Mishkat al-Masabih
Mishkat al-Masabih 1292
وَعَن أبي مَالك الْأَشْجَعِيّ قَالَ: قُلْتُ لِأَبِي: يَا أَبَتِ إِنَّكَ قَدْ صليت خَلْفَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَأَبِي بكر وَعمر وَعُثْمَان وَعلي هَهُنَا بِالْكُوفَةِ نَحْوًا مِنْ خَمْسِ سِنِينَ أَكَانُوا يَقْنُتُونَ؟ قَالَ: أَيْ بُنَيَّ مُحْدَثٌ ". رَوَاهُ التِّرْمِذِيُّ وَالنَّسَائِيُّ وَابْن مَاجَه
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Malik al-Ashja’i said: I asked my father, Father, you prayed behind the Messenger of God, Abu Bakr, Umar, and Uthman, and here in Kufa behind Ali for about five years. Did they perform qunut? He replied: My son, it is a newly introduced practice. Al-Tirmidhi, al-Nasa’i, and Ibn Majah transmitted it.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
أَكَانُوا يَقْنُتُونَ؟
Qunut can refer to a particular supplication or standing in prayer, and the intended practice may be context-specific.
Should qunut be rendered as supplication here or retained as a technical term?