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One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Brother Burhan,

I have questions w.r.t to DUA after every farzh prayer(5 time prayer) and asking dua in groups or during any congregation. 

I'm getting confused as one who follows as per tawheed(QURAN & HADiTH) says asking dua after farzh prayer is not allowed and it not specified any where in quran or hadith.Is this true based on Quran & Hadeeth. As such,Does dua happen in makkah & medina after every farzh prayer and I heard they do ask dua after every farzh prayer as well. 

Imam of makkah & medina has great understanding of quran and hadeeth than we are and how will they go wrong if that is the case . Please clarify this based on quran & hadith.  Looking forward to hear from you ASAP. 

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Answer:

Dua supplications after fard prayer congregation

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Respected brother, to clarify the matter, lets divide the issue of making dua or supplications into three parts:

1. The making of dua or supplications individually after one’s prayers.
2. The making of dua or supplications by the ‘imam’ leading the prayer during the congregation.
3. The making of dua or supplications by an ‘imam’ in congregation after the prayers. 

Ref-1: The making of dua or supplications individually after one’s prayers.

Fiqh-us-Sunnah Fiqh 1.164

It is Sunnah for the believers to use a number of words of remembrance and supplications which have been related from the Prophet (saws). The many reports include the following:

1.       Reported Thauban, "When the Prophet (saws) would finish his prayer, he would seek Allah's forgiveness three times and then say, 'O Allah, You are The Peace, and from You is Peace. You are filled with Good, O Sublime and Honorable One." (Related by Muslim)

2.       One day the Prophet (saws) took Hadrat Mu'adh ibn Jabal's (r.a.) hand and said to him, "O Mu'adh, I love you." Mu'adh responded, "May my father and mother be sacrificed for you, O Messenger of Allah (saws), I love you (too)." Then the Prophet (saws) said, "I advise you, O Mu'adh, say at the end of every prayer, 'O Allah, aid me in Your remembrance, Your thanks, and in perfecting Your worship." (Related by Ahmad, Abu Dawud, an-Nasa'i, Ibn Khuzaimah, Ibn Hibban and al-Hakim)

3.       Reported Abdullah ibn Zubair (r.a.), "When the Prophet (saws) made the ‘tasleem’ at the end of the prayer, he (saws) would say, 'There is no god but Allah the One. There is no partner with Him, to Him belongs the Sovereignty and to Him is due all Praise. He has power over all things. (Related by Bukhari and Muslim.)

There are several phrases of Remembrance and supplications which the Messenger of Allah (saws) himself made and guided the believers to make after their prayers; thus to declare phrases of the Remembrance of Allah and make supplications individually after one’s prayers is an extremely preferred Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws).

Ref-2: The making of dua or supplications by the ‘imam’ leading the prayer during the

congregation.

Ibn Abbas (r.a.) relates that the Messenger of Allah (saws) made ‘qunut’ supplications consecutively for one month in all the five obligatory prayers ‘dhuhr’, 'asr’, ‘maghrib’, 'isha’, and the ‘fajr’ prayers. At the end of every prayer, after saying: "Allah hears him who praises Him" in the last rak'ah, he (saws) would supplicate against Re'l, Dhakwan, and Usiyyah of the tribe of Banu Sulaim (these three had killed the emissaries that the Prophet (saws) had sent to them) and the companions behind him would say 'Ameen'.

Related by Ahmad and by Abu Dawood.

There is evidence in the authentic and established Sunnah that during extremely trying times, the Messenger of Allah (saws) did indeed make ‘qunut’ supplications during the congregational prayer.  Thus if the ‘imam’ leading the congregation makes a ‘qunut’ supplication during the prayers, there is absolutely no harm and it would be in accordance with the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws).

Ref-3: The making of dua or supplications by an ‘imam’ in congregation after the prayers. 

To the best of our knowledge, there is absolutely no evidence in the authentic and established Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws) whereby he (saws) as the ‘imam’ would ever make  collective supplications after the fard prayers, or after any other prayers for that matter.

It would be best for the ‘imaams’ who lead the prayers and the believers at large to abstain from doing something in the deen which was neither practiced nor endorsed by the Messenger of Allah (saws); for that then would indeed constitute a case for introducing or following a ‘bida’ or innovation in the deen.

Aisha narrated that the Messenger of Allah (saws) said: ‘If somebody innovates something which is not present in our religion, then that thing will be rejected.’

Related by Bukhari. 

Q-1: I have questions w.r.t to DUA after every farzh prayer(5 time prayer) and asking dua in groups or during any congregation. 

It is an extremely preferred Sunnah for an individual to recite phrases of Remembrance or supplicate their Lord Most Gracious after their prayers.

It is from amongst the Sunnah if an ‘imam’ leading the congregation chooses to make supplications during the congregational prayer.

But there is absolutely no evidence in the authentic and established Sunnah regarding the making of group supplications after the prayers.

Q-2: As such,Does dua happen in makkah & medina after every farzh prayer and I heard they do ask dua after every farzh prayer as well. 

The ‘imams’ who lead the prayers in congregation in the Holy Masjids in Makkah and Madinah may recite phrases of Remembrance and supplicate Allah Subhanah on an individual basis, or aloud during the congregational prayers (qunut); and that would be in accordance with the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws)….but to the best of our knowledge and experience, we have never seen or heard the ‘imams’ make collective supplications after the prayers.  And Allah Alone Knows Best.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone.  Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan