Part 33

33-The ‘up’ and ‘down’ refers to the Ash‘ ari phrase, ‘...and He is neither above us nor below us’.

34 Reported in many famous works, including a/-Styar of al-Dhahabi, 18/ 477, with a chain that is continuous with Auffaz, or Hadith masters, so there is absolutely no doubt with regards to its authenticity.

3 Here it is necessary to comment on two ‘evidences’ that are used by those who claim that Allah cannot be described with a direction in order to justify their position. The first ‘evidence’ is their saying: “The sky is the qiblah

for du’ a, just like Makkah is the qiblah for salah.” The second ‘evidence’ is their saying, “Just like the prostration of a person to the ground does not mean that Allah is under the ground, likewise raising the hands up does not mean that Allah is transcendent above us”.

So as for the first ‘evidence’ that is raised, the following points can be used to show the futilty of it:

iThe statement that the sky is the qiblah for dw’ @ is not found in the Quran, Sunnah or from any of the major scholars of the pious predecessors, so how can such a statement be made without any real evidence?

iiThe actual qiblah of du’ @ is Makkah, as has been stated in the etiquitte of du'@. So the one who makes a du’ @ turns his body towards the Ka'bah, just like the one in salah does. Therefore, there are not two qiblahs while making dw’ a — one towards Makkah and the other towards the sky — there is only one proper qiblah.

iii-The qiblah is a matter that is related to the legal law of the Shariah, and changes from one religion to another. This is why the Jews during the time of Misa had a certain qiblah that Allah legislated for them, and the Muslims have another qiblah. Likewise, most religions have various ‘holy’ directions that they face during their acts of worship. The transcendency of Allah, however, is a universally agreed upon fact, and members of all religions, while making a du‘ a to the Supreme Creator, raise their hands towards the sky, and their hearts ‘reach out’ above them to call their Creator. This matter proves that the transcendency of Allah is a matter that is ingrained in every created being, unlike the qiblah.

As for the second ‘evidence’, then it can be refuted by the following:

iItis agreed upon by all of mankind that prostrating on the ground does not imply that the object or deity that is being worshipped is underneath the person, but rather that it is in front of him and above him. Does the Hindu, when he prostrates in front of a statue, claim that the statue is below him? Or does the worshipper of the Sun, when he prostrates and the sun is at its zenith, believe that the sun is 6elow him? Rather, prostration is an act of worship that is done to show humilty to a deity that is above and in front of the one prostrating.

iiEven if it is said, for argument’s sake, that the face of the person is facing the ground while he is prostrating, the fact of the matter is that a person’s heart, while he is making du‘a in that situation, reaches up and directs itself to the transcendency of Allah above him.

2. Wiping One’s Face After Finishing the Du’ a.

There are a number of narrations in which it is stated that the Prophet (#%) would wipe his face with his hands after finishing a du’ a. However, scholars of Hadith have differed about the authenticity of these narrations, some of which are as follows:

‘Umar ibn al-Khattab reported that whenever the Prophet (#8) raised his hands in du'a, he would not lower them until he had wiped his face.*”* Al-Tirmidhi, when he reported this hadith, said, “This hadith is sahih gharib.”””

Ibn ‘Abbas reported that the Prophet (#8) said:

Ask Allah from the palms of your hands, and do not ask Him from the back of your hands, and when you finish, then wipe

398 your hands over your faces.

Abu Dawid said: “This hadith has been reported from other than this chain, on the authority of Muhammad ibn Ka’b, and all of them are very weak. This particular chain is the best, and it too is weak”,

There are also a number of other ahadith and statements of the salaf with regards to wiping one’s hands over the face after dua” However, all of the ahadith are without a doubt weak. The difterence of opinion occurs in whether these ahadith, put together, raise

them to the status of hasan (acceptable) or not.

396 Reported by al-Tirmidhi (# 3386).

397 hid. In some manuscripts of al-Tirmidhi, only the phrase, ‘gharib’ occurs,

and this seems more correct. 38 Reported by Aba Dawud (# 1485) and Ibn Majah (# 3866).

39 Tn fact, Shaykh Bakr Aba Zayd has writted a booklet in which he compiled all of the ahadith and narrations pertaining to this topic, called Juz fi Mas-h al-Wajh bi al-yadayn ba‘ da al-Du' a. He found seven ahadith of the Prophet, and over a dozen narrations from the salaf, some of whom approved, and others who disapproved. In addition, he discussed the position of the four madh-habs concerning this act.

Therefore, based on their opinion about the status of these ahadith, various scholars have held different opinions about the permissibility of wiping one’s face.

Some scholars stated that it is recommended to wipe one’s face after one makes du‘ a. These include al-Ghazali, al-Hulaymi, alNawawi (in one of his opinions) al-Hafiz Ibn Hajr, al-San‘ani and others. Ibn Hajr writes in his Buligh al-Maram, after mentioning some of these ahadith, “All of these ahadith taken together demonstrate that this hadith is hasan (acceptable).”*” mented, “In this hadith, there is evidence that it is allowed to wipe one’s hands after finishing one’s du’ a. And it is said that the reason for this is that, since Allah will not allow the hands to return empty, then it is as if His Mercy has reached them. So it is appropriate to

let these blessings be transmitted, as it were, to the face, which is 401

the most noble of all organs, and the most deserving of respect. Al-Bayhagi states in his Swnan that this act has been narrated from a number of salaf, but only outside of the salah (i.e. there is no narration that they would wipe their hands over their face while they were praying).” Some scholars have found narrations from the following scholars of the salaf who allowed or practised wiping of the face: al-Hasan al-Basri, Abii Ka‘b al-Basri, Ma‘mar ibn Rashid, ‘Abd al-Razzaq al-San‘ani (the author of the Musannaf), Ishaq ibn Rahayah, and Imam Ahmad (in one opinion from him).*

Other scholars held the opinion that it is permissible to wipe one’s hands over one’s face, but only while one is not in prayer. As * for a person making a du‘a during salah (for example, the qunat du‘), then he should not wipe it over his face. Shaykh Bakr Aba Zayd writes: “And if he wishes, he can wipe his face with his hands

400 Sbul al-Salam, 4/427.

403 See Bakr Abu Zayd’s Juz fi Mas-h al-wajh, pp. 47-52.

after finishing his du’ a, as long as he is outside of his salah, and not while he is praying”.

Yet others held the opinion that it is not recommended to wipe one’s hand over one’s face at all. These scholars considered the ahadith pertaining to the topic to be weak, or even very weak. Some of them even considered this act to be an innovation.

Some scholars who explicitly disliked any wiping are: Imam Malik, ‘Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak, Ahmad ibn Hanbal (in one narration from him), and others. In fact, one later scholar even went so

far as to say: “No one does this act except an ignorant person”.

_ Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah wrote: “As for wiping the face after finishing a dua, then there is no hadith (narrated from the Prophet, (#8) except for one, or two, and they do not qualify as proof (i.e. they are all weak)”.

Shaykh al-Albani stated: “In this narration (of wiping over the

404 Aba Zayd, p. 27. Note: Although this quote is explicit in his book Tashih al-Du'@, he says in his book, Juz fi Mas-h al-Wajh bi al-yadayn, (p. 75), “...s0 based on all that has preceded, if'a person does it occasionally while he is not praying, and does not make it a habitual practice, then there is some basis for it”. So in this book he states that if a person does it, it should not be done habitually, and Allah knows best. Also, Shaykh Bakr Abu Zayd himself holds the opinion that all of the hadith narrated concerning this matter are weak, and, thus, there is no evidence for it from the texts.

45-This is narrated from the al-‘Izz ibn ‘Abd al-Salam. However, Imam alZakrashi stated, after quoting him: “This statement is held upon the fact that he (meaning al-Izz) did not come across the ahadith narrated to this effect. And these ahadith, even though their isnads are slightly weak, strengthen each other”. See Abii Zayd, p. 55. Also, this act has been authentically narrated from a number of the scholars of the salaf, and great scholars, such as al-Hafiz Ibn Hajr, have declared these ahadith to be authentic. Therefore, it is not proper to unconditionally lable all those that wipe their hands over the face as ignorant, for this is a matter in which there is a legitimate difference of opinion.

406 Majmi' al-Fatawa, 22/519.

face), the defect is in the name who is not mentioned. However, his name is mentioned in another narration in Ibn Majah as Salah ibn Hasan and he is a very weak narrator, so this narration must be rejected, [ have yet to find any supporting evidence (for this act). It seems that (this weakness) is the reason why al-Izz ibn ‘Abd alSalam said: ‘No one wipes his face (after a du @) except an ignorant person’. Even if this narration were only slightly weak, it would still not be permissible to act upon it, since it ordains an Islamic ruling, and that is the desirability of wiping one’s face, so how can it be acted upon when it is extremely weak?”*”

In conclusion, there is a legitimate difference of opinion over the permissibility of wiping one’s hands over one’s face after making du a. There are a number of ahadith narrated from the Prophet (#8) concerning this matter (to be precise, seven); however, all of them are weak. So whoever believes that these ahadith, when taken together, strengthen one another and make the hadith hasan — as is the opinion al-Hafiz Ibn Hajr has some basis for this act. However, it does appear that the weaknesses of these ahadith are quite severe, and that they do not support one another; therefore, it does not reach the level of hasan.