It is from one of the great mannerisms of making dua to raise the hands
It is something which is established from the sunnah in multiple narrations
Imam Al-Suyūdi mentioned that there are approximately 100 hadith which mention that The Prophet (ﷺ) used to raise his hands when making dua
Imam Al-Bukhari has a specific chapter in his Sahih book entitled “The raising of the hands on invoking”
The hadith of Abu Musa Al-Ashari (may Allah be pleased with him)
The hadith of Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with him)
Narrated Anas: “The Prophet (ﷺ) raised his hands (in invocation) till I saw the whiteness of his armpits.” [Sahih al-Bukhari]
Al-Hafidh Ibn Hajar mentioned in his explanation of Sahih Al-Bukhari the widespread narrations regarding the raising of the hands when making dua
The Hadith of Aisha (May Allah be pleased with her)
Salman Al-Farsi narrated that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: “Indeed, Allah, is Hayy, Generous, when a man raises his hands to Him, He feels too shy to return them to him empty and rejected.” [At-Tirmidhi]
Raising the hands in different circumstances:
General method of raising the hands:
One should raise his/her hands to the level of the shoulders, with the palms facing upwards
g. when making a general dua or in qunuut etc.
When asking for forgiveness or mentioning Allah’s tawhid:
It is mentioned that in these cases one can raise his finger
g. in the tashahud
When in a state of great need or in distress:
In these cases one can raise his hands up high such that his underarms can be seen
Lesson 23: Seek forgiveness, be persistent, remember Allah in times of ease, he will be with you in times of difficulty
The importance of seeking forgiveness from the sins you have committed and make repentance before making your dua for indeed the accumulation of sins is one of the reasons why your dua may not be answered.
Some of the salaf used to say do not think that the answer to your dua is being delayed whilst you yourself have blocked the dua from being answered due to sins
There is also some poetry written about this, what does it say?
On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him): “The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, “Allah the Almighty is Good and accepts only that which is good. And verily Allah has commanded the believers to do that which He has commanded the Messengers. So the Almighty has said: “O (you) Messengers! Eat of the tayyibat [all kinds of halal (legal) foods], and perform righteous deeds.” [23:51] and the Almighty has said: “O you who believe! Eat of the lawful things that We have provided you.” [2:172]” Then he (saws) mentioned [the case] of a man who, having journeyed far, is disheveled and dusty, and who spreads out his hands to the sky saying “O Lord! O Lord!,” while his food is haram (unlawful), his drink is haram, his clothing is haram, and he has been nourished with haram, so how can [his supplication] be answered?” [Muslim, also found in the 40 Hadith of Imam Nawawi]
Performing impermissible (Haraam) actions can be a means that prevents your dua from being Answered.
Likewise abandoning the obligations may also lead to dua not being answered
Therefore, whoever wishes for Allah to answer his dua and bring his hopes into fruition then it is upon him to repent to Allah with a sincere repentance from his sins
There is no sin too great for Allah to forgive
Neither is there any need which is too great for Allah to answer
Indeed the Propehts and Messengers (may peace be upon them Allah) used to encourage their people to seek forgiveness.
“”I said (to them): ‘Ask forgiveness from your Lord; Verily, He is Oft-Forgiving;” [Surah Nūh (Noah) verse 10]
“’He will send rain to you in abundance;” [Surah Nūh (Noah) verse 10]
“’And give you increase in wealth and children, and bestow on you gardens and bestow on you rivers.”” [Surah Nūh (Noah) verse 10]
Therefore making repentance is a cause for the goodness to descend and for blessing to continue and for dua to be answered
What did the the Khalif ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattab used to do when asking Allah for rain?
What was the advice Al-Hasan Al-Basri gave the people when they complained to him about various issues?
Lesson 22: The importance full focus and humbleness when making dua
Indeed dua is from the strongest of the causes that will bring you the desired goals
Dua is also from the strongest of methods to remove from oneself disliked affairs
However sometimes the benefit of the dua may be weakened and the dua sometimes may not be answered at all. What is the reason behind this?
It could be due to the dua being made is not good in of itself, e.g. one which has transgression within it etc
It also could be due to the weakness of one’s heart when turning to Allah and lack of focus at the time of making dua
It could be due to the person doing something which prevents his dua from being accepted e.g. having a haraam income, committing many sins, having an overwhelming amount of negligence and heedlessness etc
Therefore it is one of the important criteria that your heart and mind is fully focused and in submission before your lord when making the dua
The Prophet (ﷺ) encouraged us to focus and warned us from being heedless when making dua
The hadith of ‘Abdullah bin ‘Amr bin Al-‘As (May Allah be pleased with them)
Therefore we must be focused when making dua and we must have certainty and trust that Allah will answer it (See Lesson 18 in this series about the different ways of dua can be answered)
Ibnul Qayyim said one of the factors which causes the dua not to be answered is one having a negligent heart
Dua is a cure for illnesses
Ibnul Qayyim said if dua is made with a focussed heart with a complete focus on the intended affair, and this occurs at the time when due is more likely to be answered (see Lesson 20 in this series), and he/she makes their dua with a submissive heart, purely focused in humbleness before his lord, upon wudhu, raising one’s hands to Allah, and you begin with praising Allah and send salutation upon the Prophet (ﷺ), then you mention your matter with keenness, asking Allah with his names and attributes then that type of dua is rarely rejected
Summarised points from the above statement of what is needed:
Full focus
Make the dua at the times mention in the Qu’an and Sunnah as being superior
Humbleness and submission before Allah
Face the Qiblah
Be upon wudhu
Raise your hands
Start first by praising Allah and sending salutations upon the Prophet (ﷺ)
Seek forgiveness for your shortcomings and sins even before asking about your matter
Then make your dua with conviction and full certainty that Allah will answer your dua
Have hope and fear of Allah whilst making your dua
Call upon Allah using his names and attributes (see Lessons 10, 11 and 12 in this series)
You can give charity before or after making your dua
Try to use the duas that have been mentioned in the Sunnah (e.g. from Fortress of the Muslim)
If a person does all of the above, then it is rare that such a dua will ever be rejected. However it should be stressed that even after doing all of this, then one should not just sit back and wait, rather he/she should continue and strive towards what he wishes for.
For example, if a student makes due to do well in an exam, then he/she should make the due having full certainty in Allah, and also continue to strive to do as much as they can.
Another example is someone making dua for guidance below:
Abu Huraira reported that Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) used to supplicate (in these words): ” O Allah, set right for me my religion which is the safeguard of my affairs. And set right for me the affairs of my world wherein is my living. And set right for me my Hereafter on which depends my after-life. And make the life for me (a source) of abundance for every good and make my death a source of comfort for me protecting me against every evil.” [Sahih Muslim]
However such a person if he/she is serious about this then he should strive to seek knowledge and take the necessary steps in addition to making the dua.
Lesson 21: Exaggeration at the graves of the Righteous people
One of the greatest types of misguidance is what the shaytaan (satan) has whispered to people in order for them to commit shirk at the graves of the Prophets and righteous people
At first, people make pictures and then later these are turned into statues
Eventually those graves become shrines and temples and the people worship the deceased
The first time this type of shirk occurred was at the time of Prophet Nūh (may peace be upon him)
See Surah Nūh (Chapter Noah)
Narrated Ibn `Abbas: “All the idols which were worshiped by the people of Noah were worshiped by the Arabs later on. As for the idol Wadd, it was worshiped by the tribe of Kalb at Daumat-al-Jandal; Suwa` was the idol of (the tribe of) Hudhail; Yaghouth was worshiped by (the tribe of) Murad and then by Bani Ghutaif at Al-Jurf near Saba; Ya`uq was the idol of Hamdan, and Nasr was the idol of Himyar, the branch of Dhi-al-Kala`. The names (of the idols) formerly belonged to some pious men of the people of Noah, and when they died Satan inspired their people to (prepare and place idols at the places where they used to sit, and to call those idols by their names. The people did so, but the idols were not worshiped till those people (who initiated them) had died and the origin of the idols had become obscure, whereupon people began worshiping them.” [Sahih al-Bukhari]
Ibn Jariir explains that at first people made pictures and idols which they named after righteous deceased people, then the later generations that came were convinced by shaytaan that these idols were worshipped by their forefathers as gods, and since the later generations did not know the exact reason why they were made, they fell for the misguidance of shaytaan
Eventually Allah sent Prophets and Messengers (may peace be upon them all) to correct this and warn from it
The Prophet (ﷺ) stressed to us that we should not turn the graves into places of worship and we should not call upon the deceased
Narrated `Aisha: “Um Habiba and Um Salama mentioned a church they had seen in Ethiopia and in the church there were pictures. When they told the Prophet of this, he said, “Those people are such that if a pious man amongst them died, they build a place of worship over his grave and paint these pictures in it. Those people will be Allah’s worst creatures on the Day of Resurrection.” [Sahih al-Bukhari]
Jundub reported: “I heard from the Apostle of Allah (ﷺ) five days before his death and he said: I stand acquitted before Allah that I took any one of you as friend, for Allah has taken me as His friend, as he took Ibrahim as His friend. Had I taken any one of my Ummah as a friend, I would have taken Abu Bakr as a friend. Beware of those who preceded you and used to take the graves of their prophets and righteous men as places of worship, but you must not take graves as mosques; I forbid you to do that.” [Sahih Muslim]
Abu Huraira reported: “The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: Let there be curse of Allah upon the Jews and the Christians for they have taken the graves of their apostles as places of worship.” [Sahih Muslim]
‘A’isha reported: “The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said during his illness from which he never recovered: Allah cursed the Jews and the Christians that they took the graves of their prophets as mosques. She (‘A’isha) reported: Had it not been so, his (Prophet’s) grave would have been in an open place, but it could not be due to the fear that it may not be taken as a mosque.” [Sahih Muslim]
Currently in our Ummah, there are people who would go to the Prophet’s (ﷺ) grave and make sajda, make dua to him and pray to him if this had not been barred from them. We know this because such people are already doing this for their “pirs”, Imams or shaykhs. This is the level of misguidance present.
The Prophet (ﷺ) made severe warnings against making dua at the graves and used strong and clear language
