Short answer
The Hanafi texts say it is mustahabb to wipe your face with your hands at the end of a dua made with raised hands. The reports for it are weak one by one, but scholars such as Ibn Hajar judged them acceptable taken together. It is not required, and it is not something to argue over.
Wiping the face with both hands at the end of a dua outside salah is mustahabb in the Hanafi texts. It is not done inside the prayer, and leaving it is no sin.
Other madhhabs
- Shafi'i
- Al-Nawawi held that the face is not wiped after the qunut inside the prayer; outside the prayer, Shafi'i scholars differ on whether it is recommended.
Explanation
Raising the hands in dua is firmly established (see raising your hands in dua). For wiping the face at the end, there are reports from Umar, recorded by al-Tirmidhi, that when the Prophet ﷺ raised his hands in dua he did not lower them until he had wiped his face, and a similar report from Ibn Abbas in Abu Dawud. Each chain is weak on its own. Ibn Hajar, in Bulugh al-Maram, said the reports together make it hasan (acceptable).
The Hanafi scholars, like many others, accept supporting weak reports for a virtuous practice when it does not create a new belief or obligation. That is why their texts list wiping the face among the manners of dua. Other respected scholars held the reports too weak and did not do it. Both positions are held within Sunni scholarship, so neither side should make it a point of dispute.
To do it, finish your dua, say Ameen, then pass your palms once over your face. Do not do it after the duas inside the prayer.
The evidence
Sunan Abi Dawud 1488
Graded sahih... إن ربكم تبارك وتعالى حيي كريم يستحيي من عبده إذا رفع يديه ...
"Your Lord is shy and generous; He is shy, when His servant raises his hands to Him, to return them empty."
The sound hadith on dua with raised hands; wiping the face rests on weaker supporting reports, as explained above.
Where the ruling is recorded
- Nur al-Idah with Maraqi al-Falah, Chapter on the adhkar after the prayer. Lists wiping the face with the hands at the end of dua.
- Bulugh al-Maram (Ibn Hajar), Kitab al-Jami', chapter on dhikr and dua. Grades the reports on wiping the face as hasan when taken together.
- al-Majmu' (Nawawi), Kitab al-Salah, discussion of qunut. Not wiping the face after qunut inside the prayer.
This answer is pending review by the scholars on our team. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.