The Ruling on Wiping the Face After Supplication

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Question

What is the ruling on wiping the face with the hands upon concluding a supplication, and is there an authentic ḥadīth reported concerning this practice?

Shaykh ʿAbd al-Razzāq al-ʿAfīfī (1323 to 1415 AH / 1905 to 1994 CE)

Wiping the face after supplicating is not from the sunnah. Rather, it is an innovation (bidʿah), because wiping the face with the hands at the conclusion of every duʿāʾ is regarded as a ritualised act and a form of worship. It has not been established that the Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ practised this. Accordingly, it constitutes an innovation in the religion. As for the ḥadīth reported concerning this matter, it is weak and inauthentic.

Reference

al-ʿAfīfī, ʿAbd al-Razzāq ibn ʿAbdAllāh (d. 1415 AH / 1994 CE), Fatāwā wa Rasāʾil Samāḥat al-Shaykh ʿAbd al-Razzāq al-ʿAfīfī, ed. Walīd ibn Idrīs al-Manīsī, Riyadh: Dār al-Fāḍīlah, n.d., p. 631.