Did it become established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) or the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) that the hands are raised after the obligatory prayer?

The questioner : Seven: Did it become established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) or from the Companions that the hands are raised in supplication after the obligatory prayer?

The Shaykh : It has not been established in an authentic hadith that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) used to raise his hands after the prayer. Rather, there are some weak hadiths, such as those narrated by al-Tabarani and others, that he (peace and blessings be upon him) was seen at times making supplication after the prayer with his hands raised. However, none of them has a chain of narration that serves as a proof. In fact, the hadiths that mention the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) making supplication after the prayer without raising his hands are few, and very few, to the extent that the Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) either did not notice them, or he did not see them as indicating that supplication after the prayer is a regular recommended practice (sunnah) of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Therefore, he chooses that the supplicant should make supplication before exiting his prayer with the taslim, and that it is not prescribed for him to make supplication after the prayer. We agree with him in this opinion with a simple condition: that it is permissible for him to make supplication occasionally with some short supplications that are established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). We all know that in Sahih Muslim, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) used to say when he finished his prayer with the taslim: , and that he (peace and blessings be upon him) used to say to Mu'adh ibn Jabal: , and in Sahih Muslim as well, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to say when he finished the prayer with the taslim: . This is a supplication that is also established when a sleeper wakes up from his sleep.
This hadith and similar ones establish the principle of the permissibility of supplication after the taslim. However, as you can see, these are concise, short supplications. Therefore, we agree with Ibn Taymiyyah in his choice of what is better, which is supplication before the taslim, but we do not see any objection to supplication after the taslim as well, with concise, short supplications. From this, we know that what many imams of mosques in some Islamic countries do, where the imam faces the congregation, raises his hands, and makes a long, extensive supplication first, and they say "Ameen" to his supplication, and then he may raise his voice, disturbing those who are late in their prayer; in this situation, we have no doubt that such a supplication is not prescribed. As for supplication occasionally and without raising the hands, there is nothing wrong with it, provided that the supplication is short and concise.
And I prefer the example that the Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah gave to explain the difference between one who supplicates before exiting the prayer and one who supplicates after exiting the prayer. He says: The example of this and that is like a man who stands before a king worthy of respect, and he has a need with him. He is standing before him... he does not present his need or ask for it from him while he is standing before him. But when he turns away from him, he asks for his need from him. Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is more deserving that the worshipper turn to Him with his need while he is standing before Him in prayer and is still in his prayer. And Allah (Mighty and Majestic)... upon Him.
In summary: It has not been authentically established from the Messenger (peace be upon him) that he raised his hands in supplication after the prayer. As for raising the hands in supplication in general, this is a prescribed matter known to you; so there is no need to delve into it.