Ruling on raising the hands when offering supplication (du‘aa’) after burying the deceased

Question

Praise be to Allah.

The basic principle is to raise
the hands when offering supplication (du‘aa’) except
in some cases where it is not prescribed to raise the hands. This has been
discussed previously in the answer to question no. 11543

Shaykh Ibn Baaz (may Allah have mercy on
him) said: If he offers supplication and raises his hands, this is one of the
means of having the supplication answered, except in some cases where the
Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) did not raise his hands, so
we should not do that either, such as during the khutbah
on Friday, when the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) did not
raise his hands unless he was praying for rain (istisqa’),
in which case he did raise his hands. The same applies between the two
prostrations and before saying the salaam at the end of the tahajjud;
the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) did not raise his hands,
so we should not raise our hands in these cases where he (blessings and peace
of Allah be upon him) did not raise his hands, because his doing something is
proof and his not doing something is proof. Similarly, after saying the salaam
at the end of the five daily prayers, the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah
be upon him) used to recite adhkaar as prescribed in
Islam, without raising his hands, so we should not raise our hands either in
that case, following his example. As for the cases in which he (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) did raise his hands, the Sunnah
in those cases is to raise the hands, following his example and because that is
one of the means of having supplications answered. The same applies to cases in
which the Muslim may offer supplication to his Lord and there is no report from
the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) to indicate whether he
raised his hands or not. In such cases we may raise our hands, because of the hadeeths which indicate that raising the hands is one of
the means of having the supplication answered, as stated above.

End quote from Majmoo‘
al-Fataawa, 26/146

An-Nawawi
(may Allah have mercy on him) said: Chapter: it is mustahabb
to raise the hands when offering supplication outside of prayer. Then he (may
Allah have mercy on him) quoted a number of hadeeths
which indicate that it is permissible to raise the hands when offering
supplication outside of prayer… Then he said: There are many hadeeths concerning this issue other than those I have
quoted, but those that I have quoted are sufficient. The point is that it
should be understood that the one who claims that raising the hands should be
limited to the cases mentioned in the hadeeth is
mistaken.

End quote from Sharh at-Tahdheeb,
3/489

Shaykh Ibn Baaz (may Allah have mercy on
him) was asked: Should supplication be offered at the grave by raising one’s
hands?

He replied: If one raises the
hands there is nothing wrong with it, because of the report proven from the
Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) in the hadeeth
of ‘Aa’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her),
according to which he (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) visited the
graves, raised his hands and offered supplication for
their occupants. Narrated by Muslim.

End quote from Majmoo‘
al-Fataawa, 13/337

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have
mercy on him) said:

with regard to offering
supplication for him after the burial, it is proven in a report narrated by Abu
Dawood that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah
be upon him) would, after burying the deceased, stand over him and say: “Pray
for forgiveness for your brother and ask for him to be made steadfast, for now
he is being questioned.” If someone raises his hands when asking for
forgiveness for him, there is nothing wrong with that, and if someone does not
raise his hands and says “O Allah, forgive him; O Allah, forgive him; O Allah,
forgive him; O Allah make him steadfast; O Allah, make him steadfast; O Allah,
make him steadfast,” then leaves, (that is also acceptable).

End quote from Liqa’ al-Baab al-Maftooh. No. 82

Shaykh ‘Abd al-Muhsin al-‘Abbaad (may Allah preserve him) was asked about the ruling
on raising the hands when offering supplication for the deceased after burying
him.

He replied: The matter is broad
in scope. We do not know of anything to indicate that it is proven or that it
is not allowed. So the individual may raise his hands or not. The issue of
raising the hands or not may be as follows:

1.Where there is a text which
speaks of raising the hands, such as offering supplication (du‘aa’)
in ‘Arafah, offering supplication at the first and
second Jamarah, and praying for rain (istisqa’)

2.Where there is no mention of
raising the hands, such as the supplication in the Friday sermon (khutbah), when no one is to raise his hands in
supplication, neither the khateeb nor the members of
the congregation, because the Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him) did not raise his hands although he delivered so many khutbahs
to the people.

3.In other cases, the matter is
broad in scope; one may raise the hands or not.

End quote from Sharh Sunan Abi Dawood

And Allah knows best.