What is the ruling on wiping the face after supplication?

Question : What is the ruling on wiping the face after supplication?

Answer : Wiping the face after supplication is not a recommended practice (sunnah), and a person should not wipe his face after supplication, because the hadiths reported regarding this matter are weak, as Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah stated. He, Shaykh al-Islam, said that wiping the face with the hands after supplication is a religious innovation (bid'ah), because if it is not authentically established from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), it is not to be done. Some scholars have said that you should wipe, because although the hadiths reported regarding this matter are weak, their collective weight indicates that they are good hadiths. This is the approach of Ibn Hajar in *Bulugh al-Maram*. However, what I see is that you should not wipe; not wiping is preferable to wiping, even in the qunut, you do not wipe.