Assallammu Allaikum, I want to know whether it is permissible to conduct a supplication (dua) ceremony in the masjid to a elected member of parliament who is from our area. Which is totally political motivated and there are people against it, and the masjid administration is also divided on the matter. Please give a ruling.
Answer:
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
In principle, it is permissible for the mosque congregation to supplicate Allah, The Exalted, collectively by having one of them supplicate and the rest say Aameen (Amen) to the supplications, provided that they do not make it a regular habit. Shaykhul-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allaah have mercy upon him, said: “To gather in order to recite the Quran, Thikr, and supplication collectively is something good and desirable unless it is done as a regular habit and regarded like prescribed gatherings under the Sharee‘ah, and unless it is accompanied by objectionable Bid‘ah (religious innovation).” [End of quote]
In his book, Masaa’il Al-Imam Ahmad, Is’haaq ibn Mansoor Al-Marroozi said: “I said, ‘Is it disliked for people to gather and supplicate Allah while raising their hands?’ He [Imam Ahmad] replied: ‘I do not consider it disliked for Muslim brothers if they do not gather deliberately for this purpose unless they do this frequently.’ He explained that ‘frequently’ here means that they must not make a habit out of it to such an extent that they would become known for such practice.” [End of quote]
So if the mosque congregation supplicates after one of the obligatory prayers for the man in reference, asking Allah to bless him with righteousness and success, for example, and they do not take the practice of collective supplication as a regular habit whenever someone is elected, then there is nothing wrong with that. However, if they make it a habit to gather for supplication whenever someone is elected and they summon each other to it, then this is not an act of Sunnah, but it is rather closer to Bid‘ah. It should be banned with greater reason if the purpose of the supplication for this person is to obtain worldly gains and not for the sake of Allah, The Exalted. This is because supplication is an act of worship, and observing Ikhlaas (devotion of intentions and worship exclusively to Allah) while reciting it is essential, just as it is in all other acts of worship.
Allah Knows best