THE DU’A AFTER FRIDAY KHUTBA

THE DU’A
AFTER FRIDAY KHUTBA

Taken From The Friday Prayer Part 1: The Fiqh by
Jamaal al-Din Zarabozo
(pp-124-126)

There is a hadith that states that every Friday the
Prophet (peace be upon him) would ask for forgiveness for the believing men and
believing women. This hadith is recorded by al-Bazzaar and others but,
unfortunately, in its chain is Yusuf ibn Khaalid al-Busti, who is a weak
narrator.[1]
Other than that hadith, there does not seem to be any strong, specific evidence
that the Prophet (peace be upon him) would supplicate during the khutbah.

According to ibn Uthaimeen, tt[2]
is definite that supplications may be made during the khutbah, as such is a time in which one hopes for response from
Allah. However, one cannot say that it is a sunnah, one can only say that it is
permissible. Then he says that one should not insist on doing it on a perpetual
basis as, when that is done, people will then get the impression that it is
sunnah. Anything which gives such a wrong impression should, therefore, be
avoided.[3]

Two further points must be made. First, it is not from
the sunnah for the Imam or the congregation to raise their hands while the Imam
makes supplications. Umara ibn Ruwaiba saw Bishr ibn Marwaan on the minbar raising his hands and Umara said,
“O Allah, disfigure these hands. I have seen the Messenger of Allah (peace be
upon him) gesture no more than this with his hands,” and he pointed with his
forefinger. (Recorded by Muslim.) In other narrations, it is stated that this
was in reference to when the Imam was making supplications in the khutbah.
(Recorded by Ahmad and others.) Al-Shaukaani calls the raising of the
hands during the khutbah an
innovation. Al-Majd ibn Taimiyya, Abu Shaamah and al-Suyooti all also called it
an innovation.[4]
The only exception to this is when the prayer for rain is made, in which the khateeb stretches his hands out during
the supplication.[5]

A second point concerning these supplications at the end
of the khutbah is made by the
Permanent Committee for Legal Rulings of Saudi Arabia. In one legal ruling,
they wrote,

For the Imam to supplicate
for the Muslims is legally sanctioned as the Prophet (peace be upon him) used
to do so. But the Imam must not insist on particular supplications but should
make different supplications depending on the situation. As for the amount of
the supplications, being many or few, it depends on the need at the time. The
Prophet (peace be upon him) would sometimes repeat the same supplication three
times while sometimes he would repeat it only twice. It is a sunnah for the khateeb to do his best to perform the khutbah and supplications in the manner
of the Prophet (peace be upon him).[6]







[1] Cf., Muhammad al-Sanaai, Subul
al-Salaam Sharh Buloogh al-Maram min Jami Adillah al-Ahkaam (Beirut: Maktaba Dar al-Ilmiyyah, 1988), vol.2,
pp. 121-122.

[2] [Note: This is obviously a typo in the book but I figured just to leave
it rather than guess what he meant]

[3] Ibn Uthaimeen, Sharh,
vol. 5, pp.87-88.

[4] See Abdullah al-Fauzan, Ahkaam
Hudhur al-Masjid (Riyadh: Dar al-Muslim, 1994), pp. 218-219.

[5] Al-Shaukaani, Nail, vol.
3, p.333.

6] Ibn Baz, et al, vol. 1, p.389.