opposes You.” (Source of the translation: islamqa #178209)
Here a transliteration of my own:
Allahuma inna nast'ynuka wa nastaghfiruka wa nutni 'alayka al-Khayra kullah wa nashkuruka wa laa nakfuruk wa nakhla'u wa natruku man yakfuruk.
As to what was called surat al-Hafd, it refers to the du'a saying:
اللهم إياك نعبد ولك نصلي ونسجد وإليك نسعى ونحفد نرجو رحمتك ونخشى عذابك إن عذابك بالكفار ملحق.
“O Allah, You alone we worship, to You we pray and prostrate, and for Your sake we work and strive. We hope for Your mercy and fear Your punishment, for Your punishment will inevitably befall the disbelievers.” (Same source of the translation)
Here a possible transliteration:
Allahuma iyyaaka na'bud wa laka nossali wa nasjud wa ilayka nas'aa wa nahfid narju rahmataka wa nakhshaa 'adhabaka inna 'adhabaka bil kuffar molhiq.
The link to dua' al-Qunut
Both du'as are known to be part of du'a al-Qunut (a version which is attributed to 'Omar ibn al-Khattab) and mostly used by the hanafis and malikis. In his mosanaf المصنف ibn abi Shaybah ابن أبي شيبة quoted six ahadith combining both in a chapter entitled what one suplicates in the qunut of fajr ما يدعو به في قنوت الفجر and al-Bayhaqi quoted it as the du'a al-Qunoot of 'Omar ibn al-Khattab in his as-Sunan al-Kubra (See for example here).
Have they been part of the Qur'an
Imam as-Suyuti in both his al-Itqan fi 'uloom al-Qur'an and ad-Durr al-Manthoor quoted statements expressing that both were part of the Qur'an and have been aborgated and that they have been written in the private copy of Ubay ibn Ka'ab () and that they have started with a basmalah (Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim) in ad-Durr al-Manthoor he wrote the following before confirming via many statements that 'Omar used to recite them in al-Qunoot and he also quoted that Anas ibn Malik () gave the combined version as a replay on what to say in Qunoot:
وأخرج ابن الضريس عن عبد الله بن عبد الرحمن عن أبيه قال : صليت خلف عمر بن الخطاب فلما فرغ من السورة الثانية قال : اللهم إنا نستعينك ونستغفرك ونثني عليك الخير ولا نكفرك ونخلع ونترك من يفجرك اللهم إياك نعبد ولك نصلي ونسجد وإليك نسعى ونحفد نرجو رحمتك ونخشى عذابك إن عذابك بالكفار ملحق، وفي مصحف ابن عباس قراءة أبي وأبي موسى : بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم اللهم إنا نستعينك ونستغفرك ونثني عليك الخير ولا نكفرك ونخلع ونترك من يفجرك، وفي مصحف حجر : اللهم إنا نستعينك وفي مصحف ابن عباس قراءة أبي وأبي موسى : اللهم إياك نعبد ولك نصلي ونسجد وإليك نسعى ونحفد نخشى عذابك ونرجو رحمتك إن عذابك بالكفار ملحق .
My own translation take it carefully:
ibn ad-Dorays compiled from Abdullah ibn Abdarrahman from his fatehr who said: I've prayed behind 'omar ibn al-Khattab and when he finished reciting the second surah he said: "O Allah, verily we seek Your help and Your forgiveness, and we praise You and we are not ungrateful to You. And we disavow and disown anyone who opposes You. To You we pray and prostrate, and for Your sake we work and strive. We hope for Your mercy and fear Your punishment, for Your punishment will inevitably befall the disbelievers."
And in the moshaf of ibn 'Abbas the reading of Ubay and abu Musa:" In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. O Allah, verily we seek Your help and Your forgiveness, and we praise You and we are not ungrateful to You. And we disavow and disown anyone who opposes You."
And in moshaf Hajar: "O Allah verily we seek Your help" and in moshaf ibn 'Abbas zhe reading of Ubay and abu Musa: "O Allah to You we pray and prostrate, and for Your sake we work and strive. We hope for Your mercy and fear Your punishment, for Your punishment will inevitably befall the disbelievers."
Ibn ad-Dorays is the author of a book called fada'il al-Quran and he also has compiled a hadith of Hammad bnu Sulayman (the teacher of abu hanifa) who said he read these two surahs in moshaf Ubay ibn Ka'ab.
Then he (as-Suyuti) quoted that according to what ibn abi Shayba has compiled 'Ali ibn abi Talib () also used to recite these "surahs" in his qunoot of fajr prayer.
He also quoted that ibn Ishaaq (pretended ?) said that he read in moshaf Ubay ibn Ka'ab besideusart al-Ikhlas and the mo'awidatayn also after surat an-Nas: both of these surat preceded with basmalah. As-Suyuti also quoted many others who said the same all are based on statements or compilations of Muhammad ibn Nasr محمد بن نصر المروزي which state names of scholars such as 'Ata' ibn abi Rabah, a-Sha'abi, 'Ata' ibn as-Saa'ib, Ibraheem an-Nakha'i, al-Hassan al-Basri and others who narrated that sahaba such as Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, Ali ibn abi Talib and Ubay who called these two supplication as surah's of the Qur'an which were used in al-Qunoot or appeared in some of their moshafs. Also Sufyan a-Thawri, Sa'id ibn al-Mussayib who used to recite these supplications in al-qunoot. Note that none of these narrations has a fully connected chain.
Also note that the fatwa I used as a helping source for the translation says that it is possible that Ubay ibn Ka'ab has put these two dua's in his own moshaf, and there's certainly nothing wrong with that, as long as nobody says they are missed parts of the moshaf. As the moshaf al-Imam is agreed upon by all sahaba and by tawatur, which is not the case for the few narrations quoting this information.
Az-Zarkashi said in al-Burhaan (2/37): The leading hadeeth scholar Abu’l-Husayn Ahmad ibn Ja‘far al-Manaadi said in his book an-Naasikh wa’l-Mansookh, concerning that which has been abrogated from the Qur’an but was not erased from what people had learned by heart, that this included the two soorahs that are recited in Qunoot in Witr prayer. He said: There is no difference of opinion among the earlier scholars that these two soorahs were written down in the mushafs that were attributed to Ubayy ibn Ka‘b, and it was narrated from the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) that he recited them, and they were called the soorahs of al-Khal‘ and al-Hafd. End quote.
(source islamqa #195880)
As-Suyooti (may Allah have mercy on him) said: al-Husayn ibn al-Munaadi said in his book an-Naasikh wa’l-Mansookh: Among the things that were abrogated from the Qur’an but were not taken away from people’s memories are the two soorahs of al-Qunoot in Witr, which are called Soorat al-Khal‘ and Soorat al-Hafd.
End quote from al-Itqaan fi ‘Uloom al-Qur’an (2/68). (Source: islamqa #178209))
For Further information: See fatwa islamweb #55864 (Arabic) and
