❖ Is Collective Duʿāʾ After Obligatory Salah a Sunnah or a Bid‘ah?
Source: Fatāwā ʿUlamāʾ-e-Ḥadīth, Kitāb al-Ṣalāh, Volume 1✿ Question:
What is the ruling regarding the practice of the imām making duʿāʾ aloud after obligatory salah, and the congregation responding with “Āmīn”? Is this collective practice in line with the Sunnah or an innovation?✿ Answer:
Making collective duʿāʾ loudly and regularly after obligatory prayers is an innovation (bidʿah). There is no authentic evidence from the Prophet ﷺ that establishes this practice.◈ Fatwa by the Permanent Committee of Senior Scholars (al-Lajnah al-Dāʾimah, Saudi Arabia):
The committee concluded:✔ All forms of worship are tawqīfiyyah — meaning they must be strictly based on Qur'an and authentic Sunnah.
✔ The specific practice of raising hands and making duʿāʾ collectively after salah is not proven by the Prophet’s ﷺ statement, action, or approval.
✔ True guidance lies in following the Prophet’s ﷺ example.
✔ The established adhkār and supplications after salah are authentically transmitted and were practiced by the Rightly Guided Caliphs, the Companions, and the Salaf al-Ṣāliḥīn.
✔ Any newly invented practice in religion is rejected as per the hadith:
"من عمل عملاً ليس عليه أمرُنا فهو ردٌّ"
“Whoever introduces into this matter of ours something that is not from it, it is rejected.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim)
✿ Challenge for Evidence
Any imām who consistently makes duʿāʾ aloud after fard prayers, and whose followers respond with Āmīn, must present clear proof from the Prophet ﷺ. Without such proof, the act is considered invalid and rejected, as commanded in the Qur'an:"قُلْ هَاتُوا بُرْهَانَكُمْ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ صَادِقِينَ"
“Say, ‘Bring your proof, if you are truthful.’”
(al-Baqarah: 111)
Conclusion: