Ruling on lifting the gaze to heaven when offering supplication (du‘aa’) following the prayer

Du‘aa’ after the obligatory prayer, if it is always done
raising the hands, or is recited by everyone in unison, or the imam says
du‘aa’ and the people behind him say Ameen, is something for which there
is no basis, and it comes under the heading of innovations (bid‘ah) that
are widespread nowadays. If it is free of these things, then there is
nothing wrong with it, because it is proven that the Prophet (blessings
and peace of Allah be upon him) offered du‘aa’ before the salaam at the
end of the prayer and after it. 

The scholars of the Standing Committee for Issuing Fatwas
were asked: Is offering du‘aa’ after the obligatory prayer Sunnah? Should
the du‘aa’ be accompanied by raising the hands? Is raising the hands with
the imam better, or not? 

They replied:

Du‘aa’ after the obligatory prayer is not Sunnah if that is
done raising the hands, whether that is done by the imam on his own, or the
individual worshipper on his own, or by both of them. Rather it is an
innovation (bid‘ah), because that is not reported from the Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) or from any of his Companions
(may Allah be pleased with them). As for offering du‘aa’ without that, there
is nothing wrong with it, because there are some hadeeths that speak of
that. End quote. 

Fataawa al-Lajnah ad-Daa’imah
(7/103) 

They also said: Saying du‘aa’ out loud following the five
daily prayers and the regular Sunnah prayers, or offering du‘aa’ in a
communal fashion on a regular basis is a reprehensible innovation, because
no such thing is proven in reports from the Prophet (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) or from his Companions (may Allah be pleased with them).

End quote from Fataawa Islamiyyah (1/319). 

See also the answer to question no.
26279

Secondly: 

Concerning the prohibition on the worshipper lifting his gaze
to heaven, there is the report that was narrated by al-Bukhaari (750) from
Anas ibn Maalik (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “What is the matter with
people who lift their gaze to heaven whilst praying?” And he spoke sternly
concerning that, until he said: “They should stop that, or else their
eyesight will be snatched away” 

The reason for that is that lifting the gaze whilst praying
is contrary to proper focus (khushoo‘), and it exposes the worshipper to the
risk of being distracted by what he sees. 

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him)
said: Because lifting the gaze to heaven is contrary to proper focus
(khushoo‘), the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) stated
that it is haraam and warned against it.

End quote from al-Qawaa’id an-Nooraaniyyah, p. 46 

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy upon him) said:
The words “and lifting his gaze to heaven” mean it is makrooh (disliked) to
lift one’s gaze to heaven whilst praying, whether that is when one is
reciting, or when one is bowing, or when one is rising from bowing, or at
any stage in the prayer, based on both evidence and reasoning. With regard
to the evidence, that is because the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah
be upon him) said: “People should stop lifting their gaze to heaven whilst
praying, or else their eyesight will be snatched away.” In other words,
either they should stop or this punishment will be inflicted on them, which
is that their eyesight will be snatched away, and will not be given back to
them. The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) spoke sternly
concerning this matter. … With regard to reasoning, that is because this
reflects bad etiquette towards Allah, may He be exalted, because the
worshipper is standing before Allah, so he should observe proper etiquette
before Him, and not lift his head; rather he should be humble. Hence ‘Amr
ibn al-‘Aas (may Allah be pleased with him) said that before he became
Muslim, he hated the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) so
much that he wished that he could be able to kill him. But when he became
Muslim, he said: I could not look directly at him, out of awe and respect
for him, and if you asked me to describe him I would not be able to. 

Hence the most correct (scholarly) view concerning lifting
the gaze to heaven whilst praying is that it is haraam, and not merely
makrooh. End quote. 

Ash-Sharh al-Mumti‘ (3/226). 

With regard to lifting the gaze to heaven outside of prayer,
there is nothing wrong with it, because there is no evidence to suggest that
it is not allowed; rather some of the fuqaha’ were of the view that lifting
the gaze is preferable. 

It says in al-Mawsoo‘ah al-Fiqhiyyah (8/99): The
Shaafa‘is stated that when offering du‘aa’ (supplication) outside of prayer,
it is preferable to lift the gaze to heaven. However, al-Ghazaali said: The
one who is offering supplication should not lift his gaze to heaven. End
quote. 

An-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said in Sharh
Muslim: al-Qaadi ‘Iyaad said: They (the scholars) differed as to whether
it is makrooh to lift the gaze to heaven when offering du‘aa’ other than
during the prayer. Shurayh and others regarded it as makrooh, but the
majority regarded it as permissible. End quote. 

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah said: It is not makrooh to lift
the gaze to heaven when offering du‘aa’, because the Prophet (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) did that. This is the view of Maalik and
ash-Shaafa‘i. But it is not mustahabb. End quote. 

Al-Fataawa al-Kubra (5/338) 

Al-Bukhaari (may Allah have mercy on him) included a chapter
in his Saheeh entitled: Chapter on lifting the gaze to heaven, and he
quoted the verse in which Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of
the meaning): “Do
they not look at the camels, how they are created? And at the heaven, how it
is raised?” [al-Ghaashiyah 88: 17, 18].
And ‘Aa’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: The Prophet (blessings
and peace of Allah be upon him) lifted his head (and looked) to heaven,
i.e., when he died (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). 

What al-Bukhaari (may Allah have mercy on him) meant here was
to show that it is permissible to lift the gaze to heaven, and that the
prohibition applies only to when one is praying. The fact that it is
permissible to lift the gaze to heaven when offering du‘aa’ outside of
prayer is indicated by the report was narrated by Muslim (2055)  about
al-Miqdaad (may Allah be pleased with him) who drank the drink of the
Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) without his knowledge. In
this report it says: then he went
to the mosque and prayed. Then he came to his drink and uncovered it, and he
did not find anything in it. He looked up at the sky and I said: Now he is
praying against me and I am doomed. But he said: “O Allah, feed those who
have fed me and give drink to those who have given me to drink.” 

Abu Dawood (3488) narrated that Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allah be
pleased with him) said: I saw the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) sitting by the
Corner. He looked up at the sky and smiled, then he said: “May Allaah curse
the Jews” three times. “Allaah, may He be exalted, forbade fat to them, but
they sold it and consumed its price. When Allaah forbids a people to eat a
thing He forbids its price to them.”

Classed as saheeh by an-Nawawi in al-Majmoo‘,
and by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood. 

To sum up: lifting the gaze to heaven when offering du‘aa’
outside of prayer is permissible and there is nothing wrong with it. 

And Allah knows best.