Is raising hands in du'a (dua) bid'ah?

Question

I have many questions about that:

• Is raising one's hands for du'a after each and every salat bid'a?

• Is it true that the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) never really raised his hands in Du'a except in Salat Istisqa'a (salat in which people ask Allah to bring rains)? Are there other instances where the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) raised his hands?

• Also I remember reading a Hadith in which the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) said that Allah is shy of His servant when he raises his hands in Du'a, and Allah does not like not to answer to him when he puts his hands down. I would like to know where this Hadith is and it's authenticity.

I would prefer answer be from Hadith or Quran only no fatwas or such things.

Answer 1

• Is raising one's hands for du'a after each and every salat bid'a?

Muslims make du'a on several occasions. There are instances reported where the Prophet (salallahu alayhi wassalam) raised his hand during du'a and there are instances where he did not. It is a Sunnah to raise our hands in the postures in which he raised his and it is a Sunnah not to raise them in the postures he did not raise his hands in. For instance, before you finish Tahiyyat i.e. before the taslim, there is a du'a - Do you raise hands in that? No. Similarly, between the prostrations, you say "Rabbi, ighfir li", that is also a du'a. Do you raise hands? No. Because, the Prophet (salallahu alayhi wassalam) did not. There are no reports that he did. And if you do an action of worship, which has no evidence in Islam, then it is rejected. He (salalallahu alayhi wassalam) said:

“Anyone who does an action which is not in accordance with this matter of ours (Islam) will have it rejected.” [Sahih Muslim #1718]

The Prophet (salallahu alayhi wassalam) never raised the hands after the obligatory prayers. However, in other situations, the Prophet (salallahu alayhi wassalam) did - like when supplicating for rain or during the Friday Khutbah or any other occasion etc. Hence, raising hands during du'a after the obligatory prayers is a bid'ah.

• Is it true that the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) never really raised his hands in Du'a except in Salat Istisqa'a (salat in which people ask Allah to bring rains)? Are there other instances where the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) raised his hands?

Other instances (not exhaustive) - During Qunoot of Witr

The Prophet (sallallaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) used to raise his hands in his qunoot an-naazilah, supplicating against people. [Saheeh: Ahmad 3/137, al-Mu'jam as-Sagheer, and al-Bayhaqee in Dalaa'il an-Nubuwwah and as-Sunan al-Kubraa].

• Also I remember reading a Hadith in which the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) said that Allah is shy of His servant when he raises his hands in Du'a, and Allah does not like not to answer to him when he puts his hands down. I would like to know where this Hadith is and it's authenticity.

Narrated by Salman Al-Farisy

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: Your Lord is Most Shy and Most Generous! He is so Shy that He does not send His Servant's supplications back without answering them when His Servant raises his hands on supplicating Him. [Ahmad #23202, Abu Dawud #1488]

This hadeeth is usually quoted as a proof of permissibility of raising hands. However, the answer to that is that the hadeeth is meant for outside of the salaah.

Source:

Raising the hands when saying Du`a' after obligatory Salah

Ruling on raising hands for supplications

Ruling on raising the hands for Du`a'

Answer 2

In this hadith from al-Khisal by Ibn Babawayh we see that Imam Ali a.s. not only accept this action, he explains the reason of raising hands at dua:

Imam Ali a.s. said:

اذا فَرِغَ اَحَدُکُمْ مِنَ الصَّلوةِ فَلْیَرْفَعْ یَدَیْهِ اِلَى السَّماءِ، وَ لِیَنْصَبَّ فى الدُّعاء

When one of you finished his prayer raise his hand and make dua.

A man asked him:

O commander of faithful! is not God everywhere? Imam replied: so why slaves rise their hands to sky? Imam said: have not you read Quran?: وَفى السَّماءِ رِزْقُکُمْ وَ ما تُوْعَدُوْنَ

> And in the sky is your provision and whatever you are promised.(51:22) reference of hadith: Bihār al-Anwār, vol. 90, hadith no. 7

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Reference:

http://tebyan.net/newindex.aspx?pid=264894

Answer 3

(6341) – Abu ‘Abd Allah said: And Al-Uwaysi said, “Muhammad ibn Ja’far related to me about Yahya ibn Sa’id and Shurayk [that] they heard Anas say about the Prophet – may Allah bless and grant him peace: “He raised his hands until I saw the whiteness of his armpits."

Abdullah ibn Zubayr (Allah be pleased with him) saw a person raising his hands and supplicating before he completed his prayer. When he ended his prayer, he said to him: “The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) never used to raise his hands until after completing his prayer.” (Recorded by Tabrani in his al-Mu’jam, and authenticated by al-Haythami in Majma’ al-Zawaid vol. 1, pg. 169)

I'm not sure how authentic the above hadiths is but I came across it a few times and thought that it is relevant to your question. Maybe the confusion is for raising your hands during Salah, which is not Sunnah.

Answer 4

There is no clear prohibition raising one's hand outside salah. What is certain is Rasulullah SAW did raised his hands..we shouldn't fret over small unsure matters and allowing conflicts among us to come in.

Answer 5

Somewhere I read that the word 'Dua' is derived from the Arabic root meaning to call out or to summon. Don't we call out to someone by raising our hands? I also found these two Quranic verses which indicate probably to make Dua by extending hands forward while in standing position in Salat and before the Ruku:

(13:14) To Him is the call of truth; and those upon whom they call, apart from Him, answer them nothing, but it is as a man who stretches out his hands to water that it may reach his mouth, and it reaches it not. The prayer of the unbelievers goes only astray.

(38:24) (David) said: He hath wronged thee in demanding thine ewe in addition to his ewes, and lo! many partners oppress one another, save such as believe and do good works, and they are few. And David guessed that We had tried him, and he sought forgiveness of his Lord, and he bowed himself and fell down prostrate and repented.

-Allah knows best

Answer 6

“When the Prophet (pbuh) asked something to happen from Allah, he would make his palms face the sky. However, when he wanted to avoid something, he would make his palms face the ground.” (For the hadiths regarding the issue, see Musnad, Ahmad b. Hanbal IV/56; Majmauz-Zawaid, X/168; Jam’ul-Fawaid, II/618; al-Fathul-Kabir, II/357)