Ruling and Guidance on Raising Hands for Duʿā’ After Prayer
Source: Fatāwā Arkān al-Islām
What is the Shar‘i ruling on raising the hands for duʿā’ after prayer? Is there any prescribed command for this in Sharī‘ah?
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu wa-s-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, ammā baʿd:
Raising the hands for duʿā’ after prayer is not a mandatory Shar‘i instruction.
If a person wishes to make duʿā’, it is better and more virtuous to do so within the prayer itself, especially after the tashahhud and before taslīm.
The Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ indicates this, as in the ḥadīth of ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd رضي الله عنه:
«ثُمَّ لِيَتَخَيَّرْ مِن المسألة ما شاء»
“Then let him choose whatever supplication he wishes.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Kitāb al-Adhān, Bāb Mā Yatakhaīyar min al-Duʿā’ Baʿd al-Tashahhud, ḥadīth 835)
Making it a regular, fixed act to raise the hands for duʿā’ after every prayer — to the extent that it is considered obligatory — has no basis in Sharī‘ah.
Such insistence falls under bidʿah if done as a consistent, obligatory practice.
هٰذا ما عندي والله أعلم بالصواب
Source: Fatāwā Arkān al-Islām
Question
What is the Shar‘i ruling on raising the hands for duʿā’ after prayer? Is there any prescribed command for this in Sharī‘ah?
Answer
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu wa-s-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, ammā baʿd:
Raising the hands for duʿā’ after prayer is not a mandatory Shar‘i instruction.
If a person wishes to make duʿā’, it is better and more virtuous to do so within the prayer itself, especially after the tashahhud and before taslīm.
The Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ indicates this, as in the ḥadīth of ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd رضي الله عنه:
«ثُمَّ لِيَتَخَيَّرْ مِن المسألة ما شاء»
“Then let him choose whatever supplication he wishes.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Kitāb al-Adhān, Bāb Mā Yatakhaīyar min al-Duʿā’ Baʿd al-Tashahhud, ḥadīth 835)
The Common Practice After Prayer
- Among many people, it has become a fixed routine to raise the hands for duʿā’ after every nafl prayer.
- Some do it so hastily that the duʿā’ seems to have no substance, and often it appears they merely raised their hands and wiped their faces as a formality — as if performing a religiously mandated act.
- Sometimes, during the iqāmah, one sees someone in the tashahhud of his nafl prayer who, immediately after salām, raises his hands without pause, simply to fulfil this perceived ritual.
Shar‘i Reality
Making it a regular, fixed act to raise the hands for duʿā’ after every prayer — to the extent that it is considered obligatory — has no basis in Sharī‘ah.
Such insistence falls under bidʿah if done as a consistent, obligatory practice.
هٰذا ما عندي والله أعلم بالصواب
