🌙✨ Wiping the Face After Duʿāʾ: Sunnah or Bidʿah? 🤲 Examining the Hadith Evidence 📖
Introduction
One of the questions frequently raised concerning the etiquette of duʿāʾ is whether a person should wipe his face with his hands after completing his supplication.
Some Muslims regard this practice as an established Sunnah, while others object that the narrations concerning it are weak and therefore the practice should not be performed.
The matter deserves to be examined carefully and fairly.
The evidence concerning wiping the face after duʿāʾ is not limited to a single narration. There are reports attributed to the Prophet ﷺ from ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, Ibn ʿAbbās and Yazīd ibn Saʿīd رضي الله عنهم, together with reports of the practice of Companions and Tābiʿūn. The individual chains have been discussed by the hadith specialists, and there is genuine scholarly disagreement over their strength.
Consequently, it is inaccurate to simply declare the practice an innovation (Bidʿah) when a number of recognized scholars regarded the collected evidence as sufficient to establish its legitimacy.
1. The Hadith of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb رضي الله عنه
The most important narration on this subject is recorded by Imām al-Tirmidhī.
عَنْ عُمَرَ بْنِ الْخَطَّابِ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ
كَانَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ إِذَا رَفَعَ يَدَيْهِ فِي الدُّعَاءِ لَمْ يَحُطَّهُمَا حَتَّى يَمْسَحَ بِهِمَا وَجْهَهُ
ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb رضي الله عنه said:
“When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ raised his hands in supplication, he would not lower them until he had wiped his face with them.”
Reference: Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī, no. 3386.
This is an important point because the narration is explicitly describing the Prophet ﷺ raising his hands for duʿāʾ and then wiping his face with them before lowering them.
2. What Did Imām al-Tirmidhī Say About It?
After recording the narration, Imām al-Tirmidhī رحمه الله said:
قَالَ أَبُو عِيسَى: هَذَا حَدِيثٌ صَحِيحٌ غَرِيبٌ، لَا نَعْرِفُهُ إِلَّا مِنْ حَدِيثِ حَمَّادِ بْنِ عِيسَى، وَقَدْ تَفَرَّدَ بِهِ، وَهُوَ قَلِيلُ الْحَدِيثِ، وَقَدْ حَدَّثَ عَنْهُ النَّاسُ، وَحَنْظَلَةُ بْنُ أَبِي سُفْيَانَ الْجُمَحِيُّ ثِقَةٌ، وَثَّقَهُ يَحْيَى بْنُ سَعِيدٍ الْقَطَّانُ.
Imām al-Tirmidhī therefore explicitly described the narration as:
حَدِيثٌ صَحِيحٌ غَرِيبٌ
“A Saḥeeḥ Gharīb Hadeeth.”
He also explained that the narration was known through Ḥammād ibn ʿĪsā and that Ḥanẓalah ibn Abī Sufyān was trustworthy and had been declared trustworthy by Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd al-Qaṭṭān.
This is the position of the compiler himself and should not be omitted when discussing this hadith.
At the same time, later hadith critics examined the chain differently, particularly because of Ḥammād ibn ʿĪsā. Some therefore graded the narration weak. The existence of this later criticism needs to be acknowledged rather than concealed.
3. The Position of al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar
The matter becomes particularly significant when we look at the statement of al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī رحمه الله in Bulūgh al-Marām.
After citing the narration of ʿUmar رضي الله عنه , Ibn Ḥajar says:
وَلَهُ شَوَاهِدُ مِنْهَا حَدِيثُ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ عِنْدَ أَبِي دَاوُدَ، وَمَجْمُوعُهَا يَقْتَضِي أَنَّهُ حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ
“It has supporting narrations, among them the hadith of Ibn ʿAbbās recorded by Abū Dāwūd, and the combination of them indicates that it is a ḥasan hadith.”
This is a crucial statement.
Ibn Ḥajar was not claiming that every individual chain was necessarily strong. Rather, he considered the combined evidence sufficient to raise the overall report to the level of ḥasan.
Thus, the argument for wiping the face is not dependent upon pretending that every individual narration is ṣaḥīḥ on its own.
4. The Narration of Ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهما
Another narration is attributed to Ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهما and is recorded in Sunan Abī Dāwūd.
عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عَبَّاسٍ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمَا أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ
سَلُوا اللَّهَ بِبُطُونِ أَكُفِّكُمْ، وَلَا تَسْأَلُوهُ بِظُهُورِهَا، فَإِذَا فَرَغْتُمْ فَامْسَحُوا بِهَا وُجُوهَكُمْ
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
“Ask Allah with the palms of your hands and do not ask Him with their backs. When you finish, wipe your faces with them.”
Sunan Abī Dāwūd, no. 1485.
However, there is an important qualification.
Imām Abū Dāwūd himself said concerning this narration:
رُوِيَ هَذَا الْحَدِيثُ مِنْ غَيْرِ وَجْهٍ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ كَعْبٍ، كُلُّهَا وَاهِيَةٌ، وَهَذَا الطَّرِيقُ أَمْثَلُهَا، وَهُوَ ضَعِيفٌ أَيْضًا
“This hadith has been narrated through other routes from Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb; all of them are weak. This chain is the best of them, but it is also weak.”
Therefore, this narration should not be presented as an independently authentic ṣaḥīḥ hadith.
Rather, its importance here is that it constitutes one of the supporting reports considered by scholars such as Ibn Ḥajar when assessing the totality of the evidence.
5. Another Prophetic Narration: Yazīd ibn Saʿīd
There is also a narration in Sunan Abī Dāwūd from Yazīd ibn Saʿīd al-Kindī رضي الله عنه :
أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ كَانَ إِذَا دَعَا فَرَفَعَ يَدَيْهِ مَسَحَ وَجْهَهُ بِيَدَيْهِ
“When the Prophet ﷺ made duʿāʾ and raised his hands, he would wipe his face with his hands.”
Again, however, this chain has been criticized, particularly because of Ibn Lahīʿah and the narrator Ḥafṣ ibn Hāshim. Later hadith critics therefore graded it weak.
Thus, it is best used as supporting evidence, rather than claiming that it establishes the practice by itself.
6. The Practice of Ibn ʿUmar and Ibn al-Zubayr رضي الله عنهما
Perhaps even more interesting is an early report concerning two prominent Companions.
Imām al-Bukhārī records in al-Adab al-Mufrad:
قَالَ أَبُو نُعَيْمٍ وَهُوَ وَهْبٌ: رَأَيْتُ ابْنَ عُمَرَ، وَابْنَ الزُّبَيْرِ يَدْعُوَانِ، يُدِيرَانِ بِالرَّاحَتَيْنِ عَلَى الْوَجْهِ
Abū Nuʿaym (Wahb) said:
“I saw Ibn ʿUmar and Ibn al-Zubayr making duʿāʾ, and they would move their palms over their faces.”
Al-Adab al-Mufrad, no. 609.
This is not a statement attributed to the Prophet ﷺ; it is an athar describing the practice of two Companions.
Its chain has also been discussed by the hadith critics, with some later scholars grading it weak.
Nevertheless, it is historically significant because it demonstrates that wiping the face after duʿāʾ was not an invention of later generations.
7. The Practice of al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī رحمه الله
There is also an early report concerning the famous Tābiʿī, al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī رحمه الله .
It is reported that al-Firyābī narrated from Isḥāq ibn Rāhawayh, from al-Muʿtamir ibn Sulaymān:
رَأَيْتُ أَبَا كَعْبٍ يَدْعُو رَافِعًا يَدَيْهِ، فَإِذَا فَرَغَ مَسَحَ بِهِمَا وَجْهَهُ، فَقُلْتُ لَهُ: مَنْ رَأَيْتَ يَفْعَلُ هَذَا؟ قَالَ: الْحَسَنَ بْنَ أَبِي الْحَسَنِ
“I saw Abū Kaʿb making supplication while raising his hands. When he finished, he wiped his face with them. I asked him, ‘Whom did you see doing this?’ He replied, ‘Al-Ḥasan ibn Abī Al-Ḥasan [Al-Baṣrī].’”
This report has been transmitted with a ḥasan chain according to the citation of Al-Suyūṭī.
This is significant because Al-Ḥasan Al-Baṣrī was one of the great Tābiʿūn and an authority in worship, asceticism and Islamic learning.
8. The Statement of Imām al-Ṣanʿānī
The great Yemeni scholar Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl al-Ṣanʿānī رحمه الله , commenting upon the narration in Subul al-Salām, explicitly states:
وَفِيهِ دَلِيلٌ عَلَى مَشْرُوعِيَّةِ مَسْحِ الْوَجْهِ بِالْيَدَيْنِ بَعْدَ الْفَرَاغِ مِنَ الدُّعَاءِ
“In it is evidence for the legitimacy of wiping the face with the hands after completing the supplication.”
Thus al-Ṣanʿānī understood the evidence as establishing mashrūʿiyyah—legitimacy or religious sanction.
This is stronger than merely saying, “It is not harām.”
9. The Statement of Ibn Ḥajar: The Evidence Becomes Ḥasan Collectively
The methodology used by Ibn Ḥajar is important.
A hadith may have a chain that contains weakness, yet if there are several independent routes supporting the same meaning, the combined evidence can sometimes elevate the report to the level of ḥasan li-ghayrihi.
This is precisely the reasoning reflected in Ibn Ḥajar's statement:
وَمَجْمُوعُهَا يَقْتَضِي أَنَّهُ حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ
“The combination of them indicates that it is a ḥasan hadith.”
Therefore, someone who follows Ibn Ḥajar's assessment has a recognized hadith-based position for considering the practice Sunnah or recommended.
10. This Is Not a Matter of Consensus
It is equally important to be intellectually honest about the other side.
Some major scholars did not regard the evidence as strong enough to establish a Sunnah.
For example, later scholars criticized the ḥadīth of ʿUmar because of Ḥammād ibn ʿĪsā, and some held that the various supporting narrations were too weak to strengthen one another.
A modern presentation of the discussion records that scholars such as Ibn Taymiyyah and others did not consider wiping the face after duʿāʾ to be established as a Sunnah.
Therefore, it would be incorrect to claim:
“All scholars agree that wiping the face after duʿāʾ is Sunnah.”
They do not.
But it is equally incorrect to claim:
“There is no evidence whatsoever for wiping the face and anyone who does it is committing Bidʿah.”
There is clearly evidence, and recognized scholars have accepted that evidence.
The disagreement is fundamentally a hadith-authentication and fiqh question, not a matter of one side following Islam and the other side inventing a religion.
11. Why Calling It “Bidʿah” Is Problematic
The word bidʿah is a serious religious judgment. If a practice has:a narration attributed to the Prophet ﷺ,additional supporting narrations,reports from Companions,reports from Tābiʿūn,and recognized hadith scholars such as Ibn Ḥajar who considered the combined evidence sufficient for ḥasan, then it is difficult to justify categorically condemning every person who practices it as an innovator.
The most that can reasonably be said is that scholars differ regarding the strength of the evidence and therefore differ regarding whether it should be regarded as Sunnah.
This is very different from saying that the practice is an invented religious ritual.
12. A Necessary Distinction: Sunnah Does Not Mean Obligatory
Even according to those scholars who consider wiping the face after duʿāʾ established, it is not an obligatory component of duʿāʾ.
A person may raise his hands, make duʿāʾ and lower his hands without wiping his face.
Likewise, a person who wipes his face after duʿāʾ has a basis in the transmitted evidence.
Thus, the practice should not become a source of hostility between Muslims.
The one who wipes should not condemn the one who does not, and the one who does not wipe should not condemn the one who does.
13. What About Wiping After Every Dhikr?
There is another distinction that should be made. The evidence under discussion concerns duʿāʾ, particularly when the hands have been raised in supplication.
It does not establish that one should wipe one's face after every form of dhikr, every tasbīḥ, every ṣalāh, or every ordinary statement of remembrance.
The practice being discussed is specifically connected to raising the hands in duʿāʾ.
Therefore, it is more precise to say:
“Wiping the face with the hands after raising them in duʿāʾ has a basis in the transmitted reports.”
rather than making a general claim about wiping after every type of dhikr.
14. The Overall Hadith Evidence
The evidence can therefore be summarized as follows:
The narration of ʿUmar رضي الله عنه
كَانَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ إِذَا رَفَعَ يَدَيْهِ فِي الدُّعَاءِ لَمْ يَحُطَّهُمَا حَتَّى يَمْسَحَ بِهِمَا وَجْهَهُ
Recorded by Al-Tirmidhī, no. 3386.
Al-Tirmidhī himself called it:
صَحِيحٌ غَرِيبٌ
The narration of Ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهما
سَلُوا اللَّهَ بِبُطُونِ أَكُفِّكُمْ، وَلَا تَسْأَلُوهُ بِظُهُورِهَا، فَإِذَا فَرَغْتُمْ فَامْسَحُوا بِهَا وُجُوهَكُمْ.
Recorded by Abū Dāwūd, no. 1485.
Abū Dāwūd himself regarded its chain as weak, but it is one of the supporting narrations mentioned by Ibn Ḥajar.
The narration of Yazīd ibn Saʿīd
أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ كَانَ إِذَا دَعَا فَرَفَعَ يَدَيْهِ مَسَحَ وَجْهَهُ بِيَدَيْهِ.
Recorded by Abū Dāwūd, no. 1492.
Its chain has been criticized and is generally graded weak by later hadith critics.
The practice of Ibn ʿUmar and Ibn al-Zubayr رضي الله عنهما
رَأَيْتُ ابْنَ عُمَرَ، وَ ابْنَ الزُّبَيْرِ يَدْعُوَانِ، يُدِيرَانِ بِالرَّاحَتَيْنِ عَلَى الْوَجْهِ
Recorded by Al-Bukhārī in al-Adab al-Mufrad, no. 609.
The practice of al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī رحمه الله
He is reported to have wiped his face after raising his hands in duʿāʾ, with the report described as having a ḥasan chain.
15. The Position of the Scholars
The following conclusions can therefore be documented:
Imām Al-Tirmidhī رحمه الله Declared the narration of ʿUmar: صَحِيحٌ غَرِيبٌ
Al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī رحمه الله
Said:
وَمَجْمُوعُهَا يَقْتَضِي أَنَّهُ حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ
“Their combined evidence indicates that it is a ḥasan hadith.”
Imām al-Ṣanʿānī رحمه الله
Said:
وَفِيهِ دَلِيلٌ عَلَى مَشْرُوعِيَّةِ مَسْحِ الْوَجْهِ بِالْيَدَيْنِ بَعْدَ الْفَرَاغِ مِنَ الدُّعَاءِ
“In it is evidence for the legitimacy of wiping the face with the hands after completing duʿāʾ.”
Other scholars, including scholars within the Shāfiʿī and Ḥanbalī traditions, have likewise accepted the practice, while other scholars have rejected its establishment as a Sunnah because they did not consider the evidence sufficiently strong.
Conclusion
The question of wiping the face after duʿāʾ should be approached with fairness and knowledge.
There are narrations explicitly mentioning the practice. The principal narration is the report of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb رضي الله عنه recorded by Imām al-Tirmidhī, who himself graded it ṣaḥīḥ gharīb.
Other narrations exist from Ibn ʿAbbās and Yazīd ibn Saʿīd, although their individual chains have been criticized. There are also reports of the practice of Ibn ʿUmar, Ibn al-Zubayr and al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī رضي الله عنهم
Most importantly, al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar رحمه الله examined the evidence collectively and concluded:
وَمَجْمُوعُهَا يَقْتَضِي أَنَّهُ حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ
And al-Ṣanʿānī رحمه الله consequently stated:
وَفِيهِ دَلِيلٌ عَلَى مَشْرُوعِيَّةِ مَسْحِ الْوَجْهِ بِالْيَدَيْنِ بَعْدَ الْفَرَاغِ مِنَ الدُّعَاءِ
Therefore, the fairest conclusion is:
Wiping the face with the hands after duʿāʾ is a legitimate practice supported by transmitted reports and accepted by a number of recognized scholars. It is therefore not correct to categorically declare the practice a Bidʿah.
At the same time, because the individual chains have been disputed and a number of hadith critics considered them weak, it is also reasonable for a scholar to say that the practice is not established as a strongly authenticated Sunnah.
This is a legitimate area of scholarly disagreement.
What should be avoided is turning this secondary issue into a cause for division, condemnation, or accusations of innovation.
والله أعلم بالصواب
“Allah knows best what is correct.”
