Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

salam brothers

i appreciate your prompt replies. which help me , my friends and fly. immensely. may Allah reward you for all your good work.

my question is: after the fard salah can one lift hands to make (ask) duaa or not? my collegues say after the fard salah one should not lift hands for duaa. then when should one ask Allah? during fajar and asar after the fard we donot say any sunnat or nawfil rakah.

pls. explain, why the people are confusing with all small petty things. kindly let me know the sunnah ways.

jazakallah

a sister

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Answer:

Lift Hands to ask Dua

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Your Question: after the fard salah can one lift hands to make (ask) duaa or not?

Abu Hurairah reported, "The Prophet (saws) said, "Nothing is more dear to Allah than one's supplication to Him.''

Narrated by Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah.

Nu'man b. Bashir reported that the Prophet (saws), said, "Verily supplication is worship."

Narrated by Ahmad and Sunan.

Beloved Sister in Islam, no act of an obedient slave-servant of Allah is dearer to our Lord than supplication…so much so that the Messenger of Allah (saws) declared that supplication is nothing but worship!

One may supplicate their Lord Most Gracious whenever one wishes; for our Lord is ready to hear and answer the prayers of the suppliant whenever he calls upon Him! When a believing slave of the Lord raises his hands and begs and implores his Lord Most Merciful, he declares with his act that he is desperately in need of His help, and His mercy, and His grace, and His forgiveness; and the Lord just absolutely loves this humble state of his believing slaves.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verse 186:

And if My servants ask you, O Prophet, concerning Me, tell them that I am quite near to them. I hear and answer the prayer of the suppliant, when he calls on Me. So let them respond to My call and believe in Me. (Convey this to them), perhaps they may be guided aright!

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 3 Surah Ale-Imraan verses 191-195:

191 Men who celebrate the praises of Allah standing, sitting, and lying down on their sides and contemplate the (wonders of) creation in the heavens and the earth (with the thought): "O Our Lord! not for naught hast thou created (all) this! Glory to thee! Give us salvation from the penalty of the fire.

192 "O Our Lord! Any whom thou dost admit to the fire truly thou coverest with shame and never will wrong-doers find any helpers!.

193 "O Our Lord! We have heard the call of one calling (us) to faith `Believe ye in the Lord' and we have believed. O Our Lord! Forgive us our sins blot out from us our iniquities and take to Thyself our souls in the company of the righteous.

194 "O Our Lord! Grant us what Thou didst promise unto us through Thine Messengers and save us from shame on the Day of Judgment: for thou never breakest Thy promise."

195 And their Lord hath accepted of them and answered them: "Never will I suffer to be lost the work of any of you be he male or female: ye are members one of another; those who have left their homes or been driven out therefrom or suffered harm in My cause or fought or been slain verily I will blot out from them their iniquities and admit them into gardens with rivers flowing beneath; a reward from the presence of Allah and from His presence is the best of rewards."

Time and time again the Messenger of Allah (saws) would raise his hands and beg his Lord Most Gracious, and he (saws) encouraged the believers to do the same. There is overwhelming evidence in the Sunnah regarding the raising of one’s hands when making supplications to the Lord Most Mericful:

Ibn 'Abbas is reported as saying, "When asking for something from Allah, you should raise your hands opposite to your shoulders; when asking for forgiveness you should point with one finger; and when making an earnest supplication you should spread out both your hands."

Related by Abu Daw'ud.

Malik b. Yassar reported that the Prophet (saws) said, "Supplicate Allah with the palms of your hands, and do not supplicate Him with their backs upwards."

Salman reported that the Prophet (saws) said, "Your Lord, the Blessed and the Exalted One, is Modest and Generous, and He loathes to turn away His servant empty-handed when he raises his hands to Him in supplication."

Osamah bin Zaid reported: "I was riding behind the Prophet (saws) in Arafah, while he (saws) raised his hands in supplications to Allah."

Related by Nasa'i

Sunan of Abu-Dawood Hadith 1169 Narrated by Aisha, Ummul Mu'minin

The people complained to the Messenger of Allah (saws) of the lack of rain, so he (saws) gave an order for a pulpit. It was then set up for him in the place of prayer. He fixed a day for the people on which they should come out. Aisha said: “The Messenger of Allah (saws), when the rim of the sun appeared, sat down on the pulpit, and having pronounced the greatness of Allah and expressed His praise, he (saws) said: ‘You have complained of drought in your homes, and of the delay in receiving rain at the beginning of its season. Allah has ordered you to supplicate Him and has promised that He will answer your prayer.’ Then he (saws) said: “Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Universe, the Compassionate, the Merciful, the Master of the Day of Judgment. There is no god but Allah Who does what He wishes. O Allah, Thou art Allah, there is no deity but Thou, the Rich, while we are the poor. Send down the rain upon us and make what Thou sendest down a strength and satisfaction for a time.’ He (saws) then raised his hands, and kept raising them till the whiteness under his armpits was visible. He (saws) then turned his back to the people and inverted or turned round his cloak while keeping his hands aloft. He (saws) then faced the people, descended and prayed two rak'ahs. Allah then produced a cloud, and the storm of thunder and lightning came on. Then the rain fell by Allah's permission, and before he reached his mosque streams were flowing. When he (saws) saw the speed with which the people were seeking shelter, he (saws) laughed till his back teeth were visible. Then he (saws) said: ‘I testify that Allah is Omnipotent and that I am Allah's servant and Messenger (saws).’

Sunan of Abu-Dawood Hadith 1480 Narrated by Abdullah ibn Abbas

The Prophet (saws) said: ‘Supplicate Allah with the palms of your hands; do not supplicate Him with their backs upwards. When you finish supplication, wipe your faces with them.’

Your Statement: my collegues say after the fard salah one should not lift hands for duaa.

When someone declares that one should not do such and such a thing, especially when there is such overwhelming evidence in the Quran and Sunnah; the question that should be posed to the person who prohibits an act is not: ‘then when should one ask Allah?’ but rather, ‘bring me your evidence for it being forbidden in the Quran and Sunnah, if what you say is the truth’!!!

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 1506 Narrated by Ubadah ibn as-Samit

The Prophet (saws) said: ‘Whenever a Muslim supplicates Allah, Allah grants his supplication or averts some kind of evil from him so long as he does not supplicate for something sinful or something that would cut off the ties of kinship.’ Thereupon someone said: ‘Then we shall supplicate plenty.’ The Prophet (saws) said: ‘Allah is more plentiful in responding!’

Beloved Sister, one may lift their hands and beg and implore their Lord Most Gracious in humility, and hope, and fear, whenever one wills! Their Lord is One Who is willing and anxious to hear and respond to all their supplications.

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 1505 Narrated by Abu Umamah

The Prophet (saws) was asked: ‘What supplication finds greatest acceptance?’ He (saws) answered: ‘A prayer offered in the middle of the latter part of the night and after the prescribed (obligatory) Prayers.’

Your Question: pls. explain, why the people are confusing with all small petty things.

Beloved Sister, it is we, because of our lack of knowledge, who allow people to confuse us in the simple and beautiful and the perfect deen or ‘way of life’ called Al-Islam. My dear and beloved sister, ignorance will always result in confusion; and knowledge will always result in conviction; and Allah is our witness, there is no bigger, better and truer knowledge than the knowledge of the Quran and the Sunnah.

The only thing that will do away, once and for all, with the supreme confusion that has been unwontedly created in this beautiful and perfect deen of Islam is when each and every one of us make it a mission of our lives to seek and study the basic Truth from the sources of Knowledge: The Quran and the Sunnah. Allah is our witness, once a slave-servant of the Lord is armed with this knowledge of Truth, the last thing that can enter his mind is ‘confusion’, Insha Allah.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan