Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
I’ve searched for a long time on QA, but i haven’t found an answer to my question. I’m originally from Bosnia and the people there use to stroke their face with their hands after finishing salat (after saying “Allahumma Anta ’s-Salam wa minka ’s-Salam, tabarakta ya Dhal Jalali wal Ikram”). Yesterday a brtoher told me that Abu Hanifa r.a. himself has said, that if someone does this, his salat becomes invalid. That’s confusing me a lot, ’cause if this is true, every single salat of the people in Bosnia, the Balkan, Turkey etc. is invalid?! It’s hard to belive that. So if you can bring some clarification to this subject.
Walaikum assalam,
It is one of the recommended sunnas of supplication (dua) to wipe one’s face afterwards. [Shurunbulali, Maraqi al-Falah] This must be what they are doing, and it doesn’t affect the validity of the prayer in any way, because once an action is complete subsequent separate actions don’t invalidate it.
And Allah alone gives success.
Faraz.