When are the hands raised during supplication?
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Question : May Allah reward you. The questioner asks: What is the ruling on raising the hands for supplication between the adhan and the iqamah? And what is the criterion for the times when hands are raised in supplication?
Answer : The default in supplication is that it is done with the raising of the hands, because among the etiquettes of supplication and the causes of its acceptance is that a person raises his hands to his Lord. We have two pieces of evidence for this. The first evidence is what Imam Ahmad narrated in his Musnad from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said:Bulugh al-Maram 16:117 The second evidence is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned the man who travels a long distance and stretches his hands to the sky, saying, "O my Lord, O my Lord." So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned raising the hands as one of the causes of supplication, one of the causes of the acceptance of supplication. But...
Raising the hands, according to what we have learned from the Sunnah, falls into three categories. The first category is where raising the hands is considered wrong, and that is in the Friday sermon. The preacher is forbidden from raising his hands in supplication, and the listeners are forbidden from raising their hands in supplication, contrary to what we see from some people: when the preacher begins the supplication, they raise their hands. This is an error. In the Friday sermon, the hands are not raised, even if the preacher says, "O Allah, honor Islam and the Muslims," he does not raise his hands.
And the imam does not raise his hands, and the hands are not raised in the Friday sermon except in two places: in the prayer for rain and in the prayer for clear weather. What is the prayer for rain? It is asking for rain, "O Allah, send us rain," because when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "O Allah, send us rain," he raised his hands. The prayer for clear weather is asking for clear skies, because when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Around us, not upon us," he raised his hands. Apart from that, the hands are not raised.
Now, that is one. The second is what we have learned that the hands are raised in, and that is in the supplication on the Day of 'Arafah.
Answer : The default in supplication is that it is done with the raising of the hands, because among the etiquettes of supplication and the causes of its acceptance is that a person raises his hands to his Lord. We have two pieces of evidence for this. The first evidence is what Imam Ahmad narrated in his Musnad from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said:
Your Rabb (Lord of the Universe) is Modest and Generous, and would never turn the hands of a slave without gain when he raises them to Him (in supplication).
إن الله حَيِيٌّ كَرِيمٌ يَسْتَحِي مِنْ عَبْدِهِ إِذَا رَفَعَ إِلَيْهِ يَدَيْهِ أَنْ يَرُدَّهُمَا صِفَرًا،Raising the hands, according to what we have learned from the Sunnah, falls into three categories. The first category is where raising the hands is considered wrong, and that is in the Friday sermon. The preacher is forbidden from raising his hands in supplication, and the listeners are forbidden from raising their hands in supplication, contrary to what we see from some people: when the preacher begins the supplication, they raise their hands. This is an error. In the Friday sermon, the hands are not raised, even if the preacher says, "O Allah, honor Islam and the Muslims," he does not raise his hands.
And the imam does not raise his hands, and the hands are not raised in the Friday sermon except in two places: in the prayer for rain and in the prayer for clear weather. What is the prayer for rain? It is asking for rain, "O Allah, send us rain," because when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "O Allah, send us rain," he raised his hands. The prayer for clear weather is asking for clear skies, because when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Around us, not upon us," he raised his hands. Apart from that, the hands are not raised.
Now, that is one. The second is what we have learned that the hands are raised in, and that is in the supplication on the Day of 'Arafah.
Source
قناة «فضيلة الشيخ محمد بن صالح العثيمين»، لقاء[10 من 50] متى ترفع الأيدي عند الدعاء؟!! الشيخ ابن عثيمين - مشروع كبار العلماء — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.