The ruling on the permissibility of raising the hands in supplication after the prescribed prayers and during the sermon.

Al-Hawini: Regarding this, your view is well known on raising the hands in supplication during the Friday prayer and after the prescribed prayers. However, the general evidences, such as his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): , and the mass transmission of hadiths from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding raising his hands in supplication, make it problematic to prohibit raising the hands in supplication during the Friday prayer, given that supplication falls under these general evidences.

The Shaykh : This question opens up a very important issue in the principles of jurisprudence, which we can summarize in the following phrase: If a general text—of course, an authentic one—comes to us that includes many particulars, and we know that a part of the particulars of this general text was not acted upon by the Muslims in the past, is it permissible for us to act upon it, even though it falls under the general text?
My answer to that is: If this part of the actions is one of the apparent actions that are not hidden from people by custom, and the causes for transmitting it are also present by custom, and yet it was not transmitted from the righteous predecessors, then it is not permissible for us to act upon this part that falls under the general text. The example is before you, or rather, under your ears, after our brother raised it: raising the hands on Friday while the imam is delivering the sermon and the people sitting are raising their hands. This is an apparent matter; if it had occurred in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), as I said earlier, the causes for transmitting it would have been present. So, the fact that it was not transmitted indicates that it was not done.
Likewise, and perhaps the following example is more important than the first one, because the first example is rarely seen, whether from the people sitting during the sermon or from some of the imams delivering sermons. As for the second example, it is the opposite; it is very widespread. The second example is very common, and it is supplication after the congregational prayer, after the afternoon prayer, for example, or the dawn prayer. This, too, falls under the general evidences mentionedThe questioner : earlier; so is it prescribed?
The answer is: It is not prescribed; because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not do that, nor did his Companions. Rather, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) during the sermon did not go beyond pointing with his finger (peace be upon him). As for the people sitting, they did not raise their hands except when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) delivered a sermon for rain and supplicated therein seeking rain from Allah (Mighty and Majestic). In that situation, he would raise his hands, and so would those listening to his sermon. As reported in "Sahih al-Bukhari and Muslim," the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was delivering the Friday sermon when a man entered through one of the doors of the mosque and said: "O Messenger of Allah, the wealth and the dependents have perished due to the scarcity of rain; so supplicate to Allah for us." So he (peace and blessings be upon him) raised his hands until his armpits were visible, exaggerating in raising his hands, and said: . The people said "Ameen" and raised their hands. He (peace and blessings be upon him) did this in this incidental matter. And from this hadith, some scholars derived the permissibility of seeking rain through supplication alone, without the prayer.
As for the other sermons—the Friday sermons—the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not raise his hands. Therefore, it is established in "Sahih Muslim" that one of the Companions—I think his name was Ibn Ru'aybah—when he saw one of the Umayyad governors raising his hands in the sermon, said: "May Allah disfigure these two hands. I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) delivering the sermon, and he did not go beyond pointing with his finger."
Thus, an action of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that proceeded contrary to a part of the particulars of the general text means that it is not permissible to use the general text as evidence for the legitimacy of that part.
So, we have now discussed two examples: one is raising the hands on Friday, and the other is the imam and the followers raising their hands after finishing the prayer—specifically the afternoon and dawn prayers. But I want to present to you an example that perhaps will alert your feelings and attention to this rule more than the two previous examples, because it is the nature of people that when they become accustomed to something, they become lenient and tolerant of it. But if they are confronted with a new example, they condemn it, even though the ruling is the same, with the old example and the new one. The only thing is that the old example has become accustomed to the souls, so it became a customary matter, and people, even the general public, do not direct condemnation toward it. The example I want to give us general texts, among which is his saying (peace be upon him): . And we have another text that is more specific to the example I will mention than this first text, which is his saying (peace be upon him): . And so, the more the number increases, the more the reward and virtue increase. So now, the example is as follows: People enter the mosques in response to the caller to prayer , and each individual of them goes to a corner of the mosque to pray the pre-prayer recommended practices. If a man decides to gather the people who are praying the pre-prayer recommended practices individually, and says to them: "O people, come, let us pray in congregation," and argues with the two previous hadiths: , ; would his argument be correct?
Whoever insists on arguing with the generality absolutely, as came in the question, his argument would be correct. And on that basis, we would prescribe for people congregation. I am certain that it has no basis in Islam. So how is the answer to the two hadiths that this person used as evidence, especially the second hadith: ?
Here, the practical Sunnah intervenes, which we care about and say: The Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) transmitted to us his sayings (peace be upon him), his actions, and his life in detail. Did the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), when they entered the mosque, each pray the recommended practice individually, or did they pray it in congregation? No one among the scholars says that they used to pray the recommended practice in congregation. So, gathering for the pre-prayer recommended practice, and by that analogy, other recommended practices, is a religious innovation and misguidance, even if it falls under the general text. And our evidence for that is: This general text, regarding this particular detail, was not acted upon by the righteous predecessors. And for that reason, the scholars say:
"And all good is in following the Salaf ** And all evil is in the innovation of the Khalaf (the later generations)"
The reality is that these numerous innovations, which have spread throughout the Islamic lands in various forms and types, originate from relying on general texts that were not acted upon. Therefore, Imam Abu Ishaq al-Shatibi (may Allah have mercy on him) did well in his book *Al-I'tisam* when he divided innovation into two categories. The first innovation, or the first category, is called true innovation, and we are not currently concerned with it. The other innovation is relative innovation, and we are currently discussing it. Imam al-Shatibi says: "Relative innovation is that which, when you look at it from one angle, you find it prescribed, and when you look at it from another angle, you find it not prescribed." He gives some important examples of this, which I mentioned earlier and from which I derived this point. One such example is what is called in some countries the closing of the prayer. The closing of the prayer in the Sunnah, as it came in the authentic hadith, is: . This is the closing of the prayer. However, among the people of innovation, the prayer is not closed with this salam. Rather, the imam or the preacher must instruct those behind him: "Glorify, praise, and magnify," three times . They do not begin anything until the imam begins. Then he raises his hands and supplicates, and they say "Ameen" to his supplication, and thus the prayer is closed. Imam al-Shatibi mentioned this form among the examples of relative innovation. From where is it correct to say that it is prescribed from one aspect? Because it is supplication, and because raising the hands, as mentioned in the question, came in the authentic hadith: , or as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said. Therefore, this form, or this closing, is considered prescribed in that it falls under general texts. However, in that it is a form that did not exist in the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), it is a relative innovation. He establishes with a firm and beautiful explanation that every innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire. Even the smallest innovation is misguidance, even though innovations are not equal in their degree of misguidance, but the smallest of them is misguidance.
He also gives as an example the seeking of forgiveness in congregation after the prayer. He says: The seeking of forgiveness has a basis in *Sahih Muslim*, that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: . This is its basis. However, gathering with one voice for this seeking of forgiveness and this supplication is what was added to the basis of the prescription of this remembrance after the prayer, so it became a relative innovation. Therefore, it was attached to the rule: .
And this is sufficient, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.