The Position of Folding Hands in Salah According to Authentic Hadiths
✍ Written by: Imrān Ayyūb Lāhorī
❖ Placing the Hands in Salah — An Overview from Authentic Reports
➊ Narration of Wā’il ibn Ḥujr (RA):
He reported:
“When the Prophet ﷺ began his prayer, after saying the Takbīr, he placed his right hand over his left.”
[Muslim: 401, Abū Dāwūd: 724, Ibn Mājah: 867, Aḥmad: 4/316, Dārimī: 1/286, Nasā’ī: 2/123]
➋ Narration of Qabīṣah ibn Ḥulb (RA):
He narrates from his father:
“The Prophet ﷺ would lead us in prayer and would grasp his left hand with his right.”
[Ḥasan: Sunan al-Tirmidhī: 207, 252]
✔ Majority of the Ṣaḥābah and Tābiʿīn agreed upon the practice of placing the right hand over the left after the Takbīrat al-Taḥrīmah.
✔ Imām Mālik رحمه الله held a contrary view of letting the hands hang down, but this is a rare and isolated opinion.
[Al-Fiqh al-Islāmī: 2/873, Nayl al-Awṭār: 1/704]
✿ Three Reported Ways of Folding the Hands
Narrated by Wā’il ibn Ḥujr (RA):
“He ﷺ placed his right hand on the back of his left hand, on the wrist, and on the forearm.”
– This implies variation — sometimes on the hand, sometimes on the wrist, and sometimes on the forearm.
[Ṣaḥīḥ Abū Dāwūd: 667, Abū Dāwūd: 727, al-Albānī on Mishkāt: 1/249]
❖ Preferred Position: Placing the Hands on the Chest
Though scholars have differed, the most authentic view supported by hadiths is that hands should be folded on the chest. The evidence includes:
➊ Wā’il ibn Ḥujr (RA) Narrates:
“I prayed with the Prophet ﷺ, and he placed his right hand over his left on his chest.”
[Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Khuzaymah: 1/243, 479]
➋ Sahl ibn Saʿd (RA) Narrates:
“People were instructed to place the right hand on the left forearm during prayer.”
[Bukhārī: 740, Muwaṭṭā: 1/159, Aḥmad: 5/336]
✔ Placing the right hand on the forearm causes the hands to naturally rest on the chest.
➌ Imām Ṭāwūs رحمه الله States:
“The Prophet ﷺ used to place his right hand over his left hand, tie them together, and rest them on his chest during prayer.”
[Ṣaḥīḥ Abū Dāwūd: 687, Abū Dāwūd: 759]
✔ Al-Albānī authenticated this narration, stating that despite being mursal, it is corroborated by other narrations and hence accepted by scholars.
[Irwā’ al-Ghalīl: 2/71]
✿ Views of the Four Imāms
❖ Abū Ḥanīfah (رحمه الله):
– Men: Fold hands below the navel
– Women: Fold hands on the chest
❖ Mālik (رحمه الله):
Three reported positions:
① Let the hands hang freely (most common view)
② Place hands below the chest and above the navel
③ Permissibility of both folding and hanging hands
❖ Shāfiʿī (رحمه الله):
Three positions:
① Place hands below the chest and above the navel
② Place hands on the chest
③ Place hands below the navel
❖ Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal (رحمه الله):
Three reported views:
① Fold hands below the navel
② Fold hands slightly below the chest
③ Either position is permissible
[Sharḥ al-Muhadhdhab: 3/267, Ḥāwī of Māwardī: 2/99, Rawḍat al-Ṭālibīn: 1/339, al-Mabsūṭ: 1/23, Sabil al-Salām: 1/237, Nayl al-Awṭār: 1/706]
❖ Weak Narration on Folding Below the Navel
Narrated from ʿAlī (RA):
“It is from the sunnah to place the palms over one another below the navel.”
[Weak: Abū Dāwūd: 756, Aḥmad: 1/110, Bayhaqī: 2/31]
– Imām Nawawī declared the chain weak by consensus.
– ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Isḥāq al-Kūfī is the weak narrator.
– Imām Aḥmad, Bukhārī, and Abū Dāwūd all criticized him.
[Nayl al-Awṭār: 1/706, Sharḥ Muslim by Nawawī: 3/105]
✿ Final Conclusion
✔ The most authentic narration regarding the position of the hands is the hadith of Wā’il ibn Ḥujr (RA), which states:
“…he placed his right hand over his left on his chest.”
[Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Khuzaymah]
✔ Therefore, folding the hands on the chest is the strongest and most correct practice in light of the authentic Sunnah.
