Answered by Ustadh Sufyan Qufi
Question
A long time ago, I was told by a religious teacher that we should say the “Rabbana atina fi d-dunya hasana” supplication at the end of the last sitting. Since I don’t have any references for this I have stopped.
Is it permissible to do this? Were my previous prayers valid?
Answer
In the name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful,
I pray this finds you in the best of states.
The advice that your teacher has given you was sound and perfectly in line with the Hanafi school. [Shurunbulali, Nur al-Idah]
By following his advice you were fulfilling one of the important sunnas of the prayer, namely supplicating Allah, Most High, during the last sitting of the prayer with words that resembles the words of the Quran. [Shurunbulali, Nur al-Idah]
You should go back to this practice right away. Your previous prayers were of course valid. Your current prayers without the supplications are also valid despite being less optimal.
The Proofs for this Practice
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings upon him) said: “When one of you prays let him begin by praising Allah and glorify Him. Then he should send blessings on the Prophet. Then he should ask whatever he wishes.” [Tirmidhi]
He also said: “The words of people do not befit our prayer.” [Muslim]
Thus, based on these two hadiths, it is sunna for us to:
(1) supplicate Allah, Most High, during the last sitting after sending blessings on the Prophet (peace and blessings upon him).
(2) use for this supplications from the Quran or the Sunna in order to avoid mixing our prayers with human speech.
[Shrunbulali, Maraqi al-Falah]
Problematic Supplications
Making supplications with that which is normally possible to ask humans could invalidate the prayer.
Worldly supplications, such as, “O Allah, marry me to Layla,” or, “O Allah, give me a red Honda Civic,” or, “Allah, I want a burger tonight,” would invalidate the prayer if uttered before the last sitting and would make the prayer defective if uttered at the end of the last sitting. [Shrunbulali, Maraqi al-Falah]
And Allah knows best.
Wassalam,
[Ustadh] Sufyan Qufi
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani