Musnad Abi Awana and the Hadith of Raising the Hands
In this regard, Maulana Irshad-ul-Haq Athari Sahib’s booklet “A New Effort on the Issue of Raising the Hands: A Research Review” was published quite some time ago. It provides strong and satisfactory answers to the doubts and misconceptions of Darwi Sahib.
Since this (hadith) has been narrated by Imam Abu Awana through three narrators, it is considered as three hadiths in terms of ruling. Therefore, Imam Abu Awana (Al-Asfara’ini) has very honestly mentioned the differences in the narrations as well. Someone said: ”يــحــاذي بهـمـا“ (منكبيه) and someone said: حذو منكبيه. Similarly, someone said: لا يرفعهما ( بين السجدتين) and someone said: لايرفع (بين السجدتين).
But all of these mean the same thing. Imam Abu Awana said: ”والمعنى واحد“, meaning the meaning (matalab) is the same. In Sahih Muslim, Sufyan ibn ‘Uyaynah (who is the primary narrator of the hadith in Musnad Abi Awana) mentions the word لا يرفعهما بين السجدتين from six trustworthy narrators. Imam Ahmad and others mention the word لا يرفع بين السجدتين.
The narration of Sa’dan bin Nasr, a narrator of this hadith from Musnad Abi Awana, is found in Al-Sunan Al-Kubra by Al-Bayhaqi. (The chain up to Sa’dan is undoubtedly authentic)
It states: رأيت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم إذا افتتح الصلوة رفع يديه حتى يحاذي منكبيه وإذا أراد أن يركع وبعد ما يرفع من الركوع ولا يرفع بين السجدتين
Therefore, it is clear that this hadith is a strong proof for the affirmation of raising the hands (raf’ al-yadain). Hence, الحافظ الثقة الكبير Imam Abu Awana included it in the chapter
.
Some ignorant people have attributed ”لا يرفعهما“ to the previous phrase, whereas the evidences clearly contradict them:
① In the printed edition of Musnad Abi Awana, a “waw” has been omitted or dropped by mistake. This “waw” is present in the handwritten manuscripts of Musnad Abi Awana and in Sahih Muslim and others. (In the manuscript of Allama Syed Ihsanullah Shah Al-Rashidi, Pir of Jhanda, this waw is present, and even in the manuscript from Madinah Tayyibah, the waw is present. Alhamdulillah)
② The narration of Sa’dan also supports the affirmation of raising the hands.
③ The classification by Abu Awana also bears witness to this.
④ The narrations of Imam Shafi’i, Imam Abu Dawood, and Imam Hamidi also affirm رفــع الــديــن عـنــد الركوع وبعده, about which Abu Awana said نحوه بمثله and مثله.
⑤ Earlier Hanafi scholars, such as Zaili (and others), did not present this hadith in favor of not raising the hands. At that time, this narration was not even established, so how could they present it?!
It is clear that using this narration to argue against raising the hands is incorrect, false, and a fourteenth-century “innovation.”
Musnad Abi Awana has been famous and well-known since ancient times. No Imam has ever presented the above-mentioned phrase in support of abandoning or not raising the hands. Also see this article on the subject.
