Ruling on raising the hands when offering supplication (du‘aa’) after burying the deceased

The basic principle is to raisethe hands when offering supplication (du‘aa’) exceptin some cases where it is not prescribed to raise the hands. This has beendiscussed previously in the answer to question no. 11543

Shaykh Ibn Baaz (may Allah have mercy onhim) said: If he offers supplication and raises his hands, this is one of themeans of having the supplication answered, except in some cases where theProphet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) did not raise his hands, sowe should not do that either, such as during the khutbahon Friday, when the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) did notraise his hands unless he was praying for rain (istisqa’),in which case he did raise his hands. The same applies between the twoprostrations and before saying the salaam at the end of the tahajjud;the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) did not raise his hands,so we should not raise our hands in these cases where he (blessings and peaceof Allah be upon him) did not raise his hands, because his doing something isproof and his not doing something is proof. Similarly, after saying the salaamat the end of the five daily prayers, the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allahbe upon him) used to recite adhkaar as prescribed inIslam, without raising his hands, so we should not raise our hands either inthat case, following his example. As for the cases in which he (blessings andpeace of Allah be upon him) did raise his hands, the Sunnahin those cases is to raise the hands, following his example and because that isone of the means of having supplications answered. The same applies to cases inwhich the Muslim may offer supplication to his Lord and there is no report fromthe Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) to indicate whether heraised his hands or not. In such cases we may raise our hands, because of the hadeeths which indicate that raising the hands is one ofthe means of having the supplication answered, as stated above.

End quote from Majmoo‘al-Fataawa, 26/146

An-Nawawi(may Allah have mercy on him) said: Chapter: it is mustahabbto raise the hands when offering supplication outside of prayer. Then he (mayAllah have mercy on him) quoted a number of hadeethswhich indicate that it is permissible to raise the hands when offeringsupplication outside of prayer… Then he said: There are many hadeeths concerning this issue other than those I havequoted, but those that I have quoted are sufficient. The point is that itshould be understood that the one who claims that raising the hands should belimited to the cases mentioned in the hadeeth ismistaken.

End quote from Sharh at-Tahdheeb,3/489

Shaykh Ibn Baaz (may Allah have mercy onhim) was asked: Should supplication be offered at the grave by raising one’shands?

He replied: If one raises thehands there is nothing wrong with it, because of the report proven from theProphet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) in the hadeethof ‘Aa’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her),according to which he (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) visited thegraves, raised his hands and offered supplication fortheir occupants. Narrated by Muslim.

End quote from Majmoo‘al-Fataawa, 13/337

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah havemercy on him) said:

with regard to offeringsupplication for him after the burial, it is proven in a report narrated by AbuDawood that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allahbe upon him) would, after burying the deceased, stand over him and say: “Prayfor forgiveness for your brother and ask for him to be made steadfast, for nowhe is being questioned.” If someone raises his hands when asking forforgiveness for him, there is nothing wrong with that, and if someone does notraise his hands and says “O Allah, forgive him; O Allah, forgive him; O Allah,forgive him; O Allah make him steadfast; O Allah, make him steadfast; O Allah,make him steadfast,” then leaves, (that is also acceptable).

End quote from Liqa’ al-Baab al-Maftooh. No. 82

Shaykh ‘Abd al-Muhsin al-‘Abbaad (may Allah preserve him) was asked about the rulingon raising the hands when offering supplication for the deceased after buryinghim.

He replied: The matter is broadin scope. We do not know of anything to indicate that it is proven or that itis not allowed. So the individual may raise his hands or not. The issue ofraising the hands or not may be as follows:

1.Where there is a text whichspeaks of raising the hands, such as offering supplication (du‘aa’)in ‘Arafah, offering supplication at the first andsecond Jamarah, and praying for rain (istisqa’)

2.Where there is no mention ofraising the hands, such as the supplication in the Friday sermon (khutbah), when no one is to raise his hands insupplication, neither the khateeb nor the members ofthe congregation, because the Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be uponhim) did not raise his hands although he delivered so many khutbahsto the people.

3.In other cases, the matter isbroad in scope; one may raise the hands or not.

End quote from Sharh Sunan Abi Dawood

And Allah knows best.