Dua after Farz Salah

Q. Is it obligatory to raise one's hands when performing Dua after Salah Farz? And is it true that Rasulullah (Sallallaahu 'Alaihi Wasallam) left the mosque immediately after reading "Allaahoumma antassalaam..."?

R. The Dua, as strongly recommended to us by the Qur'an-e-Kareem and the Ahaadith of Nabi-e-Kareem (Sallallaahu, 'Alaihi Wasallam), is essentially the spirit of Ibaadah. Rasulullah (Sallallaahu 'Alaihi Wasallam) taught us the appropriate moments where our Dua can be answered. These moments include the time after Farz Salah, as a Hadith of Tirmizi Shareef tells us.

Rasulullah (Sallallaahu 'Alaihi Wasallam) taught us several Duas that should be recited after the Farz Salah. According to the Muhadditheen (scholars of Ahaadith), Rasulullah (Sallallaahu 'Alaihi Wasallam) did not recite all these Duas after each Salah. He used to vary his Duas every day.

The fact that Rasulullah (Sallallaahu 'Alaihi Wasallam) used to do Sunnahs and Nawaafil at home and had recommended the Ummat to do the same by saying that the best place to do Salah, except for the Farz Salahs which must necessarily be performed in the mosque, led the scholars to conclude that the Hadith narrated by Hadhrat Aa'isha (Radiyallahu anha) in Muslim Sharif,  according to which Rasulullah (Sallallaahu 'Alaihi Wasallam), did not sit in the mosque for any longer time that allowed him to read "Allaahumma antassalaam wa minkassalaam tabaarakta ya zal jalaali wal ikraam," refers to the Farz Salahs after which there are Sunnahs and Nawaafil to be made, such as the Farz of Zuhr, Maghrib and Isha.

According to another Hadith of Muslim Sharif, narrated by Hadhrat Thaubaan (Radiyallahu anhu), Rasulullah (Sallallaahu 'Alaihi Wasallam) used to read the Istighfar 3 times after the Farz Salah and then recite "Allaahoumma antassalaam..." This Hadith is similar to the one narrated by Hadhrat Aa'isha (Radiyallahu anha). As for the long Duas and zikr that are recommended to read, according to the ahaadith found in Tirmizi Shareef and Nasai Shareef, the scholars say that these should be read after the Farz of Salahs where there is no Sunnah and Nafl to be read.

What procedure should be adopted when making Duas? Should we raise our hands or not? Did Rasulullah (Sallallaahu 'Alaihi Wasallam) raise his hands while doing so? To answer this, several explanations are necessary. Allaamah ibn-ul-Qayyim (Rahmatullahi Alayh) narrated that the question of whether one should raise one's hands or not does not arise, because he said there is no Du'a to recite after Salah. However, many of the ahaadith especially in Bukhari and Muslim tell us that Rasulullah (Sallallaahu 'Alaihi Wasallam) used to make Du'a after the Farz Salahs and had recommended the Sahaabah (Radiyallahu anhum) to do the same. According to a Hadith of Tirmizi narrated by Hadhrat Fad'l bin Abbaas (Radiyallahu anhu) Rasulullah (Sallallaahu 'Alaihi Wasallam) said, among other things, that one should behave humbly in the Salah, beg and show one's misery and raise both hands to Allah, with the palm of the hand towards the face and say, "O My Master, O My Master". The Salah of the one who does not do this, said Rasulullah (Sallallaahu 'Alaihi Wasallam) is incomplete.

The fact that it is said in the Hadith that Dua's are accepted after the Farz Salah proves that one must make Dua at that time. And the fact that raising our hands while making Dua is a sign of humility and makes Dua more effective requires us to do the same. A Hadith narrated by Hadhrat Anas (Radiyallahu anhu), also recommends doing the Dua as described above.

In Musannaf ibn Shaybah, it is narrated that once Hadhrat Abdullah bin Zubayr (Radiyallahu anhu) caught a person making Du'a before he had finished his Salah, and told the latter that Rasulullah (Sallallaahu 'Alaihi Wasallam) did not raise his hands for the Du'a until he had finished his Salah. In another Hadith, Hadhrat Aa'mir (Radiyallahu anhu) said that once he was performing Fajr Salah in the company of Rasulullah (Sallallaahu 'Alaihi Wasallam), the latter, raised his hands to make Dua after completing his Salah.

All these explanations allow us to bring out several points:  

1. Rasulullah (Sallallaahu 'Alaihi Wasallam) performed the Sunnahs and Nawaafil of the Salahs such as Zuhr, Maghrib and Isha at home. This was his regular practice. However, sometimes he would do the Sunnah of the Salah of Maghrib in the mosque in order to show that this practice is also permissible. This is narrated by Hadhrat Huzaifah (Radiyallahu anhu) in Tirmizi Shareef.

2. The long Duas and zikr were only made after the Salahs of Fajr and A'sr, i.e., the Salahs that do not have Sunnah after the Farz.

3. Rasulullah (Sallallaahu 'Alaihi Wasallam) made Dua facing the Qibla, but also with his back turned to it. After the Zuhr, Maghrib and Isha Salahs, he turned his face towards the Qiblah, while after the Fajr and A'sr Salahs he faced the Musallis.

4. Rasulullah (Sallallaahu 'Alaihi Wasallam) was making Dua while raising his hands.

[English version of "Le Dou'aa après la Salaah Farz" – Al Haadi – Vol. 1 No. 5]