10 Ramadan 1430h - The Qunut

Venue: MIH, Manchester

Suhoor: Oats in milk with raisins and a banana
Iftaar: Warm cup of milk, dates and butter cookies
Dinner: Boiled white rice, claypot ginger sesame chicken with spring onions...yummmy!..and red plums for fruits (we must not forget to have fruits!)

Woaa, ten days has gone! Ramadan is flashing by. Just another 20 days more, mashaallah.

Last night I decided to memorise more short surahs, then I was reminded about the Qunut. I once made a point to memorise it but never did, was repelled by the length of the dua in a language foreign to me. It is a beautiful prayer. A prayer always recited by our Prophet during the last rakaat of witr. The night prayer. I learnt that the Hanafi school of thought considered witr an obligation and the other schools considered it a sunnah mu'akkadah, a strong sunnah. Since my fiance is from the Hanafi school of thought I had better begin memorising this dua first.

So, I have, alhamdullilah. Thanks to Him who made it easy for me in one night.
In essence the Qunut proclaims our love for Allah and that we put our trust in Him alone.

The translation is as follows (pinched from Mutmainaa's website):

O Allah! We seek Your assistance and ask for Your guidance, and we beseech Your forgiveness and return to You in repentance. We cherish faith in You and place our trust in You. We attribute all goodness to You. We are grateful to You and refuse to be ungrateful to You. We abandon and forsake all those who reject You. O Allah, You alone we worship, unto You alone we pray; unto You alone we prostrate, and for You alone we strive. Unto You alone we flee for refuge. We cherish hope in Your mercy and we fear Your retribution. Verily, Your punishment is bound to catch up with those who reject the truth.

and the Arabic in roman alphabets are:

Allahumma inna nasta'inuka wa nastaghfiruka,
wa nu'minu bika, wa natawwakkalu alayika,
wa nusni alayikal khaira,
wa nashkuruka wa la nakforuka
wa nakhla'u wa natruku
manyafjoruk.
Allahumma iyyaka na'budu wa laka nusalli
wa nasjudu wa ilayika nasa wa nahfidu,
wa narju Rahmataka wa nakhsha 'adhzabaka;
inna adhabaka al-jidda
bi al-kuffari mulhiq

and I have done it! and now I can say my witr correctly. oh, yes, I have broken it up into shorter sentences and that actually made it easier to commit to memory.

Yes, I am happy, Alhamdulilah.