What is the ruling on raising the hands in supplication after the obligatory and regular voluntary prayers? And what is the ruling on wiping the face with them?

The questioner : What is the ruling on raising the hands in supplication after the obligatory and regular voluntary prayers and wiping the face?

The Shaykh : This is actually three issues:
The first issue is wiping the face with the hands after supplication. The scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) differed on its recommendation. Some recommended it, while others considered it a religious innovation. This disagreement is based on the hadiths reported on this matter: All the hadiths reported on this are weak, but some scholars elevated them to the level of hasan li-ghayrihi, meaning they considered the collection of these multiple hadiths to establish that the hadith is hasan li-ghayrihi.
Some scholars considered them weak and stated that they were reported in ways that do not elevate them to the level of hasan li-ghayrihi. Among those who held this view was Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him), and his statement is closer to the truth. Accordingly, the one making supplication should not wipe his face with his hands after finishing his supplication. Rather, when he finishes his supplication and has raised his hands, he should lower them without wiping. However, if we find someone wiping, we do not forbid him from doing so, due to the possibility that the weak hadiths reported on this matter rise to the level of hasan. This is the first issue.
The second issue is raising the hands in supplication. The original ruling for raising the hands in supplication is that it is recommended, because it is among the etiquettes of supplication and among the causes of acceptance. This is based on what is authentic from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: إن الله طيب لا يقبل إلى طيباً وإن الله أمر المؤمنين بما أمر به المرسلين فقال تعالى : يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا كُلُوا مِنْ طَيِّبَاتِ مَا رَزَقْنَاكُمْ وَاشْكُرُوا لِلَّهِ إِنْ كُنتُمْ إِيَّاهُ تَعْبُدُونَ وقال تعالى : يَاأَيُّهَا الرُّسُلُ كُلُوا مِنَ الطَّيِّبَاتِ وَاعْمَلُوا صَالِحًا ثم ذكر النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم الرجل يطيل السفر أشعث أغبر يمد يديه إلى السماء : يا رب يا رب، ومطعمه حرام، وملبسه حرام، وغذي بالحرام، فأنى يستجاب لذلك Indeed, Allah is Pure and does not accept anything but what is pure. And Allah commanded the believers with what He commanded the messengers, saying: O you who believe, eat from the good things We have provided for you and be grateful to Allah if it is Him you worship. And He said: O messengers, eat from the good things and do righteous deeds. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned a man who travels a long distance, disheveled and covered in dust, stretching his hands to the sky: O my Lord, O my Lord, while his food is forbidden, his clothing is forbidden, and he is nourished with what is forbidden, so how will his supplication be answered?.
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) made raising the hands to the sky one of the causes of acceptance. It was also reported about him (peace and blessings be upon him): meaning empty.
The original ruling in supplication is that raising the hands is a recommended practice, an etiquette of supplication, and a cause of acceptance. For this reason, a person finds a difference between his supplication when he has raised his hands and his supplication when he has lowered his hands. He finds that the first state is more humble and more evident in submission and poverty to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) than if he supplicated with his hands lowered.
However, in matters where the Sunnah has come with not raising the hands, it is better not to raise them. For this reason, the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) criticized Bashir ibn Marwan when he raised his hands while supplicating in the Friday sermon, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not raise his hands when supplicating in the Friday sermon except in two places:
The first place is when seeking rain, meaning when asking for the descent of rain.
The second is when seeking clear weather, meaning when asking for clear skies and the cessation of rain. The evidence for this is what al-Bukhari and Muslim narrated from the hadith of Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) that a man entered on a Friday while the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was delivering the sermon and said: "O Messenger of Allah, the wealth has been destroyed and the paths have been cut off, so call upon Allah to send us relief." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) raised his hands and said: Anas said: "By Allah, there was no cloud or wisp in the sky between us and Sula', which is a small hill in Medina known to this day, from which clouds come. Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: 'A cloud like a shield appeared behind it. When it reached the middle of the sky, meaning it was above the heads, it spread and expanded by the command of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). It thundered and flashed and rained. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not descend from his pulpit until the rain was dripping from his beard. The rain remained for a full week, and they did not see the sun. In the second Friday, a man, or the first man, entered and said: 'O Messenger of Allah, the buildings have collapsed and the wealth has been drowned, so call upon Allah to hold it back from us.' The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) raised his hands and said: .
So reflect, my brother, on this great hadith. Two great signs become clear to you in it:
The first sign is the power of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), where He created this cloud in this short time and it rained, and He made the rain remain for a full week.
The second sign is the sign of the truthfulness of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and that he is truly the Messenger of Allah, where Allah accepted his supplication in seeking rain and seeking clear weather.
Then reflect on how this man asked the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to call upon Allah the Exalted to hold it back, but he (peace and blessings be upon him) called upon Allah to make the rain, saying: He did not supplicate for Allah (Mighty and Majestic) to hold it back, but he supplicated for the rain to remain, but in a way that has no harm, but rather benefit.
And we benefit from this benefit: that if a person is afflicted with something that harms him, he should call upon Allah (Mighty and Majestic) to turn it away from him to a way that has no harm, because a thing may be harmful from one aspect and beneficial from another aspect.
In this hadith we mentioned, the hadith of Anas, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) raised his hands when seeking rain, and the people raised their hands with him. Accordingly, the people who are listening to the Friday sermon do not raise their hands except where the imam raises his hands. The imam does not raise his hands in the Friday sermon except in seeking rain or seeking clear weather. From this, we know that what some of the brothers do when the imam supplicates for the Muslims in the Friday sermon, raising their hands during the sermon, we say to them: The Sunnah is that you do not raise your hands, but rather you say "Ameen" secretly, even if you do not raise your hands. Rather, do not raise your hands, because you are following the preacher, and the preacher does not raise his hands in supplication except in the two places we mentioned.
In summary: Raising the hands in supplication is a recommended practice, and it is among the etiquettes of supplication and among the causes of acceptance, except in the places where the Sunnah has come with not raising them, in which case it is better not to raise them. This is the second issue.
The third issue is supplication after the prayer. What is prescribed after the prayer is the remembrance of Allah, due to the saying of the Exalted: Supplication is not prescribed except in what is intended to purify the prayer, such as seeking forgiveness three times immediately after the taslim. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), when he finished the obligatory prayer, would seek forgiveness from Allah three times immediately, because this supplication is intended to purify the prayer from any defects that occurred in it.
As for supplication other than that, it is not prescribed after the prayer, but it is prescribed before the taslim, due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the hadith of Abdullah ibn Mas'ud when he taught him the tashahhud, he said: So he made the supplication before the taslim. And because this is the reasonable thing that reflection requires, for it is more appropriate to call upon Allah (Mighty and Majestic) while you are before Him and He is before your face than to call upon Him after departing from that state you were in. Accordingly, my advice to my brothers is to make their supplication, in which they want to call upon Allah, before the taslim, because this is the place the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) chose for the one who completes the tashahhud.
Except in one case, where supplication is after the taslim, and that is in the supplication of istikharah when a person intends something and hesitates about it. He prays two rak'ahs and then supplicates with the known supplication of istikharah: to the end of the known supplication. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) guided that this supplication be after the prayer, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: meaning he is concerned about it but the right course is not clear to him, he said: It is known that the two rak'ahs are not completed except with the taslim from them. Accordingly, the supplication of istikharah is after the taslim. As for everything else, it is better that the supplication be before the taslim, as we mentioned earlier. These are the three issues contained in his question.
The first issue: Wiping the face with the hands after supplication.
The second: Raising them during supplication.
The third: Supplication after the prayer.
The ruling for each of these three issues has become clear from what preceded.
So what is prescribed for one who has finished the obligatory prayer is to perform the remembrances reported after it. And what is prescribed for one who has finished the voluntary prayer is to depart without raising the hands and without supplication, because supplication is only before the taslim. However, if one of the people supplicates occasionally after the taslim, I hope that this does not constitute a religious innovation, because he distinguishes between the regular matters, which a person makes like a Sunnah, and the occasional matters that may occur to a person, which he does occasionally.

The questioner : May Allah bless you.