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Fatwa CenterQunoot supplication with singular or plural pronoun
Question
I read your fatwa No. 236215, where you said:
If you are leading the prayer as an imam, then you should use the plural pronoun in the Qunoot supplication because you supplicate for yourself and for the congregation. The Fiqh Encyclopedia reads, "If the praying person is an imam, it is desirable not to supplicate for himself only; rather, he should supplicate for everyone, and so he uses the plural pronoun 'Allaahumma Ihdina…,'" On the other hand, if you pray alone, then it is also permissible to supplicate with the Qunoot supplication using the plural pronoun with the intention of including your Muslim brothers as well; this is the opinion preferred by Shaykh Al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah. Al-Mardaawi from the Hanbali School of Fiqh, said in Al-Insaaf, "The person who prays on his own uses the singular form of the pronoun, according to the correct view of the School, but Shaykh Taqiy Ad-Deen (i.e. Ibn Taymiyyah) is of the opinion that he does not use the singular form but he uses the plural form because he supplicates for himself and for the Muslims."
Is it allowed to use both singular and plural when I pray alone? For example, I start with the singular in Qunoot, and after that, I start with the plural. Or is it so that you have to choose one of them and not both? I also want to know if the narrations of Ibn Hibbaan and At-Tabaraani are both authentic. If so, could you write the Arabic versions of these but transliterated in English so that I might understand how to pronounce it correctly. I am talking about those which contain these plural narrations.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
First of all, we say that what we mentioned in the fatwa which you referred to is recommended and not obligatory. So the imam is not sinful if he supplicates with the singular pronoun.
As for your question: "Is it allowed to use both these singular and plural forms when I pray alone?"
Then we say that most narrations of Al-Hassan ibn ‘Ali, may Allah be pleased with both of them, in the hadith about the Qunoot supplication are in the singular form: "Allaahumma ihdini feeman hadayt, wa ‘aafini feeman ‘aafayt..." and some of them were in the plural form: "Allaahumma ihdinaa feeman hadayt, wa ‘aafinaa feeman ‘aafayt..." as in the narration by at-Tabaraani in Al-Kabeer and by Ibn Hibban in his Saheeh. It is better that you supplicate sometimes with the singular form and sometimes with the plural form. As for combining both the singular form and the plural form in one supplication, then we do not see any harm in doing so, and you should not be strict about this, as it is a flexible matter, so do not waste your time and our time with such questions.
As for your question about whether or not the narrations of At-Tabaraani and Ibn Hibbaan are authentic, then the narration by Ibn Hibbaan was authenticated by Al-Albaani and Shu‘ayb Al-Arnaa‘oot. As for the narration by At-Tabaraani, then we did not come across any scholar who ruled whether or not it is authentic or weak, but its chain of narrators includes Al-Hasan ibn ‘Ali ibn Shahrayaar, about whom Ad-Daaraqutni said, "He is weak." Also, its chain of narrators includes ‘Ali ibn Sa‘eed ibn Basheer Ar-Raazi, who was classified by some scholars as weak.
Following is the version of the supplication with the plural pronoun:
"Allaahumma ihdinaa feeman hadayt, wa ‘aafinaa feeman ‘aafayt, wa tawallanaa feeman tawallayt, wa baarik lanaa feemaa a‘tayt, wa qinaa sharra maa qadhayt, innaka taqdhee walaa yuqdha ‘alayk, innahu laa yathillu man waalayt wa la ya‘izzu man ‘aadayt, tabaarakta rabbanaa wa ta‘aalayt."
Allah knows best.
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