Is raising the hands for supplication after every prayer considered a religious innovation?

The questioner : I ask you, O honorable Shaykh, about raising the hands in the state of supplication after every prayer: is it considered a bid'ah (religious innovation)?

The Shaykh : Raising the hands in supplication is among the causes for the acceptance of the supplication and among the etiquettes of supplication, due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): And because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned the man who travels a long distance, disheveled and covered in dust, stretching his hands to the sky: "O Lord! O Lord!" This indicates that raising the hands in supplication is among the etiquettes of supplication and among the causes for its acceptance.
Accordingly, the original ruling is that it is recommended (sunnah) for everyone who supplicates to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) to raise his hands, except where evidence indicates otherwise. Among the matters where evidence indicates otherwise, and that one does not raise his hands in supplication, is supplication in the Friday sermon. In the Friday sermon, hands are not raised, neither by the imam nor by the listeners, except in the case of the prayer for rain. It is established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he raised his hands while delivering the sermon, saying: And the Companions raised their hands with him. Likewise, in the case of seeking relief from rain, it is established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that when a man came to him complaining that the rain had destroyed the buildings and drowned the wealth, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) raised his hands while addressing the people on Friday and said: As for supplicating in the Friday sermon with anything other than that, one does not raise his hands. For this reason, the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) disapproved of Bishr ibn Marwan when he supplicated in the Friday sermon and raised his hands, and they said: "May Allah disfigure these two hands" and they forbade him from doing so.
Among the places where raising the hands is not reported, and where the apparent ruling is not to raise them, is supplication in the prayer between the two prostrations and supplication in the prayer at the end of the tashahhud.
As for the supplication of qunut, the hands are raised in it, because that was reported from 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him).
As for supplication after the prayer, we say: the original ruling is that there is no supplication after the prayer, and that supplication is to be made before the taslim. This is because when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned the tashahhud in the hadith of Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), he said: So supplication is to be made before you say the taslim, as long as you are between the hands of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), conversing with your Lord. This is closer to acceptance than if you supplicated after leaving the prayer, because when a person leaves his prayer, the conversation between him and his Lord is cut off. There is no doubt that his supplication while conversing with his Lord (Mighty and Majestic) is closer to acceptance than supplication after the conversation has ended. So much so that Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: What the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) advised Mu'adh ibn Jabal when he said to him: He said: "This is to be done before the taslim at the end of the prayer" And he said: "The meaning of 'after the prayer' is its end, because the 'back' (dabr) of every thing is its end. For this reason, it is said: the 'back' of the animal is its rear, and its rear is part of it" And what Shaykh al-Islam (may Allah have mercy on him) held, that supplication is to be made before the taslim at the end of the prayer, is the closest to the truth.
Based on this, we say: What is qualified by "after the prayer" or what is restricted to "after the prayer," if it is dhikr (remembrance of Allah), its place is after the prayer. If it is supplication, its place is before the taslim. So the hadith of Mu'adh ibn Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) is before the taslim at the end of the prayer, because it is supplication. And the tasbih, tahmid, and takbir restricted to "after the prayer" are to be done after the taslim, because they are dhikr. And Allah the Exalted said: So the place of dhikr is after the taslim. If dhikr is reported restricted to "after the prayer," it is to be done after the taslim. And the place of supplication is before the taslim at the end of the tashahhud, due to the hadith of Ibn 'Abbas which we mentioned earlier. So what is restricted to "after the prayer" from supplication is to be done before the taslim.
As for what some people have made a habit of, namely that when they say the taslim from the obligatory or voluntary prayer, they raise their hands in a continuous manner, this is undoubtedly not from the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Making it a means of drawing near to one's Lord and designating this place for it as a fixed practice is undoubtedly a bid'ah (religious innovation), and it is necessary for a person to avoid it. However, if one supplicates occasionally and raises his hands after the voluntary or obligatory prayer, I hope there is no harm in that, because it distinguishes between the regular matters that a person makes a Sunnah and continues in, and the occasional matters. Occasional matters may be tolerated, unlike continuous, permanent matters, which must be established as a Sunnah.

The questioner : May Allah bless you. Honorable Shaykh.