Fathwa, - Position of hands duringdua and if it is sunna to recite Al-Faatihah when commencing a circle of knowledge

Question
Bismillahi rahmani raheem, Assalaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa
barakatuh, I would like to ask you the following questions regarding a
custome I witnessed in a womens doroos circle in my city in a european
country. When they start their circle one of the women )they take
turns to include everyone in this custom( recites al fatiha- whilst
reciting all the women present put their hands as in dua but keeps
their hands in their lap- after reciting everyone wipes their faces
and then the dars begins. Im familiar with a lot of the benefits of
al-fatiha, alhamdulillah- as this was one of the arguments used when I
confronted them about this. Another argument I was presented from them
is this fatwa http://www.islamweb.ne t/emainpage
/index.php?page=showfa twa&Option=FatwaId& Id=82584 . I dont doubt
their intentions to do good. But my question is if doing this is known
from the sunnah? Do you hold it to be permissible?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify
that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that
Muhammadis His slave and Messenger.
The scholars of the Salaf )righteous predecessors( were not used to
reciting Chapter Al-Faatihah when commencing a circle of knowledge.
Therefore, doing this regularly turns this act into )what is called(
an added innovation. In principle, reciting the Quran is permissible
but specifying a given Chapter at a given time that is not specified
in the Sharee'ah )Islamic law( is something that should not be done.
'Aa'ishahnarrated that the Prophetsaid: "Whoever introduces into this
matter of ours )Islam( that which is not part of it, it will be
rejected." ]Al-Bukhaari and Muslim[
As regards the Fatwa which you referred to in the question, it is
about concluding a supplication with Takbeer )saying Allaahu Akbar(
and we clarified that this is also a religious innovation. We have
also clarified in this Fatwa –and probably this is what you mean –the
matter of wiping the face with the hands after supplicating and we
mentioned that this is permissible and we stated the evidence. Some
scholars –like Ibn Hajar–classified the Hadeeth about wiping the face
after supplicating as Hasan ]good[. Therefore, this is one issue and
what you mentioned in the question is another completely different
issue.
Allah Knows best.