Hadith of Sayyiduna Jabir bin Samurah (may Allah be pleased with him)
In support of abandoning raising the hands (rafa’ yadain), a narration is often presented as evidence, which Hazrat Jabir bin Samurah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported in different wordings.
First hadith:
Sayyidina Jabir bin Samurah (may Allah be pleased with him) says:
«خرج علينا رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم فقال ما لي أراكم رافعي أيديكم كأنها أدناب خيل شمس ، أسكنوا فى الصلاة .»
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ came to us and said: ‘What is the matter with me that I see you raising your hands like the tails of restive horses? Be calm in the prayer.'”
Answer:
(1) The muhaddithin, may Allah have mercy on them, have mentioned this hadith in the chapter on the salam. This hadith has no connection with raising the hands (raf’ al-yadayn). That is, the Companions used to raise their hands at the time of salam in the prayer. As is clarified in Sahih Muslim itself by Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) ‘s second hadith along with it.
Second hadith:
Sayyidina Jabir bin Samurah (may Allah be pleased with him) says: When we prayed with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and gave the salam, we would say: “As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullah, as-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullah,” and would gesture with our hands to both sides. So the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
«علام تؤمون بأيديكم كأنها أذناب خيل شمس؟ إنما يكفي احدكم أن يضع يده على فخذه، ثم يسلم على أخيه من على يمينه وشماله .»
“Why do you gesture with your hands in this way, as if they were the tails of restive horses? It is sufficient for you to place your hands on your thighs and then give the salam to the right and left.”
Third hadith:
Sayyidina Jabir bin Samurah (may Allah be pleased with him) states: We used to gesture with our hands while saying “As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullah” at the end of the prayer with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Seeing this, he said: “What has happened to you? You gesture with your hands in this way as if they were the tails of restive horses. At the end of the prayer, just say “As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullah” with the tongue, and do not gesture with the hand.”
Mawlana Taqi Usmani Hanafi writes: “Some Hanafis have cited the marfu’ hadith of Jabir bin Samurah in Sahih Muslim:
«قال خرج علينا رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم فقال مالي أراكم رافعي أيديكم كأنها أذناب خيل شمس أسكنوا فى الصلاة .»
This hadith is sahih in its chain. However, regarding it, Hafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) in Talkhis al-Habir quoted the statement of Imam al-Bukhari:
« من احتج بحديث جابر بن سمرة على منع الرفع عند الركوع فليس له حق من العلم .»
“Whoever uses the hadith of Jabir bin Samurah as proof for prohibiting raising the hands has no knowledge at all.”
Because this hadith relates to raising the hands at the salam, not at the ruku’.
Indeed, in Sahih Muslim itself, the second chain of this narration is related from Abdullah bin al-Qibtiyyah, in which it is explicitly stated that this hadith relates to raising the hands at the salam:
«عن عبيد الله بن القبطية عن جابر بن سمرة قال: كنا إذا صلينا مع رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قلنا: السلام عليكم ورحمة الله . السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وأشار بيده إلى الجانبين فقال: رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم علام تؤمون بأيديكم كأنها أذناب خيل شمس إنما يكفي أحدكم أن يضع يده على فخذه ثم يسلم على أخيه من على يمينه وشماله .»
After this explicit statement, the hadith of Jabir bin Samurah cannot be interpreted as a prohibition of raising the hands at ruku’.
Hafiz Zayla’i in Nasb al-Rayah tried to answer Imam al-Bukhari’s objection, and said that the chain of Ibn al-Qibtiyyah relates to raising the hands at the salam, while the other chains relate to every kind of raising the hands, and his proof is that in those chains where there is no explicit mention of raising the hands at the salam, the phrase “uskunu fi al-salah” is narrated, whereas this phrase is absent from the chain of Ibn al-Qibtiyyah, which is evidence that this command relates to some intermediate raising of the hands in the prayer and not to raising the hands at the salam, because the action performed at the salam is an action of exiting the prayer, and “uskunu fi al-salah” cannot be said to it. But in fairness, the Hanafis’ argument from this hadith is doubtful and weak, because in the presence of the explicit mention of the time of salam in Ibn al-Qibtiyyah’s narration, the apparent and immediate meaning is that this hadith of Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) relates only to raising the hands at the salam, and considering the two hadiths as separate, while their narrator is also one and their text is nearly the same, is not free from distance. The truth is that the hadith is one and relates to raising the hands at the salam.
The chain of Ibn al-Qibtiyyah is detailed and the second chain is brief and concise. Therefore the second chain should be read in light of the first. Perhaps this is the reason why Shah Sahib, Nur Allah Marqadahu, did not mention this hadith among the Hanafi evidences.
Answer:
(2) Shaykh al-Hind Mahmud Hasan Deobandi says:
“Answering with the hadith of ‘adhnabu khayl’ is not correct in fairness, because it concerns the salam…”
Answer:
(3) Imam al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) in “al-Majmu'” says: Taking proof from this hadith of Jabir bin Samurah (may Allah be pleased with him) for not raising the hands when going into and rising from ruku’ is a strange matter and an ugly kind of ignorance of the Sunnah. Because this hadith is not about raising the hands when going into and rising from ruku’, but about the prohibition of gesturing with the hand to both sides at the salam in the tashahhud. There is no disagreement about this among the muhaddithin and those who have even a little connection with the muhaddithin. Then Imam al-Nawawi quotes the statement of Imam al-Bukhari (may Allah have mercy on him) that it is not correct for some ignorant people to take proof from this hadith, because it is about raising the hands at the salam. And one who is a scholar does not take such proof, because this is a well-known and famous matter; there is no disagreement about it. And if this statement were correct, then raising the hands at the beginning of the prayer and for the Eid prayers would also be prohibited, but the specific raising of the hands is not mentioned in it. Imam al-Bukhari says: So those people should fear that they are saying about the Prophet ﷺ something that he did not say, because Allah the Exalted says:
﴿ فَلْيَحْذَرِ الَّذِينَ يُخَالِفُونَ عَنْ أَمْرِهِ أَن تُصِيبَهُمْ فِتْنَةٌ أَوْ يُصِيبَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ ﴾
“So let those who oppose his command beware lest a trial afflict them or a painful punishment strike them.” In summary, this narration is not about raising the hands at ruku’. Therefore, in fairness, taking proof from it is not correct.
Answer:
(4) To liken the blessed Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ to the tails of restive horses is disrespect and an extremely vile act. If raising the hands is similar to the tails of restive horses, then what would one say about raising the hands at the takbir al-tahrimah, in the witr, and in the takbirs of the two Eids and the funeral prayer? Remember that the one who likens raising the hands, the most beloved Sunnah of the most beloved of the Lord of the worlds ﷺ, to the tails of restive horses, what else is he if not an insulter of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ?
For further research on this narration, see argument number two presented in this article.
