Hadith stating reward of dua after obligatory ( fard ) prayer and your contradictory opinion

Somebody once told me of a hadith which suggests that one of the best supplications (dua) is one that is done after a fard prayer. In one of your answers, you suggested otherwise. Kindly comment.

Answer

I agree that there is a Hadith that mentions the significance of offering du’a after Fard prayer. However, that statement itself doesn’t justify a tradition of making it a point that at the end of each prayer, the Imam should raise his hands and make du’a in such a way that all Muqtadis would be expected to follow him. I don’t have any objections if such a practice happens once in a while; even if it happens on a regular basis, so long as it is not considered a necessary part of the prayer, it still is not bid’ah. However, what is happening now is that most of the ordinary Namazis think that without participating in the ritual of doing du’a with the Imam, our prayer is not complete. The fact is that the prophet, alihisaalaam, did it only on a few occasions. Du’a after fard prayers could also be done on an individual basis. Moreover, we do a du’a after each prayer as part of the formal prayer, as well. It is the du’a that we pray while sitting for tashahhud, which is a part of attahiyyaat. The trouble is that since most people don’t even understand what they are reciting during that part of the prayer, they find it important to add something to their formal prayers, afterwards, to express their real sentiments.