Original Narration (Musnad Ahmad)
Arabic Text
21967 – حَدَّثَنَا يَحْيَى بْنُ سَعِيدٍ، عَنْ سُفْيَانَ، حَدَّثَنِي سِمَاكٌ، عَنْ قَبِيصَةَ بْنِ هُلْبٍ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، قَالَ:
«رَأَيْتُ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَنْصَرِفُ عَنْ يَمِينِهِ وَعَنْ يَسَارِهِ، وَرَأَيْتُهُ، قَالَ، يَضَعُ هَذِهِ عَلَى صَدْرِهِ» وَصَفَ يَحْيَى: الْيُمْنَى عَلَى الْيُسْرَى فَوْقَ الْمِفْصَلِ.
Translation
Qabīṣah bin Hulb narrates from his father Hulb رضي الله عنه:
“I saw the Prophet ﷺ turning (after the salām) sometimes to his right and sometimes to his left, and I saw him placing this (hand) upon his chest.”
Yaḥyā bin Saʿīd al-Qaṭṭān demonstrated (practically) that the right hand was placed over the left above the wrist joint.
Reference:
Clarification
The text mentions turning after salām and the manner of placing the hands — “اليُمنى على اليُسرى فوق المفصل” — which clearly indicates the posture during standing in prayer.
The practical explanation of Yaḥyā bin Saʿīd al-Qaṭṭān constitutes Ziyādat al-Thiqah (an addition by a trustworthy narrator), which is accepted and given precedence according to the principles of ḥadīth.
✦ Objection No. 01
It is claimed that this narration is not related to prayer because the word “prayer” is not explicitly mentioned in the text. It is further alleged that Ahl al-Ḥadīth scholar Dāwūd Arshad inserted the word “prayer” into the translation according to his own will, and omitted the words:
وَرَأَيْتُهُ قَالَ يَضَعُ هَذِهِ عَلَى صَدْرِهِ ، وَصَفَ يَحْيَى: الْيُمْنَى عَلَى الْيُسْرَى فَوْقَ الْمِفْصَلِ
and replaced the word “هَذِهِ” with “يَدَهُ”, thereby altering the entire narration.
✦ Answer
To claim that the narration has no connection with prayer renders it meaningless and invalid. If the mention of prayer is denied, the translation would become:
“I saw the Prophet ﷺ turning to the right and left, and I saw him placing this upon his chest.”
In that case, neither would prayer be mentioned, nor would it be clear what was placed upon the chest. The entire narration would become incomplete and incoherent.
✦ Statements of the Imams
The reality is that the leading scholars of ḥadīth have cited this narration under the chapter of prayer and used it as juristic evidence.
① ʿAllāmah ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Ibn al-Jawzī cited it in Kitāb al-Ṣalāh as evidence in refutation of Imām Mālik.
② Ḥāfiẓ al-Dhahabī and Ibn ʿAbd al-Hādī al-Maqdisī also transmitted it in the chapter of prayer.
Arabic Citation (Ibn al-Jawzī)
كِتَابُ الصَّلَاةِ، مَسْأَلَةٌ يُسَنُّ وَضْعُ الْيَمِينِ عَلَى الشِّمَالِ … لَنَا أَرْبَعَةُ أَحَادِيثَ، الْحَدِيثُ الثَّانِي:
… «رَأَيْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ يَضَعُ هَذِهِ عَلَى هَذِهِ عَلَى صَدْرِهِ، وَوَصَفَ يَحْيَى: الْيُمْنَى عَلَى الْيُسْرَى فَوْقَ الْمِفْصَلِ».
Reference: التحقيق في أحاديث الخلاف لابن الجوزي
Translation
“In the Book of Prayer: It is Sunnah to place the right hand over the left … Among our evidences is the second ḥadīth:
‘I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ placing this (hand) over this upon his chest,’ and Yaḥyā described that the right hand was over the left above the wrist.”
✦ Objection No. 02
While presenting this narration, Ahl al-Ḥadīth scholar Dāwūd Arshad claimed that Imām al-Tirmidhī and ʿAllāmah Nīmwī Ḥanafī graded its chain as ḥasan. (It is alleged that) this is an outright lie, because:
① Imām al-Tirmidhī did not narrate this narration at all with the words in which Dāwūd Arshad quoted it.
② The ḥadīth of Hulb رضي الله عنه that Imām al-Tirmidhī graded ḥasan has a different chain. Therefore Dāwūd Arshad falsely attributed this to Imām al-Tirmidhī.
✦ Answer
This claim is false. Imām al-Tirmidhī transmitted the same chain:
Simāk bin Ḥarb → Qabīṣah bin Hulb → Hulb رضي الله عنه
and graded it as ḥasan.
Chain in Musnad Ahmad
21967 – حَدَّثَنَا يَحْيَى بْنُ سَعِيدٍ، عَنْ سُفْيَانَ، حَدَّثَنِي سِمَاكٌ، عَنْ قَبِيصَةَ بْنِ هُلْبٍ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ … (Musnad Aḥmad)
Same Chain in Sunan al-Tirmidhī
① Ḥadīth 252
حَدَّثَنَا قُتَيْبَةُ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو الأَحْوَصِ، عَنْ سِمَاكِ بْنِ حَرْبٍ، عَنْ قَبِيصَةَ بْنِ هُلْبٍ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ …
حَدِيثُ هُلْبٍ حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ
② Ḥadīth 301
حَدَّثَنَا قُتَيْبَةُ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو الأَحْوَصِ، عَنْ سِمَاكِ بْنِ حَرْبٍ، عَنْ قَبِيصَةَ بْنِ هُلْبٍ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ …
حَدِيثُ هُلْبٍ حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ
③ Ḥadīth 1565
قَالَ شُعْبَةُ: أَخْبَرَنِي سِمَاكُ بْنُ حَرْبٍ، قَال: سَمِعْتُ قَبِيصَةَ بْنَ هُلْبٍ يُحَدِّثُ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ …
هَذَا حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ
Reference:
Thus, the same chain exists in both Musnad Ahmad and Sunan al-Tirmidhī, and it has been graded ḥasan.
✦ Objection No. 03
It is claimed that although the chain is the same, the wording differs, and the phrase regarding placing the hands on the chest is not present in Tirmidhī.
✦ Answer
This objection is also wrong. Shaykh ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq Muḥaddith Dehlawī (Ḥanafī) transmitted this narration from Sunan al-Tirmidhī in his book Sharḥ Safar al-Saʿādah, clearly mentioning that the Prophet ﷺ placed his hands upon his chest.
Citation (ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq Dehlawī)
«وہمچنین روایت کرد ترمذی از قبیصہ بن ھلب از پدرش کہ گفت دیدم رسول خدا صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم کہ مینهاد دست خود را بر سینه خود.»
(شرح سفر السعادت، ص 48)
Translation
“Likewise, Imām al-Tirmidhī narrated from Qabīṣah bin Hulb, from his father, who said: I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ placing his hands upon his chest.”
Thus, this objection is invalid, because a major Ḥanafī muḥaddith himself transmitted these very words from al-Tirmidhī.
✦ Objection No. 04
It is claimed that Ahl al-Ḥadīth scholar Dāwūd Arshad did not give the complete reference of ʿAllāmah Nīmwī: although Nīmwī graded the chain ḥasan, he declared the words “ʿalā ṣadrihi (upon his chest)” to be unpreserved.
✦ Answer
The original statement of Nīmwī:
«واسناده حسن، لکن قوله: “على صدره” غیر محفوظ.»
(آثار السنن، ص 107–108)
However, this view is not correct academically because:
✔ In Musnad Ahmad, Yaḥyā bin Saʿīd al-Qaṭṭān explicitly demonstrated the placement of the right hand over the left upon the chest.
✔ According to the principles of ḥadīth, Ziyādat al-Thiqah is accepted.
✔ Yaḥyā bin Saʿīd al-Qaṭṭān is a very great thiqah and thabt Imām; his addition takes precedence over every other route.
✦ Objection No. 05
It is claimed that Qabīṣah bin Hulb is majhūl al-ḥāl (unknown status), and that the ghayr-muqallids rely on him to declare (people’s) prayers makrūh.
✦ Answer: Authentication of Qabīṣah bin Hulb
① Imām al-ʿIjlī: «تابعي، ثقة.» (Tārīkh al-Thiqāt)
② Imām al-Baghawī: «ہذا حديث حسن، وقبیصة بن ہلب الطائي…» (Sharḥ al-Sunnah)
③ Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr: «… ورأيتُه یضع یده اليمنى على اليسرى في الصلاة. وهو حديث صحيح.» (al-Istīʿāb)
④ Ibn Ḥajar: «قبیصة بن الهلب الطائي الكوفي: مقبول.» (Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb)
⑤ Ibn Ḥibbān: Included in al-Thiqāt (No. 5031)
⑥ Abū Dāwūd: Remained silent upon the narration (the silence of Abū Dāwūd is a sign of being “ṣāliḥ”). (Risālat Abī Dāwūd ilā Ahl Makkah)
⑦ Abū ʿAlī al-Ṭūsī: «حديث هلب حديث حسن.» (Mukhtaṣar al-Aḥkām)
⑧ Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Būṣīrī: «رجاله ثقات.» (Itḥāf al-Khiyarah al-Maharah)
⑨ Imām al-Tirmidhī: Graded the chain ḥasan in three places (252, 301, 1565).
At least nine scholars declared Qabīṣah bin Hulb trustworthy or ḥasan al-ḥadīth.
📌 Summary
✔ Original narration (Musnad Ahmad): Qabīṣah bin Hulb narrates from his father Hulb رضي الله عنه that the Prophet ﷺ used to place his right hand over his left upon the chest in prayer. Yaḥyā bin Saʿīd al-Qaṭṭān explained this manner through his own demonstration.
✔ Objection 1: It was said that the narration does not contain the word “prayer”.
◈ Answer: If prayer is not accepted, the narration becomes meaningless. The early scholars (Ibn al-Jawzī, al-Dhahabī, Ibn ʿAbd al-Hādī) cited it in the chapter of prayer.
✔ Objection 2: It was said that Imām al-Tirmidhī did not call this narration ḥasan.
◈ Answer: In Sunan al-Tirmidhī this same chain (Simāk → Qabīṣah → Hulb رضي الله عنه) occurs in three places, and al-Tirmidhī said at each place: “ḥadīth ḥasan”.
✔ Objection 3: It was said that the wording differs and the words about placing (the hands) on the chest are not in al-Tirmidhī.
◈ Answer: Shaykh ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq Muḥaddith Dehlawī (Ḥanafī) transmitted this very narration from al-Tirmidhī and stated clearly that the Prophet ﷺ placed his hands on his chest.
✔ Objection 4: It was said that ʿAllāmah Nīmwī declared the words “ʿalā ṣadrihi” unpreserved.
◈ Answer: It is the addition of Yaḥyā bin Saʿīd al-Qaṭṭān (thiqah, thabt), and by principle the addition of a trustworthy narrator is accepted; therefore the words are preserved.
✔ Objection 5: It was said that Qabīṣah bin Hulb is majhūl (unknown).
◈ Answer: This is false. At least nine muḥaddithūn (al-ʿIjlī, Ibn Ḥibbān, Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr, Ibn Ḥajar, al-Baghawī, al-Būṣīrī, al-Tirmidhī and others) declared Qabīṣah bin Hulb trustworthy or ḥasan al-ḥadīth.
✅ Conclusion
The narration of Qabīṣah bin Hulb is established with a sound and ḥasan chain. It clearly affirms that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ placed his right hand over his left upon his chest in prayer.
Therefore, this is Sunnah, and all the objections of the Ḥanafīs are rejected.
Scans of Important References
