Back to search

Is the supplication "Oh Allah, protect me and avert from me the evil of what You have decreed" sound, and does Allah decree evil?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The Qunoot supplication in Witr prayer is authentic and is part of a Hadith narrated by Al-Hasan ibn Ali, may Allah be pleased with them both, in which he said: "O Allah, guide me among those whom You have guided, and grant me well-being among those whom You have granted well-being, and befriend me among those whom You have befriended, and bless for me what You have given me, and protect me from the evil of what You have decreed, for You decree and none can decree against You, and indeed none whom You have befriended shall be humiliated. Blessed are You, our Lord, and Exalted."

The meaning of "and protect me from the evil of what You have decreed" is that what Allah decrees may be good or evil for a person. Good is what suits a person, and evil is what does not suit them. However, all of Allah's decrees are good and full of wisdom, even if the decreed matter appears to be evil, because it is only intended for a great wisdom, such as illness being a cause for repentance and recognizing the value of the blessing of health.

The reconciliation between the statement "and protect me from the evil of what You have decreed" and the Prophet's statement, peace be upon him, "and evil is not attributed to You," is that evil is not attributed to Allah the Almighty, because what He has decreed, even if it appears to be evil, is in reality good, unlike the actions of others besides Allah, which may intend pure evil.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

Read the full answer on Ftawy