❀ عن سھل بن سعد قال : کان الناس یؤمرون أن یضع الرجل یدہ الیمنٰی علیٰ ذراعہ الیسریٰ فی الصلوٰۃ
Sahl bin Sa’d (may Allah be pleased with him) said: People were commanded (by the Messenger of Allah ﷺ) that each person should place his right hand upon his left forearm during prayer.
Benefits:
① From this hadith it is known that hands should be tied on the chest during prayer. If you place your right hand on your left ذراع (forearm), both hands will automatically come to the chest. In another hadith it is reported that the Prophet ﷺ placed his right hand on the back of his left palm, رسغ (wrist), and ساعد (from the wrist to the elbow).
◈ It has been declared authentic (sahih) by Ibn Khuzaymah
and Ibn Hibban
.
❀ The placing of hands on the chest is also confirmed by the narration which states: يضع هٰذه عليٰ صدره…. إلخ “The Prophet ﷺ used to place this (hand) upon his chest… etc.”
◈ The narration about placing the hands below the navel found in Sunan Abi Dawud
and elsewhere is weak (da’if) because of Abd al-Rahman bin Ishaq al-Kufi; criticism of this narrator is present in the very chapter of Sunan Abi Dawud cited.
◈ Allama Nawawi said:
“Abd al-Rahman bin Ishaq is weak by unanimous agreement.”
◈ Nimawi says:
وفيه عبدالرحمٰن بن إسحاق الواسطي وهو ضعيف
“And in it is Abd al-Rahman bin Ishaq al-Wasiti, and he is weak.”
◈ For further criticism, see books such as al-Binaya fi Sharh al-Hidaya of Ayni Hanafi
, among others.
◈ The margin of Hidaya Awwalayn
states that this narration is weak by unanimous agreement.
③ The view that men should tie their hands below the navel and women on the chest is not proven by any authentic (sahih) or even weak (da’if) hadith. The distinction made in prayer between men and women—that men tie their hands below the navel and women on the chest, and further that men keep their arms raised from the ground during prostration while women prostrate lying flat with their arms spread on the ground—are all subtleties of the People of Opinion (Ahl al-Ra’y). According to the teaching of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, the form of prayer from the takbir al-tahrima to the salam is the same for men and women. The only difference is in clothing and covering: a woman may not pray with her head uncovered, and her ankles should also not be exposed. According to Ahl al-Hadith, any distinction proven by clear explicit text is correct, while claims without evidence or based on weak reports are rejected.
④ The narration attributed to Sayyidna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) about “below the navel” تحت السرة is severely weak (shadid al-da’if) because of Sa’id bin Zarbi.
◈ Hafiz Ibn Hajar said:
منكر الحديث
⑤ Some people present from Musannaf Ibn Abi Shayba the narration with تحت السرة, whereas in the original manuscript and printed copies of Musannaf Ibn Abi Shayba the words تحت السرة do not exist, and Qasim bin Qutlubugha
had fabricated the addition of these words.
◈ Anwar Shah Kashmiri Deobandi says:
“Indeed I have seen three (manuscript) copies of the Musannaf, and not a single one of them contains this تحت السرة (wording).”
⑥ According to the Hanbalis, both men and women should tie their hands below the navel.
⑦ In the unauthentic and doubtful book المدونة of the blindly-following (taqlidi) Malikis, it is written that Imam Malik (may Allah have mercy on him) said regarding tying the hands: “I know of no proof for it in an obligatory prayer.” Imam Malik (may Allah have mercy on him) considered it disliked (makruh). If standing in voluntary prayers is prolonged, there is no harm in tying the hands, as this way he can support himself.
To refute this unestablished reference, the chapter heading of Muwatta Imam Malik and the hadith of Sahl bin Sa’d (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated by Imam Malik himself are sufficient.
⑧ Those who pray with their hands hanging loose rely on a narration in al-Mu’jam al-Kabir of al-Tabarani
, one of whose narrators is Khasib bin Hajdar كذاب.
◈ It is known that this narration is موضوع, so its presence and absence are equal.
⑨ Sa’id bin Jubayr (a Tabi’i) said that in prayer one should place the hands فوق السرة, meaning above the navel (on the chest).
⑩ For further research on placing the hands on the chest, see the book of the writer of these lines, “Namaz mein haath bandhne ka hukm aur muqam” (The ruling and status of tying hands in prayer). This book gives reasoned answers to the objections of opponents. والحمدلله !
