Raising the Hands in Supplication

Question :

I see some people raise their hands when the Khatib is supplicating during the Friday sermon; I see others raise their hands when they are supplicating after the fixed Sunnah prayers, during the Qunut supplication of the Witr prayer. Meanwhile, others abstain from doing so altogether. Please tell me what the Sunnah is regarding raising the hands. during supplication.

Answer:

The Sunnah is to raise your hands when you supplicate. and doing so promotes your prayer being answered. The Prophet ﷺ said,
"Indeed, your Lord is Hayiy and Generous: He is shy from His servant when he raises his hands to Him, to return them empty."

And according to what is recorded by Muslim in his Sahih from Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, the Prophet ﷺ said:
"Indeed Allah is Tayyib (good), and He doesn't accept other than what is Tayyib."

Allah Almighty has ordered the believers with the same commands that he ordered the Messengers with. He says,addressing both separately:
"O you who believe! Eat of the lawful things that we have provided you with, and be grateful to Allah, if it is indeed He Whom you worship."

And:
"O (you) Messengers! Eat of the Tayibat (good and laveful) and do righteous deeds."

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then informed us of the unkempt and dust-covered traveler, who raised his hands to the sky, and said, "O my Lord, O my Lord." However, his food was unlawful. his drink was unlawful, his clothes were unlawful, and he derived sustenance from what is unlawful. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said of him : "And so how can he be answered!"

There are many authentic narrations in which the Prophet ﷺ raised his hands: in the sermon for the Rain Prayer, in the days of Tashriq at the Jamaraat during his final pilgrimage, and on many other occasions.

Nevertheless, we should not raise our hands on those occasions.

wherein we have no accounts that the Messenger of Allah raised his hands. Therefore, we should follow the Prophet ﷺ and not raise our hands during the Friday sermon, the 'Eid sermon, the supplication between the two prostrations of prayer, the supplication at the end of the prayer, and in the supplication after the five obligatory prayers.

This is because we have no reports from the Messenger of Allah that he raised his hands on these occasions. So we follow him where he did raise his hands and we follow him where abstained from doing so.

Allah Almighty says:
"Indeed in the Messenger of Allah you have a good example to follow"

And with Allah is the facilitation to do what is right.