Attributed Report from Ali on Raf' al-Yadayn Analyzed and Answered

This excerpt is taken from the book Nūr al-ʿAynayn fī Ithbāt Rafʿ al-Yadayn ʿInd al-Rukūʿ wa Baʿdahū fī al-Ṣalāh by the Muḥaddith of the era, Ḥāfiẓ Zubair ʿAlī Zaʾī رحمه الله.

A Report Attributed to Sayyidunā ʿAlī رضي الله عنه​

عن أبي بكر النهشلي، ثنا عاصم بن كليب، عن أبيه أن عليًا رضي الله عنه كان يرفع يديه في أول تكبيرة من الصلاة ثم لا يعود

It is narrated from Abū Bakr al-Nahshalī, from ʿĀṣim bin Kulayb, from his father, that ʿAlī رضي الله عنه used to raise his hands with the first takbīr of the prayer, then he would not repeat it.

Reference: Maʿānī al-Āthār by al-Ṭaḥāwī 1/225; Naṣb al-Rāyah 1/406

First Response​

① It is reported that Sufyān al-Thawrī rejected this report.

Reference: Juzʾ Rafʿ al-Yadayn by al-Bukhārī: 11

② Imām ʿUthmān bin Saʿīd al-Dārimī declared it wāhī (weak).

Reference: al-Sunan al-Kubrā by al-Bayhaqī 2/80–81; Maʿrifat al-Sunan wa al-Āthār 1/550

③ Imām al-Shāfiʿī declared it not established.

Reference: al-Sunan al-Kubrā by al-Bayhaqī 2/81

④ Imām Aḥmad effectively rejected it.

Reference: al-Masāʾil by Aḥmad 1/343

⑤ Imām al-Bukhārī criticized this narration.

Reference: Juzʾ Rafʿ al-Yadayn: 11

⑥ Ibn al-Mulaqqin said: “Ḍaʿīf, lā yaṣiḥḥu ʿanhu” — “Weak; it is not authentic from him.”

Reference: al-Badr al-Munīr 3/499

In summary: According to the majority of the muḥaddithīn, this report is weak and not established, therefore any argument based upon it is rejected.

Second Response​

This narration does not mention rukūʿ at all. That is, it is general, whereas the narrations of Rafʿ al-Yadayn at rukūʿ — including the ḥadīth of ʿAlī رضي الله عنه himself — are specific.

It is a well-established principle that the specific takes precedence over the general.

Otherwise, why do the deniers of Rafʿ al-Yadayn themselves raise their hands in qunūt and the two ʿEids?

Furthermore, see the detailed discussion under the article:
“Ḥaḍrat ʿAlī رضي الله عنه also used to perform Rafʿ al-Yadayn.”