✦ Four Scholarly Critiques on the Narration Attributed to Ibn ʿUmar Regarding Abandoning Rafʿ al-Yadayn
Source: Fatāwā ʿIlmiyyah, Volume 1, Kitāb al-Ṣalāh, Page 348
Topic: Critical Evaluation of the Narration Claiming Ibn ʿUmar رضي الله عنهما Practiced Rafʿ al-Yadayn Only at the Initial Takbīrah
❖ The Report
Narration:
“I prayed behind Ibn ʿUmar, and he would not raise his hands except at the first Takbīrah of the prayer.”
Narrated by:
— Ibn Abī Dāwūd
— from Aḥmad ibn Yūnus
— from Abū Bakr ibn ʿAyyāsh
— from Ḥuṣayn
— from Mujāhid
(Source: Sharḥ Maʿānī al-Āthār, p. 235; Ibn Abī Shaybah, Vol. –, p. 237)
❖ Evaluation of the Narration
✦ Verdict:
This narration has been declared weak and a mistake by several leading scholars of ḥadīth.
❖ Four Key Analytical Points
➊ Statement of Imām Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn رحمه الله
“The ḥadīth of Abū Bakr from Ḥuṣayn is only a delusion (wahm). It has **no basis (lā aṣl lahu).”
(Source: Juzʾ Rafʿ al-Yadayn, p. 16; Naṣb al-Rāyah, 1/392)
✅ This is a clear and decisive criticism from one of the foremost experts in ḥadīth criticism. His statement renders the narration unacceptable.
➋ Statement of Imām Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal رحمه الله
“This narration — reported by Abū Bakr ibn ʿAyyāsh from Ḥuṣayn from Mujāhid from Ibn ʿUmar — is **false (bāṭil).”
(Source: Masāʾil Aḥmad, Riwayah of Ibn Hānī, Vol. –, p. 50)
🔍 Imām Aḥmad, a foundational figure among the four great Imāms, unequivocally rejected the narration.
➌ Clarification About Abū Bakr ibn ʿAyyāsh
While some earlier scholars criticized him, later research confirms that the majority of ḥadīth scholars consider him trustworthy (ṣadūq wa mawthūq).
📌 This updated position has been explained in:
— Māhnāmah al-Ḥadīth (Hazro), Issue 28, p. 54
— Dated: 22 Rabīʿ al-Thānī 1427 AH
📝 The author of the article has clearly retracted his earlier stance, in which he considered Abū Bakr ibn ʿAyyāsh to be weak.
➡ However, the weakness of the narration still stands, due to its content (matn) and being contradicted (shādh).
➍ Contradiction with Authentic Reports
📌 Authentic narrations from Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī and other reliable sources confirm:
◈ Ibn ʿUmar رضي الله عنه used to perform Rafʿ al-Yadayn consistently —
— At the start, before Rukūʿ, and after rising from Rukūʿ.
(Source: Ḥadīth al-Sirāj, 2/34, Ḥadīth 115)
✅ Those who abandoned Rafʿ al-Yadayn were even reprimanded:
Ibn ʿUmar used to throw pebbles at one who did not raise his hands.
(Juzʾ Rafʿ al-Yadayn by al-Bukhārī; also referenced in Shahādat, July 2000)
✅ Conclusion
This narration:
◉ Has been declared delusional (وهم) by Imām Ibn Maʿīn
◉ Labeled false (باطل) by Imām Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal
◉ Contradicts authentic and mutawātir narrations from Ibn ʿUmar himself
◉ Is not reliable in proving abandonment of Rafʿ al-Yadayn
Therefore, Rafʿ al-Yadayn remains a proven and legislated Sunnah, consistently practiced by ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar and upheld by the Ṣaḥābah and Tābiʿīn.
ھٰذَا مَا عِندِي، وَاللّٰهُ أَعْلَمُ بِالصَّوَاب
