① First Hadith – The Report of Jabir ibn Samurah رضي الله عنه
Text:
The Prophet ﷺ said:
"What is the matter with you that I see you raising your hands as if they were the tails of wild horses? Be calm in prayer."
(Muslim, Kitab al-Salah, Chapter: The Command to Have Tranquility in Prayer, Hadith 430)
Analysis:
- This narration does not specify when in the prayer the hands were being raised.
- In Sahih Muslim, the same Companion narrates two other ahadith clarifying that this was about waving hands at the end of the prayer while giving salam, not rafa‘ al-yadayn before/after ruku‘.
Supporting Reports:
- "We used to pray with the Prophet ﷺ and when we said salam, we gestured with our hands. He ﷺ said: Why do you gesture with your hands like the tails of wild horses? Place your hands on your thighs and give salam only with your head."
(Muslim: 121, 431)
Imam al-Nawawi’s Comment:
- In al-Majmu‘:
“It is astonishing that someone would take this narration as proof against rafa‘ al-yadayn. This is ignorance of the Sunnah. The hadith is about forbidding waving hands at salam, not about abandoning rafa‘ al-yadayn.”
② Second Hadith – The Report of ‘Abdullah ibn Mas‘ud رضي الله عنه
Text:
“‘Shall I not show you the prayer of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ?’ Then he prayed and raised his hands only once.”
(Abu Dawood: 748, Tirmidhi: 257)
Analysis:
- Imam Abu Dawood said regarding these words:
"ليس هو بصحيح على هذا اللفظ"
“It is not sahih with these words.”
- Imam al-Tirmidhi quoted ‘Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak:
“The hadith of Ibn Mas‘ud about abandoning rafa‘ al-yadayn is not established.”
(Tirmidhi, Kitab al-Salah, Bab Rafa‘ al-Yadayn ‘inda al-Ruku‘: 257)
Conclusion:
The chain does not reliably support abandonment of rafa‘ al-yadayn.
③ Third Hadith – The Report of al-Bara’ ibn ‘Azib رضي الله عنه
Text:
"When the Prophet ﷺ began the prayer, he raised his hands to the level of his ears, then (ثُمَّ لَمْ يَعُدْ) did not do it again."
(Abu Dawood: 744)
Analysis:
- Declared weak by Imam al-Nawawi, Sufyan ibn ‘Uyaynah, Imam al-Shafi‘i, Imam al-Humaydi, and Imam Ahmad.
- Weakness is due to the narrator Yazid ibn Abi Ziyad:
- Weak in hadith
- Shi‘i in belief
- Mudallis (obscured narrators)
- Memory deterioration in later life
- It is established that Yazid added the phrase “did not do it again” later under pressure from Kufan opinion.
- From a hadith principle: Affirmative (ithbat) reports outweigh negative (nafi) reports when both exist.
④ Conclusion
- The evidences used to oppose rafa‘ al-yadayn are either:
- Taken out of context (as with Jabir ibn Samurah’s report)
- Weak in chain (as with Ibn Mas‘ud’s and al-Bara’s reports)
- In contrast, the ahadith proving rafa‘ al-yadayn:
- Are numerous
- Come through trustworthy narrators
- Are explicit and affirmative
- Continuous practice from the Prophet ﷺ until his last days and the Sahabah after him confirms that rafa‘ al-yadayn is a sahih Sunnah.
