Dear respected Shaykh, assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. What is the ruling on supplicating in a manner of recitation, whether it is on qunut during prayer or outside prayer? ترتيل الدعاء

Praise be to Allah, and may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, his family and his companions.

Wa alaikum assalam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.

To proceed:

The instruction of recitation came with regards to reading the Quran. Allah the Almighty says: “and recite the Qur'an (aloud) In a slow, (pleasant tone and) style.” [al-Muzzammil: 4]. This means that a servant should recite the Quran slowly. There is nothing wrong in reciting a supplication according to this meaning. Recitation is not only limited to the Quran, not only that but it is what is required in anything that needs reflecting, understanding and thinking. For that reason, some scholars instructed that recitation should be observed when reading the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace be on him). In Alfiyyah, al-Suyuti says:

And recite hadith while seated in a gathering.
At least one day a week in a wide crowd.

Many have understood recitation as beautifying the voice and intonation while reading but what is apparent is that there is a difference between the two. Recitation is reading slowly whereas intonation is beautifying the voice while reading. There are many ahadith which instruct intonation upon reading the Quran like the hadith transmitted by Bukhari (7525) on the authority of al-Zuhri from Abu Salamah from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) who said that the Messenger of Allah (peace be on him) said: “Whoever does not recite Quran in a nice voice is not from us.” The reason for this is that intonation and beautifying the voice while reading causes one to give his attention and devotion to what is being read. In al-Fath (9/72), al-Hafidh Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “There is no doubt that hearts are inclined to listening to a beautiful recitation more than they are inclined to listening to a recitation with no intonation, this is because intonation has an impact on the tenderness of the heart and blood flow.”
There are two scholarly opinions with regard to reading text other than the Quran with intonation and beautifying the voice such as reading the hadith, supplication of qunut and the like:

First: Beautifying the voice and intonation is specifically for the Quran only, consequently, it is not permissible when supplicating because it was not done by the Messenger of Allah (peace be on him) or by the companions (may Allah have mercy on them).

Second: There is nothing wrong with it; the objective of beautifying the voice is attentiveness and for it to have an effect on the heart. This is also required when reading texts other than the Quran like supplications and hadith. However the beautification should not be similar to that of the Quran so that it does not result in confusing the listener and end up asking himself if what is being read is the Quran or not.

What is apparent is that this is a broad issue,  although it is permissible for a person to beautify his voice while reading qunut supplication or other text because beautification of the voice results in attentiveness. With regards to this being not transmitted from the Messenger of Allah
(peace be on him) or the companions (may Allah have mercy on them); this justification on prohibition is not correct in every respect because absence of citation is not citation on absence of a ruling.
And Allah knows best.

Your brother,

Dr. Khalid al-Mosleh

22 / 9 / 142 8AH