Congregational Dua after Salah

One can make whatever duo he wishes. It is not necessary to follow the imam.

“Imam Malik (RA) and a group of other ulama opine that it is makrooh for the imam to make loud dua for those present as this will lead to the imam being the leader of the salah and he will also become the link between Allah Ta ‘ala and his bondsmen in them attaining their needs.”

الام ۔ (ج ۱ ص ۱۲۷) دارالمعرفة

Imam Shafi (RA) mentions: “I prefer for the imam and muqtadi to make zikr after salah and they should make it silently.”

(Aap Kay Masail 2/272)

Maulana Yusuf Ludhwani (RA) upon being asked the method of making duo after salah replied as follows:

“After fardh salah the dua should be short, carried out individually and softly. Every person should ask for his own needs. The Arabic dua’s should not be always read out loud.”

Allamah Sirajud Deen (RA) mentions: “Loud dua is an innovation.”

“It should be noted that the common practice after fardh salah whereby the imam and muqtadi congregate and lift their hands and the imam makes dua and the muqtadi says ameen has definitely not been established from Nabi (Sallaho Alaihe Wassallam) nor the Sahaba (RA). No hadeeth has been established in this regard.”

(معارف القرآن ۔ ج ۳ ص ۵۷۸)

It is mentioned in Ma’ariful Quran: “May Allah guide the imams of our masajid. They left the teachings of the Quran, sunnah and practices of our pious predecessors. After every salah superficial dua takes place, in raised voices which besides going against the etiquettes of dua it also causes disturbance in the salah of the late comers.”

(امداد الفتاوی ۔ ج ۵ ص ۳۰۸)

Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanwi (RA) mentions: “Continual practice on something is not prohibited. However, dogmatically obligating something on oneself or pragmatically is prohibited. Dogmatic obligation is considering something necessary and pragmatic obligation is when one condemns those who leave it out.”

Ibn Jarir (RA) narrates from Ibn Jurayj (RA) “Raising the voice in dua is a form of transgressing the limits as indicated to by the verse verily Allah does not love those who transgress the bounds.”

Sheikh Abdul Fattah Abu Ghuddah (RA) mentions: “Yes if anybody considers this (congregational dua whilst raising the hands) as a sunnah and persists on it and condemns the one who leaves it out, then this is incorrect and unacceptable.”

And Allah knows best Wassalam

The ulama should first educate their congregation on the sunnah method of Adhkar after salah and gradually inform them that the congregational dua is not compulsory and was not practised at the time of Rasulullah (Sallaho Alaihe Wassallam).

Get the congregation to first understand that congregational dua is mubah and not compulsory. Do not condemn the practice without educating the congregation. This will lead to fitna.

The entire document was initially prepared by Mufti Ishaaq Moosa Saheb himself. Thereafter Br. Muadh had done a major editing to add the type text references instead of images and posted on his website central-mosque. While I had the original document, I chose to re-edit Br. Muadh edition to fine tune the type text for better reading. -Abuhajira