الحمدلله رب العالمين و الصلوٰة والسلام على رسوله الأمين، أما بعد :
Dr. Muhammad Tahir al-Qadri, holder of a “PhD”, has written a book titled “al-Minhaj al-Sawi min al-Hadith al-Nabawi” in which he has made every effort to prove the Barelvi school. On page
of this book, he set the heading “Explanation of not performing raf al-yadayn in the prayer other than at the first takbir”, and presented fourteen
narrations against raf al-yadayn, with references.
In this article, a commentary and investigation of these narrations is presented.
Warning: Arabic phrases and many takhrij references have been omitted for brevity; only the narration number
has been quoted with its Arabic phrase.
Tahir al-Qadri’s first proof
:
“Sayyidina Imran bin Husain may Allah be pleased with him said: He prayed behind Sayyidina Ali may Allah be pleased with him in Basra, and he reminded us of the prayer we used to offer with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. He said that whenever the Prophet ﷺ rose and bowed, he would say takbir.”
Commentary:
In our copy, the number of this narration is
.
This hadith contains no mention of performing or not performing raf al-yadayn; it only mentions the matter that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ (in the prostrations) would say takbir when rising and lowering. All Ahl al-Hadith act upon this matter. والحمدلله
In this narration there is also no mention of the first raf al-yadayn. The principle established in usul is that if one narration mentions something and another does not, the non-mention is not evidence of negation.
◈ Ibn al-Turkmani (Hanafi) writes:
ومن لم يذكر الشئ ليس بحجة على من ذكره
“And one who does not mention a thing, his statement is not a proof against one who does mention it.”
◈ Ahmad Raza Khan Barelvi writes:
“And those who have knowledge are decisive over those who do not have knowledge.” والله اعلم
Just as it is wrong to present this narration against the raf al-yadayn at the first takbir, it is equally wrong to present it against the raf al-yadayn before bowing and after bowing; also see the third proof
with commentary.
——————
Second proof
:
“Sayyidina Abu Salamah narrates that Sayyidina Abu Hurairah may Allah be pleased with him used to lead them in prayer, and whenever he bowed and rose he would say takbir. When he finished the prayer, he said: Among you, my prayer most resembles the prayer of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.”
Commentary:
This narration is number
in our copy of Sahih al-Bukhari. In the Darussalam edition of Sahih Muslim, its number is
.
This narration also contains no mention of abandoning raf al-yadayn; it only mentions saying takbir while bowing and rising (in the prostrations). Therefore, presenting this narration against raf al-yadayn is wrong.
Benefit: “Ata (bin Abi Rabah) says: I prayed with Abu Hurairah may Allah be pleased with him. He performed raf al-yadayn when saying takbir for the prayer, when going into ruku, and (when rising from ruku).”
——————
Third proof
:
“Sayyidina Mutarrif bin Abdullah narrates: Imran bin Husain and I prayed behind Sayyidina Ali bin Abi Talib may Allah be pleased with him. When he prostrated, he said takbir; when he raised his head, he said takbir; and when he rose from two rak’ahs, he said takbir. When the prayer was completed, Sayyidina Imran bin Husain may Allah be pleased with him took my hand and said: He has reminded me of the prayer of Muhammad Mustafa ﷺ. (Or he said) He has led me in a prayer like the prayer of Muhammad Mustafa ﷺ.”
Commentary:
This narration is present in our copy at
,
This narration also contains no mention of not performing raf al-yadayn; it is only about the takbirs at the prostrations and at rising from two rak’ahs. Therefore, presenting this narration against raf al-yadayn is rejected; otherwise, by this same method of argument, the raf al-yadayn of the takbir al-tahrima would also become abandoned or abrogated!
Benefit: “Sayyidina Ali bin Abi Talib may Allah be pleased with him narrates that the Prophet ﷺ performed raf al-yadayn when standing up for prayer, when going into ruku, when rising from ruku, and when rising after offering two rak’ahs.”
——————
Fourth proof:
“The narrator of this hadith, Abdul Rahman, heard Sayyidina Abu Hurairah may Allah be pleased with him saying that when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ stood up for the prayer, he would say takbir while standing. Then, when bowing, he would say takbir, then he would say سمع الله لمن حمده, when he straightened his blessed back from ruku, then, standing upright, he would say ربنا لك الحمد. Then, when going down, he would say takbir. Then, when raising his head, he would say takbir. Then, when prostrating, he would say takbir, then when raising his head from the prostration, he would say takbir. He would do so throughout the whole prayer until it was completed, and when standing up after sitting at the end of two rak’ahs, he would say takbir.”
Commentary:
This narration is present in our copy of Sahih al-Bukhari
and Sahih Muslim
.
In this narration too, there is no mention of abandoning raising the hands (raf’ al-yadayn). Rather, it describes the takbirs along with سمع الله لمن حمده and ربنا لك الحمد. Therefore, presenting this hadith against raising the hands is wrong.
None of the reliable muhaddithin presented such narrations against raising the hands.
In the commentary on hadith number
, the writer has proven that Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) used to raise his hands before and after bowing. Therefore, deriving the abandonment of raising the hands from this narration, after the narrator’s own practice, amounts to a clear contradiction of the narrator of the hadith.
——————
Fifth proof
:
“Abu Salamah bin Abdur Rahman narrates that Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) would say the takbir in every prayer, whether it was obligatory or other than that, in Ramadan or otherwise. When he stood, he would say the takbir, and when he bowed, he would say the takbir. Then he would say سمع الله لمن حمده. Then, before prostrating, he would say ربنا لك الحمد. Then, when he lowered himself for prostration, he would say Allahu Akbar. Then, when he raised his head from prostration, he would say the takbir; then, when he prostrated (the second time), he would say the takbir; then, when he raised his head from prostration, he would say the takbir; then, when he rose from the sitting of the second rak’ah, he would say the takbir, and he would do this in every rak’ah until he finished the prayer. Then, upon finishing, he would say: By the One in whose hand is my soul, my prayer is the most similar of you all to the prayer of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ prayed in this manner until his death.”
Commentary: This narration is present in our copy of Sahih al-Bukhari at number
.
This hadith also mentions سمع الله لمن حمده، ربنا لك الحمد and the takbirs, but there is no mention of not raising the hands. Therefore, presenting such a hadith against raising the hands is wrong.
In the commentary on hadith number
, it has been established that Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) used to raise his hands before and after bowing. Therefore, this hadith shows that the last prayer of the Prophet ﷺ is the one that Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) used to pray. By this line of reasoning, it is automatically proven that the last prayer of the Prophet ﷺ included raising the hands; the abandonment of raising the hands from him with a sahih or hasan chain is definitively not established.
——————
Sixth proof
:
“Abu Qilabah narrates that Malik bin Huwayrith (may Allah be pleased with him) said to his companions: Shall I not show you the prayer of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ? And this was outside the set times of prayer. So he stood, then bowed and said the takbir, then raised his head and remained standing for a short while. Then he prostrated, then raised his head for a short while, then prostrated again. Then he raised his head for a short while. He prayed like our elder Amr bin Salamah. Ayyub said that he would do something that I did not see anyone else do: he would sit in the second and fourth rak’ahs. He said: We came to the presence of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and stayed with him. The Prophet ﷺ said: When you return to your families, pray such-and-such prayer at such-and-such time. When the time for prayer comes, one of you should call the adhan, and the eldest should lead you in prayer.”
Commentary:
This narration is present in our copy of Sahih al-Bukhari at numbers
.
There is no mention in this hadith of not raising the hands. On the contrary, to the complete opposite of Tahir al-Qadri’s argument, Abu Qilabah (a Tabi’i) (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates that he saw (Sayyiduna) Malik bin al-Huwayrith (may Allah be pleased with him) raising his hands at the beginning of the prayer, before bowing, and after bowing, and he said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ also used to do the same.
You have seen that from this agreed-upon hadith two matters are established:
➊ The Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to raise his hands before bowing and after bowing.
➋ After the death of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, in the presence of the Tabi’i Abu Qilabah, Sayyiduna Malik bin al-Huwayrith (may Allah be pleased with him) used to raise his hands before bowing and after bowing.
Therefore, those who claim the abandonment of raising the hands or its abrogation, their claim is false.
Dear readers! You have seen that Tahir al-Qadri, in order to increase the count, has presented six unrelated narrations that mention nothing relevant, which have no connection to the issue of abandoning raising the hands.
Now, here is the commentary on the other narrations he presented:
Seventh proof
:
“Alqamah narrates that Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Shall I not lead you in the prayer of the noble Messenger of Allah ﷺ? The narrators say: Then he led the prayer and did not raise his hands except once.” In the narration of Imam al-Nasa’i it is: “Then he did not raise his hands.”
Commentary:
In all these books this narration comes through the chain سفيان الثوري عن عاصم بن كليب عن عبدالرحمٰن بن الأسود عن علقمة.
Imam Sufyan al-Thawri (may Allah have mercy on him) is well known as a “mudallis” (one who conceals defects in chains).
◈ Ibn al-Turkmani al-Hanafi said:
الثوري مدلس “That is, al-Thawri is a mudallis.”
◈ Ayni al-Hanafi said:
“Sufyan is among the mudallisin, and a mudallis’s narration with ‘an’ is not used as proof unless his hearing from the narrator is established explicitly through another chain.”
Qastallani has also written the same point.
◈ Muhammad Abbas Razawi Barelwi writes:
“That is, Sufyan is a mudallis, and he narrated this report from Asim ibn Kulayb with ‘an’; and according to the principles of the muhaddithun, the ‘an’anah of a mudallis is unacceptable, as will be explained later, Allah willing.”
◈ Ahmad Raza Khan Barelwi writes:
“The ‘an’anah of a mudallis is rejected and not authentic according to the chosen and relied-upon view of the majority of muhaddithun.”
◈ Ahmad Raza Khan further says:
“The ‘an’anah of a mudallis is not accepted according to the principles of the muhaddithun.”
From these references it becomes known that the narration presented by the Doctor Sahib is unacceptable, not accepted, and rejected.
——————
Eighth proof
:
“Hasan ibn Ali, Muawiya, Khalid ibn Amr and Abu Hudhayfa narrate that Sufyan narrated to us with his chain (that Abdullah ibn Mas’ud may Allah be pleased with him) raised his hands only the first time, and some said: he raised them only once.”
Commentary:
This narration is also weak due to the tadlis of Sufyan al-Thawri; see the commentary on narration no.
.
It should be remembered that Abu Hudhayfa and others were not companions but narrators of hadith.
——————
Ninth proof
:
“Al-Bara ibn Azib (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ began the prayer he would raise his hands up to his ears, and then he would not do it again.”
Commentary: The main narrator of this report is Yazid ibn Abi Ziyad al-Kufi. Regarding him:
◈ Imam al-Daraqutni said: ضعيف يخطئ كثيرا “He was weak and made many mistakes.”
◈ Bayhaqi said: غير قوي “He was not strong.”
◈ Hafiz Ibn Hajar said: والجمهور عليٰ تضعيف حديثه “And the majority consider his hadith weak.”
◈ Busayri said: وضعفه الجمهور “And the majority have declared him weak.”
◈ Yahya ibn Ma’in (may Allah have mercy on him) (died 233 AH), a famous imam of the science of narrator criticism, said about this narration:
“This narration does not have an authentic chain.”
The Doctor Sahib should not have presented this kind of weak and unripe narration.
——————
Tenth proof
:
“Al-Aswad narrates that Abdullah ibn Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him) raised his hands only at the takbir of opening (takbir tahrima), and did not raise them anywhere else in the prayer, and that he would transmit this practice from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.”
Commentary:
From the takhrij of Tahir al-Qadri Sahib it becomes known that saying of this narration رواه أبوحنيفة “Imam Abu Hanifa (may Allah have mercy on him) narrated it” is wrong. Al-Khwarazmi (died 665 AH) narrated it through the chain
أبو محمد البخاري عن رجاء بن عبدالله النهشلي عن شقيق بن إبراهيم عن أبى حنيفة…..
Regarding Abu Muhammad Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn Yaqub al-Bukhari al-Harithi:
◈ Abu Ahmad al-Hafiz (al-Hakim al-Kabir) said:
كان عبدالله بن محمد بن يعقوب الأسناد ينسج الحديث
“Ustadh Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn Yaqub used to fabricate hadiths.”
No one has declared this person trustworthy. For severe criticisms of him, see Mizan al-I’tidal
, Lisan al-Mizan
, and al-Kashf al-Hathith ‘amman rumiya bi wad’ al-hadith
.
◈ Hafiz al-Dhahabi mentioned him in Diwan al-Du’afa wal-Matrukin.
◈ The circumstances and identity of Rija ibn Abdullah al-Nahshali are unknown.
It is established that this narration is موضوع (fabricated).
It is not established from Imam Abu Hanifa (may Allah have mercy on him) at all, so calling it رواه أبوحنيفة is a very great error.
——————
Eleventh proof
:
“Abdullah ibn Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: I prayed with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) and Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), and all of them would raise their hands only at the beginning of the prayer.”
Commentary:
The basic narrator of this report, Muhammad bin Jabir, is weak according to the majority of muhaddithun.
◈ Al-Zayla’i the Hanafi says: ومحمد بن جابر : ضعيف “And Muhammad bin Jabir is weak.”
↰ Why is Dr. Sahib presenting a narration whose narrator is weak even according to the Hanafis themselves?
After narrating this report in al-Daraqutni, Imam al-Daraqutni (may Allah have mercy on him) says:
تفرد به محمد بن جابر وكان ضعيفا “Muhammad bin Jabir is alone (munfarid) in it, and he was weak.”
◈ Husain Salim Asad, the editor of Musnad Abi Ya’la, wrote:
إسناده ضعيف “Its chain is weak.”
It should be noted that Dr. Sahib has cited this very edition.
◈ Imam al-Bayhaqi, after mentioning this report, quoted from Imam al-Daraqutni that “Muhammad bin Jabir was weak.”
◈ Imam al-Bayhaqi (may Allah have mercy on him) himself, in another place, describes Muhammad bin Jabir al-Yamami as “weak.”
◈ Hafiz al-Haythami mentioned this hadith in Majma’ al-Zawa’id and said:
رواه أ بو يعليٰ وفيه محمد بن جابر الحنفي اليمامي وقد اختلط عليه حديثه وكان يلقن فيتلقن
“It was narrated by Abu Ya’la, and in it is Muhammad bin Jabir al-Hanafi (a member of the tribe of Banu Hanifah) al-Yamami. His hadith became confused upon him, and he would accept suggestion (i.e., in Punjabi language, he was “lai lag” [a yes-man]).
↰ I learned the Punjabi word “lai lag” from my respected brother Maulana Muhammad Husain Zahiri Okarvi (may Allah preserve him). He says that this word is the correct translation of “muqallid.”
◈ Hafiz al-Haythami says elsewhere that:
وفيه محمد بن جابر السحيمي وهو ضعيف
“And in it, Muhammad bin Jabir al-Suhaymi (al-Yamami) is weak.”
↰ You have seen that the muhaddithun who mention the narrator of this report also call him weak, yet Dr. Sahib still presents such a weak narration as evidence.
Regarding this report:
◈ Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal says: هذا حديث منكر “This hadith is munkar.”
——————
Twelfth argument
:
عن سالم عن أبيه قال : رأيت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم إذا افتح الصلوٰة رفع يديه حتي يحاذي بهما، وقال بعضهم : حذو منكبيه، وإذأ راد أن يركع وبعدما يرفع رأسه من الركوع، لا يرفعهما وقال بعضهم : ولا يرفع بين السجدتين، رواه أبو عوانة
“Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with both of them) reports: I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ raising his hands up to the shoulders when beginning the prayer, and when he intended to bow and when he raised his head from bowing, he did not raise his hands, and some said: between the two prostrations (he raised them).”
Commentary:
This report is present in two manuscript copies of Musnad Abi Awanah with the following wording.
عن سالم عن أبيه قال : رأيت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم إذا افتتح الصلوٰة رفع يديه حتي يحاذي بهما وقال بعضهم حذو منكبيه وإذا أراد أن يركع و بعد ما يرفع رأسه من الركوع ولا يرفعهما وقال بعضهم ولا يرفع بين السجدتين والمعني واحد
One of these manuscripts is in the Sa’idiyyah library of our respected teacher Pir Jhanda Shaykh al-Islam Abu al-Qasim Muhibb Allah Shah Rashidi (may Allah have mercy on him), and the second copy (photocopy) is present at Madinah University; see my book “Nur al-Aynayn fi Ithbat Raf’ al-Yadayn”
and Anwar Khurshid Deobandi’s book “Hadith aur Ahl-e-Hadith.”
Dr. Tahir al-Qadri translated this hadith incorrectly, whereas the correct translation is as follows:
“Salim narrates from his father (Abdullah bin Umar, may Allah be pleased with him) that he saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ perform raf’ al-yadayn when beginning the prayer until both (hands) were level, and some said: they reached the level of his shoulders, and when he intended to bow and after raising his head from bowing (he performed raf’ al-yadayn), and he did not raise both (hands), and some said: and he did not raise them between the two prostrations. And the meaning is one.”
It is evident that لا يرفعهما relates to بين السجدتين and not to من الركوع. The words والمعني واحد also clearly support this. But it is a source of great regret that Dr. Sahib, following in the footsteps of the Deobandis, presented this report against raf’ al-yadayn, whereas this hadith with the affirmation of raf’ al-yadayn is present in Sahih al-Bukhari
and Sahih Muslim
through the chain of سالم عن أبيه.
In the narration of the muhaddith Abu Awanah al-Isfara’ini, the names of his three teachers are mentioned:
① Abdullah bin Ayyub al-Makhrami, ② Sa’dan bin Nasr and ③ Shu’ayb bin Amr
↰ The narration of Sa’dan bin Nasr is present in al-Sunan al-Kubra of al-Bayhaqi with the words ولا يرفع بين السجدتين “And he did not perform raf’ al-yadayn between the two prostrations.”
Whereas this same narration through سالم عن أبيه is present in Sahih Muslim with the words ولا يرفعهما بين السجدتين “And he did not raise both hands between the two prostrations.”
Abu Awanah, may Allah have mercy on him, by combining the wording differences among the narrators ولا يرفعهما and ولا يرفع and saying والمعنيٰ واحد, has demonstrated that the absence of raising hands relates to between the two prostrations, not after bowing.
↰ It is therefore established that linking ولا يرفعهما to the raising of hands before and after bowing is incorrect. For a detailed discussion, see my book “Nur al-Aynayn,” pp. 68 to 71.
——————
Thirteenth argument
:
“Sayyiduna Aswad narrates that I saw Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) performing prayer. When he said the takbir of commencement, he raised both hands, and then (in the rest of the prayer) he did not raise them.”
Commentary:
Dr. Sahib has run out of marfu’ ahadith, so he has now started presenting athar.
One of the narrators in the athar presented by Dr. Sahib is Ibrahim bin Yazid al-Nakha’i, may Allah have mercy on him, who was a “mudallis”.
This narration is with “‘an” (from), so it is “da’if”. See the commentary on the Seventh Argument at
.
On the contrary, from Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) the raising of the hands at the beginning of the prayer, before ruku’ and after ruku’ is established. See:
and Nur al-Aynayn
. Its chain is hasan.
From the son of Sayyiduna Umar, Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with both of them), raising of the hands before ruku’ and after ruku’ is established.
Rather, whenever he saw a person who did not raise his hands before ruku’ and after ruku’, he would strike him with pebbles.
Therefore, it is impossible that his father, Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), did not raise his hands.
Besides these, raising of the hands is also established from the following Companions (may Allah be pleased with them all):
➊ Malik bin al-Huwayrith (may Allah be pleased with him)
➋ Abu Musa al-Ash’ari (may Allah be pleased with him)
➌ Abdullah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with him)
➍ Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him)
➎ Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him)
➏ Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with both of them)
➐ Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him)
➑ Jabir bin Abdullah al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him)
The well-known tabi’i Sa’id bin Jubayr (may Allah have mercy on him) said: The Companions (may Allah be pleased with them all) would raise their hands at the beginning of the prayer, at the time of ruku’, and when raising their heads from ruku’.
Those who deny raising of the hands are utterly empty-handed even with regard to athar.
——————
The Fourteenth and Final Argument
:
“Asim bin Kulayb narrates from his father Kulayb: Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) would raise his hands only at the takbir al-tahrimah, and then would not raise them during the prayer.”
Commentary:
This is also not a marfu’ hadith, but rather an unestablished athar, and it is the last argument in Dr. Sahib’s book.
No reliable muhaddith has declared this athar sahih, whereas Imam Ahmad criticised it.
◈ Imam al-Bukhari (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
فلم يثبت عند أحد منهم علم فى ترك رفع الأيدي عن النبى صلى الله عليه وسلم ولا عن أحد من أصحاب النبى صلى الله عليه وسلم أنه لم يرفع يديه
“Among these (scholars), not one of them has knowledge of the abandonment of raising the hands, neither from the Prophet ﷺ nor from any of the Companions of the Prophet ﷺ that he did not raise his hands.”
This shows that according to Imam al-Bukhari (may Allah have mercy on him), this narration is not established.
◈ Ibn al-Mulaqqin (died 804 AH) said:
فأثر على رضى الله عنه ضعيف لا يصح عنه و ممن ضعفه البخاري
“So the athar attributed to Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) is da’if; it is not established as sahih from him, and among those who declared it da’if is Imam al-Bukhari (may Allah have mercy on him).”
On the contrary, from Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) it is established that the Prophet ﷺ used to raise his hands before ruku’ and after ruku’. See the commentary on the Third Argument
. Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal (may Allah have mercy on him) declared this narration sahih.
You have seen that in opposition to raising of the hands, Tahir al-Qadri Sahib has presented three kinds of narrations:
① Irrelevant narrations
② Da’if narrations
③ Da’if athar
Whereas from sahih ahadith and athar, only raising of the hands (before and after ruku’) is established. Perhaps for this reason:
◈ Shah Wali Allah al-Dihlawi said:
والذي يرفع أحب إلى ممن لا يرفع etc.
“And the one who raises his hands is more beloved to me than the one who does not raise them.”
This statement has been presented as an argument ad hominem (ilzam).
I request the esteemed readers, if they wish to conduct further research, to refer to Juz’ Raf’ al-Yadayn lil-Bukhari, Nur al-Aynayn fi Ithbat Raf’ al-Yadayn, and al-Badr al-Munir of Ibn al-Mulaqqin.
وما علينا إلا البلاغ
