A Simple Question

[Mik]

What is the significance of wiping one's face with the palms of the hands at the end of prayer?

Thank you in advance for your reply.

Mik

[dksadiq]

Welcome to Ummah forums Mik. I see u r very new (not that i'm not myself :p), hope u enjoy ur stay.

As for ur question, I used to do that but I stopped when I read that there is no basis for it. Maybe its a bid'ah.

[Mik]

Thank you for your welcome and reply, dksadiq.

How interesting that there is apparently no basis for it, as it seems to be a somewhat widespread practice.
Assuming for the moment that it is bid'ah, are you or others here aware of any explanation or rationalization for it?

Thanks again,
Mik

[Salman Al-Farsi]

Mik

Are you referring to the Du'a, at the end of Salah or other time, when Muslims raise their hand and then wipe of the face?

[Abu.Bakr]

The only time wiping over your face or body is noted in the hadith is at night when reciting the last 3 surahs.

All other times it is a bid3ah.

Allah knows best.

[Abu.Bakr]

Let's ask someone with knowledge InshaAllah

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http://63.175.194.25/index.php?ln=eng&ds=qa&lv=browse&QR=39174&dgn=4

Question:


What is the ruling on wiping the face and body with the hands after making du’aa’, and kissing the eyes?.
Answer:

Praise be to Allaah.
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It is not prescribed to wipe the face after making du’aa’. There are many ahaadeeth which describe how the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) called upon his Lord in du’aa’, and there is no proven report that he used to wipe his face after making du’aa’.

Those who say that the face should be wiped quoted some ahaadeeth as evidence, but upon further examination they are not saheeh, and do not support one another.

As for the views of the scholars who say that it is not allowed to wipe the face, they include the following:

1 – Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal said: It is not known that anyone used to wipe his face after making du’aa’ except al-Hasan.
Al-‘Ilal al-Mutanaahiyah, 2/840, 841

2 – Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah said: With regard to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) raising his hands when saying du’aa’, there are many saheeh ahaadeeth concerning this, but as for his wiping his face with his hands, there are only one or two hadeeths concerning that, and they cannot be taken as evidence.
Majmoo’ al-Fataawa, 22/519

3 – al-‘Izz ibn ‘Abd al-Salaam said: No one wipes his face with his hands after saying du’aa’ except one who is ignorant.
Fataawa al-‘Izz ibn ‘Abd al-Salaam, p. 47

If it is not permitted to wipe the face after making du’aa’, it is more likely that the person who says du’aa’ should not be allowed to wipe his body either, or to kiss his eyes.

Rather the scholars stated that kissing the thumbs and placing them on the eyes is a bid’ah that was introduced by some of the Sufi tareeqahs, and there is a hadeeth concerning that which is falsely attributed to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).

Shaykh Muhammad ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked about the ruling on wiping the face with the hands after making du’aa’. He replied:

Wiping the face with the hands after making du’aa’ is more likely to be not prescribed in Islam, because the ahaadeeth that have been narrated concerning that are da’eef (weak). Shaykh al-Islam (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: They cannot be used as evidence. If we are not certain or we think it most likely that this is not prescribed, then it is better not to do it, because Islamic rulings cannot be proven on the basis of mere conjecture, unless we believe it to be mostly likely to be the case.

What I think about wiping the face with the hands after du’aa’ is that it is not Sunnah. As is well known, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) prayed for rain during his Friday khutbah and raised his hands, but it is not narrated that he wiped his face with them. Similarly in a number of ahaadeeth it says that the Prophet raised his hands, but there is no proof that he wiped his face. End quote.

Majmoo’ Fataawa Ibn ‘Uthaymeen, 14/question no. 781

And Allaah knows best.

[Salman Al-Farsi]

Apart from the above named scholars, who have a narrow and rigid understanding of Bida, all other madhaib and ulema agree that it is a sound practise.

wiping the face after the du`a, whether the du`a is made after the prayer or at another time, it is a sunna also for what has been related by Tirmidhi by our master, Ibn `Umar, may Allah be well pleased with them both, who said, “The Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him, whenever he used to extend his hands out in supplication, he did not draw them back until he had wiped his face with both of them.”


Hafidh Ibn Hajar said in Bulugh al-Muram, in the chapter of dhikr and du`a, “This was related by Tirmidhi, and he has proofs for this, of them is the hadith of Ibn `Abbas, according to Abu Dawud and others, and all of them together rule that it is a sound hadith (hadith hasan).”


A hadith that his hasan is depended upon in rulings, so it is a sunna to wipe one’s face with one’s hands after the du`a as many scholars considered it [s. depended upon] such as Imam a-Nawawi and his book, al-Tahqiq.

[Abu Hurairah]

Jezak'allah as ever akhy Abu Bakr as ever for clarifying this matter, na'am Sheikh Saleh al Munajid (hafidh'allah) from www.islamqa.com (http://www.islamqa.com) is masha'allah a trustworthy scholar whom is most learned and one to take fatwah and ilm from alhamdulillah. :up:

Apart from the above named scholars, who have a narrow and rigid understanding of Bida, all other madhaib and ulema agree that it is a sound practise.

Akhy Salman na'am no doubt Imam al Nawawi (Rahimullah) and Hafidh Ibn Hajar (Rahimullah) and others clearly supercede Sheikh Munajid by more than a dozen+ miles but still it is quite inappropriate to say of him, his website, and those from the following to hold 'narrow and rigid understanding of Bid'ah'- what do you think?

Allahu Alam.

[Salman Al-Farsi]

Jezak'allah as ever akhy Abu Bakr as ever for clarifying this matter, na'am Sheikh Saleh al Munajid (hafidh'allah) from www.islamqa.com (http://www.islamqa.com) is masha'allah a trustworthy scholar whom is most learned and one to take fatwah and ilm from alhamdulillah. :up:



Akhy Salman na'am no doubt Imam al Nawawi (Rahimullah) and Hafidh Ibn Hajar (Rahimullah) and others clearly supercede Sheikh Munajid by more than a dozen+ miles but still it is quite inappropriate to say of him, his website, and those from the following to hold 'narrow and rigid understanding of Bid'ah'- what do you think?

Allahu Alam.


Akhee, it is correct to say this, because they do hold a very narrow and rigid view of Bid'ah comparing to classical scholars and those of contemporary who actually do have unbroken chains of Ijaza going back to salaf as saliheen and ahle Madinah.

Salih Munajjid himself is a Muqallid and does not posses necessary knowledge to derive a ruling from Quran and Sunnah but has to rely on opinions of mainly Ibn Taymiyah, and then Bin Baz or Uthaymeen and the chains breaks at Al-Bani.

Reason why I specifically said, their view is narrow and rigid is because they adhere to the Ahlehadith school which does not often scruitanise Ahadith like the Ahlasunnah by the meaning, this often results in rigid view. For example fatwas saying 'earth is flat' or declaring anyone who visits tombs like the one of Khalid bin Waleed or Abu ayub al-ansari as bidah and term it as 'grave worshipping'. This is indeed a rigid view since all scholars of the past held no such beleifs.

I have not said there view is invalid, but its narrow and rigid.

I hope this explains.

[SoulAsylum]

All the four imams have different interpretations of the practices of salaah and the actions of dua. Each one is not incorrect, it is just a different interpreation of the sunnah of the prophet (saw's).

As long as they belong to the four main schools one cannot call the practice of wiping the palms over the face after salaah biddah.

[Mik]

Returning to my original question, should I understand from what has been shared here that there is no significance (meaning) to the practice of wiping of the face with the palms after making du’aa’, beyond the question of whether the origin of the practice is bi'dah, sunnah or ahaadeeth?

Many thanks to all who have contributed to this discussion.
Mik

[dksadiq]

Returning to my original question, should I understand from what has been shared here that there is no significance (meaning) to the practice of wiping of the face with the palms after making du’aa’, beyond the question of whether the origin of the practice is bi'dah, sunnah or ahaadeeth?

Many thanks to all who have contributed to this discussion.
Mik

Well, i beleive the best solution to this is ijtihaad.
If the Hadith quoted by Salman is sahih or hasan like he says it is, then it would be sunnah to wipe the face and the significance would be following the Prophet (saw). Otherwise, it will be a bid'ah.

Allahu 'alam (Allah knows best)

[Rehmat]

There are so many Imams - While Holy Qur'an only calls prophet Ibrahim as 'Imam'.

Sunni majority with 35 sub-sects follow four 'Fiqahs', which varies from each other. For example - With the exception of Hannafi - the other three 'Fiqah' says that if the Believer miss one 'Salaat' intentionally - he should be killed?

Both Salafi and Sufi - though claim to be Sunnis - don't accept all four 'Fiqahs'.

And don't forget - Qadiani (Ahmadiyya) also claim to be Sunnis.

Shia minority with 37 sub-sects have their own 'Fiqah' - Ja'afria. But then both Ismaili and Alawite - though Shai - don't believe in 'Fiqah-e-Ja'afria'. In fact, Alwites are known as 'Shias without Shari'ah' - They don't have mosques in their villages and they don't perform salaat - period.

The point I am trying to get across - is that be careful whom you call 'Murtad or Munafiq' - because it's a great sin in Islam.

Here is a recent statement by Ulemas from various sects - on the importance of this subject.

http://www.islamicamagazine.com/ViewCompleteArticle.aspx?ArticleCd=184

[Umm Layth]

Well, i beleive the best solution to this is ijtihaad.
If the Hadith quoted by Salman is sahih or hasan like he says it is, then it would be sunnah to wipe the face and the significance would be following the Prophet (saw). Otherwise, it will be a bid'ah.

Allahu 'alam (Allah knows best)

Ijtihad???

Ijtihad is done on new issues, how can one do ijtihad when clear text is available??

And this issue was explained by schoalrs over a century ago, if Munajjid now claims its Bidah than he has to explain it with Dalaail.