Wiping the face after du'ah is a bid'ah

Concerning the Wiping of the Face after Salah

Taken from the Original Sifaat as-Salah

By  Shaykh Muhadith Muhammad Nasir- Deen Al-Albaani 

Translated by Abbas Abu Yahya 

"As for wiping the hands on the face after ending the Dua' in the prayer, then this is not established with an authentic narration, nor an authentic statement, nor by analogy. 

This is a Bida', as for outside the prayer, then it is not authentic, and everything that is narrated regarding this is weak, some of it is more severe in its weakness than other narrations; I have researched it in ýDaýeef Abi Dawoodý (262) and 'al-Hadeeth as-Saheehah' (597), this is why al-Izz bin Abdus-Salaam said in some of his Fatawa: 'None does this except an ignorant person.' 

So it is foremost that it should not be done, and restricting to what the Salaf -Radi Allaahu anhum- did, of raising the hands in the Dua' without wiping the face in the prayer. And success lies with Allaah.' "

[Taken from 'the Original Sifat as-Salah' vol 3 p.957-959] 

Answer from Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen 

Majmoo’ Fataawa Ibn ‘Uthaymeen 14; Question No. 781 

Shaykh Muhammad ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked about the ruling on wiping the face with the hands after making du’aa’. He replied: 

"Wiping the face with the hands after making du’aa’ is more likely to be not prescribed in Islam, because the ahaadeeth that have been narrated concerning that are da’eef (weak). Shaykh al-Islam (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: They cannot be used as evidence. If we are not certain or we think it most likely that this is not prescribed, then it is better not to do it, because Islamic rulings cannot be proven on the basis of mere conjecture, unless we believe it to be mostly likely to be the case. 

What I think about wiping the face with the hands after du’aa’ is that it is not Sunnah. As is well known, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) prayed for rain during his Friday khutbah and raised his hands, but it is not narrated that he wiped his face with them. Similarly in a number of ahaadeeth it says that the Prophet raised his hands, but there is no proof that he wiped his face."