Raising the Hands in Supplication During the Sermon, the Witr Prayer, and After the Regular Voluntary Prayers

Question:
I see some people raising their hands in the supplication of the Friday sermon, while others do not do so. Similarly, some people raise their hands in the supplication after the regular voluntary prayer, and some raise their hands in the supplication of the qunut in the witr prayer, while others do none of these things. I ask your eminence—may Allah reward you with good—to inform us about the Sunnah regarding raising the hands in supplication.

Answer:
Raising the hands in supplication is part of the Sunnah and is one of the causes of acceptance; based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): It was narrated by Abu Dawud, al-Tirmidhi, and Ibn Majah, and al-Hakim graded it as authentic. And based on his saying (peace and blessings be upon him), as narrated by Muslim in the Sahih from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), that he said: إن الله تعالى طيب لا يقبل إلا طيبًا، وإن الله أمر المؤمنين بما أمر به المرسلين فقال سبحانه: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا كُلُوا مِنْ طَيِّبَاتِ مَا رَزَقْنَاكُمْ وَاشْكُرُوا لِلَّهِ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ إِيَّاهُ تَعْبُدُونَ [البقرة:172]، وقال: يَا أَيُّهَا الرُّسُلُ كُلُوا مِنَ الطَّيِّبَاتِ وَاعْمَلُوا صَالِحًا [المؤمنون:51]، ثم ذكر الرجل يطيل السفر أشعث أغبر يمد يديه إلى السماء: يا رب يا رب، ومطعمه حرام، ومشربه حرام، وملبسه حرام، وغذي بالحرام فأنى يستجاب لذلك Indeed, Allah the Exalted is pure and does not accept anything but what is pure. And Allah commanded the believers with what He commanded the messengers, so He said, Exalted is He: "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" [Al-Baqarah: 172]. And He said: "O messengers, eat from the good things and do righteous deeds" [Al-Mu'minun: 51]. Then He mentioned the 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 drink is forbidden, his clothing is forbidden, and he is nourished with what is forbidden, so how will his supplication be answered?.
It is authentically established from him (peace and blessings be upon him) in many hadiths that he raised his hands in supplication during the prayer for rain, at the first and second stoning pillars during the days of Tashriq in the Farewell Pilgrimage, and in many other places. However, any act of worship that existed in the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) in which he did not raise his hands, it is not prescribed for us to raise our hands in it; following his example (peace and blessings be upon him), such as the Friday sermon, the festival sermon, the supplication between the two prostrations, the supplication at the end of the prayer, and the supplication after the five obligatory prayers; because this was not established from him (peace and blessings be upon him). What is prescribed for us is to follow his example (peace and blessings be upon him) in both action and omission; as Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) said : [Al-Ahzab: 21], and success is from Allah.