or blessed; for the grave is either a garden from the gardens of Paradise or a pit from the pits of Hell, and it is the first stage of the Hereafter.
These, then, are wholesome supplications and commendable petitions for refuge. It is proper to invoke them in those circumstances in which a servant is most likely to be answered, for Allah is All-Hearing, Ever-Responsive. They are not mentioned in the ḥadīth of the man who prayed poorly, yet they are established by other proofs; Allah knows best.
4 – His phrase, “after every prayer” (dubr kull ṣalāh), may mean after the final tashahhud and before the salām, or it may mean after the salām, for dubr of a thing can signify what follows its beginning as well as what follows its end.
From the author’s ordering of the aḥādīth it is understood that this supplication is prescribed after the salām.
Shaykh al-Islām, however, maintained that the prescribed and superior time for supplication is after the tashahhud and before the salām. He said: “Supplication at the close of the prayer, before one exits from it, is legislated by the widely transmitted Sunnah and by the consensus of the Muslims. Most of the Prophet’s ﷺ supplications came after the tashahhud and before the salām, and practically all supplications connected to the prayer were performed by him within it and he ordered that they be made within it. This befits the condition of the worshipper, for as long as he is in prayer he is facing his Lord, confiding in Him. The servant, therefore, should not forgo asking his Master while he is engaged in this intimate discourse, enjoying nearness to Him and turning toward Him—especially as he approaches the end of this great act of worship, in which he has been instructed to seek His favor with words of greeting, then to follow them with prayers upon the one through whose hands this blessing reached his community. He is then told, ‘Select from supplication whatever you love.’
This is the right that you owe, and the right that is owed to you. So let your request be made with courtesy, humility, presence of heart, hope, and fear, for a supplication that issues from a heedless heart is not answered.” End quote.
I say: In general, dubr al-ṣalāh refers to the time after the salām, as will appear shortly in the ḥadīth of Abū Hurayrah, number (259). Nevertheless, the stronger position here is that dubr denotes the period before the salām. Allah knows best.