In
Islam, Raising hands in Dua ( ar, رفع اليدين في الدعاء) is the action of using
hands to invoke
Allah in
dua
In Islam, ( ar, دعاء , plural: ' ) is a prayer of invocation, supplication or request, even asking help or assistance from God.
Role in Islam
Muslims regard this as a profound act of worship. Muhammad is reported to have said ...
.
The view of limitation
Many scholars including especially Salafis limit this practice. According to them, basing on a lack of hadiths for other instances, with a fully authenticated chain, the practice of raising hands is specific to irregular prayers for needs and the Qunut of the Witr/Fajr prayers. This view excludes the practice of regularly raising the hands as
sunnah and a
mustahabb
''Mustahabb'' () is an Islamic term referring to recommended, favoured or virtuous actions.
''Mustahabb'' actions are those whose ruling ('' ahkam'') in Islamic law falls between '' mubah'' (neutral; neither encouraged nor discouraged) and '' ...
act of
ibadah
''Ibadah'' ( ar, , ''‘ibādah'', also spelled ''ibada'') is an Arabic word meaning service or servitude. In Islam, ''ibadah'' is usually translated as "worship", and ''ibadat''—the plural form of ''ibadah''—refers to Islamic jurispru ...
after
fardh salah accompanying a dua. These scholars however do recognize raising hands during a dua not done after salah, accepting that the Muslim should raise his hands with
humility
Humility is the quality of being humble. Dictionary definitions accentuate humility as a low self-regard and sense of unworthiness. In a religious context humility can mean a recognition of self in relation to a deity (i.e. God), and subsequent ...
to
Allah in the way instructed by the Prophet
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...
.
![The prayer](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/The_prayer.jpg)
A few cases of ''Raising the hands in Dua'' being regarded as a forbidden innovation (
Bidʻah
In Islam, bid'ah ( ar, بدعة; en, innovation) refers to innovation in religious matters. Linguistically, the term means "innovation, novelty, heretical doctrine, heresy".
In classical Arabic literature ('' adab''), it has been used as a fo ...
) are:
*
Salah (except for Qunut)
*
Khutbah
''Khutbah'' ( ar, خطبة ''khuṭbah'', tr, hutbe) serves as the primary formal occasion for public preaching in the Islamic tradition.
Such sermons occur regularly, as prescribed by the teachings of all legal schools. The Islamic traditio ...
(in specific cases)
*
Tawaf
The Kaaba (, ), also spelled Ka'bah or Kabah, sometimes referred to as al-Kaʿbah al-Musharrafah ( ar, ٱلْكَعْبَة ٱلْمُشَرَّفَة, lit=Honored Ka'bah, links=no, translit=al-Kaʿbah al-Musharrafah), is a building at the c ...
*
Sa'iye
*
Ruku
Rukūʿ ( ar, رُكوع, ) can refer to either of two things in Islam:
* The act of belt-low bowing in standardized prayers, where the backbone should be in rest, before straightening up to go for sujud (full earth-low bowing).
* A paragr ...
*
*
Sujud
*
Sitting in salah
Sitting or kneeling ( ar, جِلسة and , also and ) is an integral part of salah, or Islamic prayer, along with bowing ( ruku' and sujud).
Manners of sitting or kneeling
Three styles of sitting/kneeling have been reported in the hadiths (acc ...
The view encouraging hand-raising after salah
Some scholars, while agreeing with not raising hands in
Sujud, etc. extend its scope of application. Many such scholars hold the view of praiseworthiness of consistently praying dua after fardh Salah with hands raised, as a Sunnah action. For example, according to
Ahmad ibn Idris al-Fasi there is no room for debate: "there around hadiths transmitted in support of this. One finds in Tirmidhi: “In the ritual prayer you beg. You are wretched and your are humble, and at the end you raise hands and exclaim “Oh Lord, oh Lord, oh Lord!” Without this the prayer is a miscarriage” And this is manifestly true, being attested by a clear report. In the report they have established what the Messenger, God’s blessings and peace be upon him, did and ordered, and what he said about raising one’s hands."
Types
There are two ways to raise the hands to perform the
Dua
In Islam, ( ar, دعاء , plural: ' ) is a prayer of invocation, supplication or request, even asking help or assistance from God.
Role in Islam
Muslims regard this as a profound act of worship. Muhammad is reported to have said ...
:
# With both
hands.
# With just one
index finger
The index finger (also referred to as forefinger, first finger, second finger, pointer finger, trigger finger, digitus secundus, digitus II, and many other terms) is the second digit of a human hand. It is located between the thumb and the mid ...
: This was done when Muhammad was giving advices, when he was performing a
Khutbah
''Khutbah'' ( ar, خطبة ''khuṭbah'', tr, hutbe) serves as the primary formal occasion for public preaching in the Islamic tradition.
Such sermons occur regularly, as prescribed by the teachings of all legal schools. The Islamic traditio ...
on the
minbar, and during
Tashahhud
The ''Tashahhud'' ( ar, تَشَهُّد, meaning "testimony faith]"), also known as at-Tahiyyat ( ar, ٱلتَّحِيَّات, lit=greetings, link=no), is the portion of the Salah, Muslim prayer where the person Sitting in salah, kneels or sits ...
.
A third type of hand-raising is used in the ritual prayer, for example in the beginning, accompanying the Takbir al-Ihram, but this is considered outside the domain of dua.
Gallery
File:Supplicating Pilgrim at Masjid Al Haram. Mecca, Saudi Arabia.jpg, Raising hands in Dua.
File:Young Muslim spplicating in Masjid al-Haram, 6 April 2015.jpg, Raising hands in Dua.
File:Muslim man at prayer.jpg, Raising hands in Dua.
File:Imam Khalid dua.jpg, Raising hands in Dua.
See also
*
Dhikr
''Dhikr'' ( ar, ذِكْر}, , also spelled ''Zikr'', ''Thikr'', ''Zekr'', or ''Zikar'', literally meaning "remembrance, reminder" or "mention") is a form of Islamic meditation in which phrases or prayers are repeatedly chanted in order to remem ...
*
Wird
References
External links
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Sufism
Spiritual practice
Language and mysticism
Arabic words and phrases
Islamic belief and doctrine
Islamic terminology
Hand gestures