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.