Fath al-Rabbani

Benefits: … In this hadith, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam intended to prevent the one who spoke by making a gesture during the prayer, and then later clarified that it was due to the prayer that speaking was not permissible. Subhan Allah! While it is a unanimously agreed upon fact among the Muslim Ummah that intentionally speaking invalidates the prayer, Allah Ta’ala has, in order to maintain patience, composure, humility, and submissiveness in prayer, permitted certain matters, one of which is mentioned in these blessed ahadith: that in case of necessity, one may make a gesture to someone. This is the perfect wisdom of Islam, that by granting the concession of gesturing, it has protected those praying from various forms of restlessness and from matters contrary to humility and submissiveness. For example, if someone wishes to stop another person during prayer, or if someone seeks permission from him in that state, instead of hastily and anxiously completing the prayer, he should act upon the concessions of the Shariah and indicate his intent by gesturing or by saying “Subhan Allah.” Imam al-Albani rahimahullah, deriving from a hadith, has written: From this hadith, it is clearly and explicitly understood that during prayer, it is permissible for men to respond by saying “Subhan Allah” and for women to respond by clapping. Gesturing with the hand or head is even more permissible, and its permissibility is established by several ahadith; I have referenced some of them in Sahih Abu Dawud under these numbers (858, 859, 860, 870). The Hanafis have presented this hadith on the subject: ((Whoever gestures in his prayer with a gesture that can be understood, let him repeat it.)) That is: Whoever makes such a gesture in prayer from which something can be understood, he should repeat his prayer. I have clarified the reality of the weakness of this hadith in (Da‘if Abi Dawud: 169) and (Silsilat al-Ahadith al-Da‘ifah: 1104). (Sahihah: 497) For the benefit of the readers, we present the discussion made on the aforementioned hadith. Imam al-Albani rahimahullah says: ((Whoever gestures in his prayer with a gesture that can be understood, let him repeat it.)) i.e., the prayer. That is: Whoever makes such a gesture in prayer from which something can be understood, he should repeat his prayer. This hadith is munkar (rejected). It has been narrated by Imam Abu Dawud (944), Imam Tahawi (1/263), and Imam Daraqutni (195–196). The reason for the weakness of this hadith is Ibn Ishaq, who is a mudallis (one who practices tadlis), and he has narrated this with ‘an‘anah (using “from”). It is quite strange that Zayla‘i Hanafi has called this hadith “jayyid” (good) in Nasb al-Rayah (2/90), even though he has already stated from Ibn al-Jawzi that he declared it defective in al-Tahqiq for the same reason. In the Hanafi fiqh book (al-Hidayah), while arguing for the Hanafi position, it is said: The one praying cannot respond to salam verbally, nor can he respond by gesturing with the hand, because this would be, in meaning, speech. If someone shakes hands with another with the intention of salam, his prayer will be invalidated. The evidence for this position is this very hadith, whose weakness has become clear. The second point is that this hadith also contradicts other authentic ahadith, according to which it is established that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam gestured during prayer. That is why we have called this hadith munkar. This indication is present in the previous statement of Ibn Abi Dawud, and for this reason, ‘Abd al-Haqq al-Ishbili said in his book Ahkam (1370) after this hadith: The correct view is that, in light of the ahadith of Sahih Muslim and others, gesturing is permissible. What he means is the hadith of Sayyiduna Jabir radi Allahu anhu, according to which the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam responded to salam by gesturing; I have referenced this in (Sahih Abi Dawud: 859), and the hadith of Sayyiduna Anas (Sahih Abi Dawud: 871) also establishes the permissibility of gesturing. (Silsilat al-Ahadith al-Da‘ifah: 1104)

Further evidences for gesturing during prayer in case of necessity:

(1) Sayyidah Asma’ radi Allahu anha narrates: On the occasion of the solar eclipse, the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was leading the prayer of kusuf, and both men and women were praying behind him. Sayyidah Aisha radi Allahu anha was also praying. I asked her: What has happened to the people (that they are praying now)? She gestured towards the sky (i.e., the sun) during the prayer and said “Subhan Allah.” I asked: Is this a sign? She gestured in the affirmative. (Bukhari: 1053) This incident not only occurred in the presence of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, but also involved women standing in his congregation. In it, there is mention of gesturing twice and saying “Subhan Allah” once.

(2) Sayyiduna Sahl ibn Sa‘d al-Sa‘idi radi Allahu anhu went to Banu ‘Amr to reconcile between them. The time for prayer arrived in the Prophet’s Mosque, and Sayyiduna Abu Bakr al-Siddiq radi Allahu anhu began to lead the prayer. Meanwhile, the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam arrived and stood in the row. The people, to alert Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, began to clap, and since he would not turn his attention here and there during prayer, the people started clapping more. Eventually, he looked back and saw that the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was standing in the row. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam gestured to him to remain at his place (and continue leading the prayer). In the end, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam instructed that in such situations, men should say “Subhan Allah” and women should clap. (Bukhari: 684)

(3) Sayyidah Aisha radi Allahu anha narrates: The Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, due to illness, led the prayer sitting, while those following him were standing. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam gestured to them to sit down. Then, after the prayer, he clarified the issue of following the imam. (Bukhari: 688)

(4) Sayyidah Umm Salamah radi Allahu anha narrates that when the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was performing the two rak‘ahs after Zuhr following the ‘Asr prayer, during this, he gestured to the slave girl who was asking a question, so she moved back. (Bukhari: 1233)

(5) Sayyiduna ‘Abdullah ibn Mas‘ud radi Allahu anhu narrates that the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam would be praying, and when he went into prostration, Hasan and Husayn would jump onto his back. When the Companions intended to stop them, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam would gesture to leave them (as they were). When he finished the prayer, he would seat them in his lap and say: Whoever loves me should love these two. (Sahih Ibn Khuzaymah: 887, Musnad Abu Ya‘la: 2/60, Sahihah: 312)

(6) Sayyiduna ‘Abdullah ibn Zayd and Abu Bashir al-Ansari radi Allahu anhu narrate that the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was leading the Companions in prayer one day in the valley of Batha. A woman wanted to pass in front, so the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam gestured to her to stop. Thus, she moved back, and when the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam finished the prayer, she passed in front. (Musnad Ahmad: 5/216, Sahihah: 3042) From this and other narrations on the subject, it is evident that the Shariah has maintained the concession of gesturing to someone during prayer.