What is the ruling on wiping the face with the hands after supplication and kissing them?

Question : The questioner asks: What is the ruling on wiping the face with the hands after supplication and kissing them? And what did the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) do after his supplication?

Answer : He asked about three matters. First, what is the ruling on wiping the face after supplication? Wiping the face after supplication, whether in prayer or outside of prayer, Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah stated that it is a bid'ah (religious innovation) and that the narrations regarding it are weak and do not constitute a valid proof. It is known that such a matter is not established except by acceptable evidence that serves as a valid proof; otherwise, it is a bid'ah that it is not permissible for a person to use as a means of drawing near to Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). However, Ibn Hajar, in *Bulugh al-Maram*, mentioned that the hadith regarding wiping the face after supplication has various chains that strengthen one another. He said that their collective weight indicates that it is a hasan (good) hadith. Therefore, whoever finds these hadiths to have reached the level of hasan says that it is a sunnah (recommended practice), because the hadiths corroborate one another. And whoever does not find these hadiths to have reached the level of hasan says that they are weak, do not constitute a valid proof, and it is not permissible for a person to wipe his face with his hands after supplication, thereby burdening himself, because it is among the innovations.
In any case, as long as the statement of Shaykh al-Islam and the statement of Ibn Hajar are as described, if a person wipes his face following the opinion of Ibn Hajar, there is no harm. And if he refrains from doing so following the statement of Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him), there is no harm. This is one issue. The second issue is that he says: Kissing the hands after wiping the face with them. We say that this is a bid'ah and has no basis. One does not kiss the hands after supplication in any case. Likewise, one does not wipe the chest or the front of the body with them, as some people do, for this has not been reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Only what is defined by the action of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is followed.
As for the third point, which is what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did after his supplication, I do not know of anything regarding that. The question that should also be added to these three questions is: Is it prescribed for a person to raise his hands every time he makes supplication? We say that the default is that a person should raise his hands whenever he makes supplication. The evidence for this is the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in what Muslim narrated from the hadith of ?
The point of this hadith is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) made extending the hands to Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), who is (Blessed and Exalted is He) in the heavens, one of the causes for the acceptance of supplication. He also made eating haram (forbidden) food a barrier to the acceptance of supplication, even when the causes for its acceptance are present. Likewise, what Imam Ahmad narrated in his Musnad: "Indeed, Allah ." And with this, we say that the default is that raising the hands during supplication is a sunnah (recommended practice). However, there are places where the hands are not raised, such as supplication between the two prostrations in prayer, where the hands are not raised. Supplication after the final tashahhud in prayer also does not involve raising the hands. Supplication in the khutbah (sermon) on Friday does not involve raising the hands, neither for the khatib (preacher) nor for the listeners, except in one matter: raising the hands for the prayer for rain in the Friday khutbah. It is established in the two Sahihs and others from the hadith of Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him). He said: A man entered on a Friday while the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was delivering the sermon. Listen to this hadith; it contains signs from the signs of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). He entered while the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was about to leave and said: "O Messenger of Allah, the wealth has been destroyed and the paths have been cut off. May Allah send us relief." Anas said: We saw nothing in the sky, no clouds or any piece of cloud. So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) raised his hands, and the people raised their hands, and he said: "O Allah, send us rain. O Allah, send us rain. O Allah, send us rain," three times, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), when he made supplication, would supplicate three times. Clouds began to appear and began to churn like the pouring of mountains. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not descend from the minbar (pulpit) until the rain was dripping from his beard. This is one of the matters they want to turn the fitrah (innate natural disposition) of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) into natural causes, so that they may distance the hearts of the servants from clinging to the Lord of the servants. And this is, in reality, dangerous. I do not deny causes; everything is by a cause. But who created these causes? Is it not Allah (Mighty and Majestic)? Yes. Therefore, it is necessary, especially when we are speaking to the general public, that we make all matters, even if we know their causes, connected to the Creator, so that people do not turn away from their attachment to their Creator (Exalted and Majestic is He). For this reason, such things that have happened recently, which are scientific matters based on mere natures and sensory causes, have had a profound effect on the hearts of many people. The important thing is that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) made supplication, raised his hands, and the Companions raised their hands and said "Ameen" to his supplication. He did not descend until the rain was dripping from his beard. And the rain continued to fall for a full week, and the valley flowed like a channel, which is known in Madinah to this day. It flowed for a month, and no one came from any direction but reported abundant rain. In the second Friday, another man entered, or the first man, and said: "O Messenger of Allah, the wealth has been drowned, the buildings have collapsed, and the paths have been cut off. So call upon Allah (the Exalted) to hold it back." So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) raised his hands and said: "O Allah, around us and not upon us," and he gestured with his hand, "around us and not upon us." He did not point to any direction in the sky except that it cleared, until the people were walking in Madinah in the sun, while it was raining around Madinah as long as Allah (Mighty and Majestic) willed. In this hadith, there is a connection to the claim of those who say that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) can command the universe, because he did not point to any direction except that it cleared. But this is clinging to the ambiguous parts of the texts, and those who follow the ambiguous parts of the texts are those who have deviation in their hearts, as Allah (the Exalted) said: . Otherwise, whoever reflects on the hadith finds that it is a refutation of the claim of these people, and that it is a thorn in the throats of their lies, and that it is in their eyes. Why? Because the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not say to the clouds, "Move to the right or to the left," until they moved. Rather, he supplicated to Allah, saying: "O Allah, around us and not upon us." So he was not able to command the clouds, but the One who commands them is Allah (Mighty and Majestic). So he would say: "O Allah, around us," and he would supplicate to Allah (Mighty and Majestic). In summary, raising the hands in supplication is a sunnah (recommended practice), except in the places where it is reported that the hands are not raised, so they are not raised, such as what I mentioned to you in supplication in prayer, and likewise in the supplication of the khutbah on Friday. We used to see now, when the khatib stands to supplicate on Friday, other than for the prayer for rain or for clearing the sky, that many people raise their hands and say "Ameen," and this is not from the sunnah. For this reason, the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) rebuked Marwan, as I think, when he used to raise his hands in the khutbah, and they said that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not do so.