and anyone who censures him is mistaken, according to the consensus of the scholars. Such supplication is not enjoined in this situation, whether as an obligation or as a recommendation. The person who censures someone for refraining from it is more deserving of censure than the one who refrains; indeed, the person who practises it is more deserving of censure. Regularly observing a practice in connection with the five daily prayers which the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, did not regularly observe is not prescribed; rather, it is disliked. This is like regularly supplicating before beginning the prayers, regularly reciting qunūt (the standing supplication) in the first unit of prayer or in all five daily prayers, or regularly reciting the opening supplication aloud in every prayer, and similar practices.
Such regular observance is disliked, even though the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, sometimes recited qunūt in the five daily prayers. ‘Umar would also sometimes recite the opening supplication aloud, and a man praying behind the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, recited something similar aloud, and he approved of it. Not everything that is prescribed on occasion is prescribed as a regular practice.
If the imam and the person praying behind him occasionally supplicate after the prayer because of some circumstance that arises, this would not be considered contrary to the Sunnah, unlike making it a regular practice. The authentic hadiths indicate that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to supplicate at the end of the prayer, before the concluding salutation, and instructed others to do so. We have discussed this at length elsewhere, mentioning the relevant hadiths as well as those thought to provide evidence for the opposing view.
This is because the person praying is conversing intimately with his Lord; once he gives the concluding salutation, he turns away from that intimate conversation. It is well known that the fitting time for a supplicant to ask his Lord is while conversing intimately with Him, rather than asking Him