Raising Hands in Du`a (Hadith No. 840)

Assalamu`alaykum,
Bismillah.

Volume 2, Book 17, Number 840:

Narrated Anas bin Malik

The Prophet never raised his hands for any invocation except for that of Istisqa’ and he used to raise them so much that the whiteness of his armpits became visible.

(Note: It may be that Anas did not see the Prophet raising his hands, but it is narrated that the Prophet used to raise his hands for invocations other than Istisqa.)

When to riase hands, and when not to raise hands?

It is important to note that du’aa’ is an act of worship, and every act of worship should only be done on the basis of evidence (daleel). The basic principle here is that the hands should be raised when making du’aa’, except when the du’aa’ is part of another act of worship, in which case raising the hands is regarded as an additional action (and should not be done). Examples of such acts of worship include salaah (prayer), khutbah (sermon), tawaaf (circumambulation of the Ka’bah), sa’ee (running between al-Safaa and Marwah), etc. Salaah includes du’aa’ at the beginning of the prayer, in rukoo’ (bowing), when standing up from rukoo’, in the two sajdahs (prostrations) and in the sitting between the two prostrations – but whoever raises his hands in these places is considered to have committed an act of bid’ah (reprehensible innovation). The same applies to raising the hands when making du’aa’ on the minbar, except in the case of istisqaa’ (praying for rain). And the same applies when making du’aa’ when doing tawaaf or sa’ee.

When there is evidence to show that it is permissible to raise the hands in certain situation, then there is no dispute. Any du’aa’ which has not been narrated in a report and which is not part of another act of worship is regarded as general du’aa’; in this case there is nothing wrong with raising the hands. It was narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) spoke of a man who raised his hands to the sky and said, “O Lord, O Lord,” whilst his food was haraam, his drink was haraam, his clothing was haraam, he had been nourished with haraam, so how could his du’aa’ be answered?

And the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Allaah feels shy to let His slave raise his hands to Him and bring them back empty.” – and other ahaadeeth.

[IslamQA]

Raising Hands for Du`a in Witr:

Raising the hands in the Qunoot of al-Witr is legislated; because the Qunoot is from the same type as the Qunoot when new hardships occur for the Muslims, and this is indeed established by the Prophet –sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam, that he –sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam– raised his hands when he made Dua’ in the Qunoot when new hardships occur for the Muslims.

This was collected by al-Bayhaqi –Raheem’ullaah- with a authentic chain.

[Abdul Azeez bin Abdullaah Bin Baz]

[Taken from ‘Majmoo Fatawa wa Maqalaat Mutafariqa’ vol.30 p.51 ]

Wiping One’s Hands on Face after making Du`a:

..As for wiping the hands on the face after ending the Dua’ in the prayer, then this is not established with an authentic narration, nor an authentic statement, nor by analogy.

This is a Bida’, as for outside the prayer, then it is not authentic, and everything that is narrated regarding this is weak, some of it is more severe in its weakness than other narrations; I have researched it in ‘Da’eef Abi Dawood’ (262) and ‘al-Hadeeth as-Saheehah’ (597), this is why al-Izz bin Abdus-Salaam said in some of his Fatawa: ‘None does this except an ignorant person.’

So it is foremost that it should not be done, and restricting to what the Salaf –Radi Allaahu anhum– did, of raising the hands in the Dua’ without wiping the face in the prayer. And success lies with Allaah.’

[Muhammad Nasir-ud-Deen Al-Albaani]

[Taken from ‘the Original Sifat as-Salah’ vol 3 p.957-959]

Wassalam.