From
Irwaa' al-Ghaleel (2/178-182) by Shaykh
al-Albaani
1)
"The Prophet (sallallaahu `alaihi wa
sallam), when he raised his hands in
du`aa', he would not put them down until
he had wiped his face with them."
Da`eef
(Weak). Transmitted by Tirmidhi (2/244)
& Ibn `Asaakir (7/12/2) via: Hammaad
ibn `Isa al-Juhani from Hanzalah ibn
Abi Sufyaan al-Jamhi from Saalim ibn
`Abdullaah from his father from `Umar
ibn al-Khattaab, who said: ...
Tirmidhi said after it, "This is a saheeh
ghareeb hadeeth. We only know it as a
hadeeth of Hammaad ibn `Esa, for he is
alone in reporting it; he has few ahaadeeth,
but the people have reported from him."
However, this reporter is weak, as in
Taqreeb of Ibn Hajr, who says about him
in Tahdheeb:
Ibn
Ma`een said, "A good shaikh"1Abu Haatim
said, "Weak in Hadeeth"; Abu Daawood
said, "Weak, he reports munkar ahaadeeth";
Haakim and Naqqaash said, "He reports
fabricated ahaadeeth from Ibn Juraij
and Ja`far as-Saadiq." He is declared
to be weak by Daaraqutni. Ibn Hibbaan
said, "He reports things which are the
wrong way round on the authority of Ibn
Juraij and `Abdul `Azeez ibn `Umar ibn
`Abdul `Azeez, such that it seems to
those whose field this is that it is
deliberate; it is not permissible to
use him as proof." Ibn Maakoolaa said,
"They declare his ahaadeeth to be weak."
Hence, the like of this reporter is very
weak, so his ahaadeeth cannot be raised
to the level of hasan, let alone saheeh!
A similar hadeeth is:
"When
the Prophet (sallallaahu `alaihi wa sallam)
did du`aa' and raised his hands, he would
wipe his face with his hands."
Da`eef
(Weak). Abu Daawood (1492) from Ibn
Lahee`ah from Hafs ibn Hishaam ibn `Utbah
ibn Abi Waqqaas from Saa'ib ibn Yazeed
from his father.
This is a weak sanad due to Hafs ibn
Hishaam being unknown and the weakness
of Ibn Lahee`ah (cf. Taqreeb at-Tahdheeb).
This hadeeth cannot be strengthened by
the two routes of narration together
due to the severity in weakness of the
first one, which you have seen.
2)
"When you call upon Allaah, then supplicate
with the palms of your hands, and do
not supplicate with their backs, and
when you finish, wipe your face with
them."
Da`eef
(Weak). Related by Ibn Maajah (1181,
3866), Ibn Nasr in Qiyaam al-Lail (p.
137), Tabaraani in Al-Mu`jam al-Kabeer
(3/98/1) & Haakim (1/536), from Saalih
ibn Hassaan from Muhammad ibn Ka`b from
Ibn `Abbaas (radi Allaahu `anhu) as marfoo`.
This is a weak sanad due to Ibn Hassaan,
who is munkar in Hadeeth, as Bukhaari
said; Nasaa'i said, "He is abandoned
in Hadeeth"; Ibn Hibbaan said, "He used
to have female singers and listen to
music, and he used to narrate fabricated
reports on the authority of trustworthy
narrators"; Ibn Abi Haatim said in Kitaab
al-`Ilal (2/351), "I asked my father
(i.e. Abu Haatim al-Raazi) about this
hadeeth, to which he said: `Munkar'."
Ibn Hassaan has been backed up by `Eesaa
ibn Maimoon, who also reported it from
Muhammad ibn Ka`b, as related by Ibn
Nasr. However, this does not alter anything,
since Ibn Maimoon is similarly weak:
Ibn Hibbaan said, "He reports ahaadeeth,
all of which are fabricated"; Nasaa'i
said, "Not reliable."
This hadeeth of Ibn `Abbaas is also related
by Abu Daawood (1485), and from him Baihaqi
(2/212), via: `Abdul Malik ibn Muhammad
ibn Aiman from `Abdullaah ibn Ya`qoob
ibn Ishaaq from someone who narrated
to him from Muhammad ibn Ka`b, the wording
being:
"Do
not cover the walls. He who looks into
the letter of his brother without his
permission, verily he looks into the
Fire. Ask Allaah with the palms of your
hands, and do not ask him with their
backs, and when you finish, wipe your
faces with them."
This is a weak sanad: `Abdul Malik is
declared weak by Abu Daawood; it also
contain the shaikh of `Abdullaah ibn
Ya`qoob who is unnamed, and therefore
unknown - it is possible that he may
be Ibn Hassaan or Ibn Maimoon, both of
whom are mentioned above.
The hadeeth is also transmitted by Haakim
(4/270) via: Muhammad ibn Mu`aawiyah,
who said that Masaadif ibn Ziyaad al-Madeeni
narrated to him that he heard it from
Muhammad ibn Ka`b al-Qurazi. Dhahabi
followed this up by pointing out that
Ibn Mu`aawiyah was declared to be a liar
by Daaraqutni, so the hadeeth is falsified.
Abu Daawood said about this hadeeth,
"This hadeeth has been narrated via more
than one route on the authority of Muhammad
ibn Ka`b; all of them are feeble."
Raising the hands on doing Qunoot for
a calamity is established from the Messenger
of Allaah (sallallaahu `alaihi wa sallam)
in his supplication against the polytheists
who killed seventy reciters - transmitted
by Imaam Ahmad (3/137) & Tabaraani
in Al-Mu'jam as-Sagheer (p.
111) as the hadeeth of Anas with a saheeh
sanad. Similar is proved from `Umar and
others in the Qunoot of Witr Prayer.
However, since wiping the face after
Du`aa' al-Qunoot is not quoted at all
from the Prophet (sallallaahu `alaihi
wa sallam), nor from any of his Companions,
it is an innovation without doubt.
As for wiping the face after du`aa' outside
of prayer, there are only these two ahaadeeth;
it is not correct to say that they mutually
strengthen each other to the rank of
hasan, as Manaawi did, due to the severity
of the weakness found in their routes
of narration. This is why Imaam Nawawi
said in Majmoo', "It is not recommended",
endorsing Ibn `Abd as-Salaam, who said,
"Only an ignorant person does it."
The view that wiping the face after du`aa'
is not prescribed is strengthened by
the fact that there are many authentic
ahaadeeth about raising the hands in
supplication, and in none of them is
there a mention of wiping the face; this
shows, Allaah Willing, that it is unacceptable
and not prescribed.
If
Ibn Ma`een speaks favourably about a
narrator, whereas the rest of the scholars
declare him to be weak, then the statement
of Ibn Ma`een is disregarded, the reason
being that he was known for his strictness
and severity in criticism: weak narrators
would be very careful not to reveal their
weakness before him; he would therefore
pass judgment accordingly. This explains
why he is alone in authenticating the
narrator.