Making Du’a After Obligatory Salah: Bid`ah?

Making du’a after salah

It says in Fatawa al-Lajnah al-Daimah: 

“Making du’a after the obligatory prayers is not Sunnah if it is done by raising the hands, whether that is done by the imam alone or a member of the congregation alone, or it is done by them both together. Rather that is bid’ah, because it was not narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) or any of his Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) did that. With regard to making du’a without doing that (raising the hands etc.), there is nothing wrong with it, because there are some ahadith concerning that.” (Fatawa al-Lajnah al-Daimah, 7/103)

Raising hands for du’a after prayer

The Committee was asked about raising the hands for du’a after the five daily prayers – is it proven that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) raised his hands or not? If it is not proven, is it permissible to raise the hands after the five daily prayers or not? 

They replied: 

“It is not proven that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) raised his hands in du’a after the obligatory prayers as far as we know, so raising them after the salam of an obligatory prayer is contrary to the Sunnah.” (Fatawa al-Lajnah, 7/104) 

The Committee also stated that saying du’a out loud after the five daily prayers or regular Sunnah prayers, or reciting du’a in unison as a regular practice is a reprehensible innovation (bid’ah), because it was not proven that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) or his Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) did anything like that. 

Whoever makes du’a after the obligatory or regular Sunnah prayers in unison is going against the way of Ahl al-Sunnah wa’l-Jama’ah, and for those people to accuse those who disagree with them of being kafirs and not belonging to Ahl al-Sunnah wa’l-Jama’ah, is misguidance, ignorance and a distortion of the facts.” (Fatawa Islamiyyah, 1/319) 

And Allah knows best.