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

The Shaykh: Yes, what do you have?

The questioner: Regarding, O Shaykh, wiping the face with the hands after supplication?

The Shaykh: ... Wiping the face with the hands after supplication has no authentic basis in the Sunnah; rather, only a weak hadith has been reported regarding it.

The questioner: Is it considered a religious innovation?

The Shaykh: Yes, without a doubt; if you know that a weak hadith is not acted upon, then it is a religious innovation. As for raising the hands, that is established in many hadiths from his words (peace be upon him) and his deeds. However, it is obligatory for the imams of the mosques not to adhere to a custom found in our Syrian and Jordanian lands and others, which is called in some lands "concluding the prayer." Concluding the prayer is when the imam turns to the worshippers who remain in their seats after the prayer, receiving from him the commands to recite the tasbih thirty-three times, up to the end of the known cycle in the authentic Sunnah. However, it is not to be done in this manner. The Sunnah is that when the imam concludes his prayer with the taslim, every worshipper should recite whatever comes to mind and whatever they desire from the dhikr established in the Sunnah. As for the followers waiting after... and their separation from the imam, and the imam's command, they do not say "Subhan Allah" unless the imam says "Subhan Allah," and so on until these cycles and dhikr end. Then the imam raises his hands and supplicates, and those facing him say "Ameen." This form of gathering for this dhikr has no basis in the Sunnah. Therefore, the imams should... guide the people with wisdom, and each individual should remember Allah, glorify Allah, and praise Allah on their own. This was the practice in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad.