Attributed Reports from Ibn ʿUmar on Raf' al-Yadayn Critically Refuted

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 Ibn ʿUmar رضي الله عنهما​

أبو بكر بن عياش عن حصين عن مجاهد قال: صليت خلف ابن عمر رضي الله عنهما فلم يكن يرفع يديه إلا فى التكبيرة الأولى من الصلوة

It is narrated from Mujāhid that he said:
“I prayed behind Ibn ʿUmar رضي الله عنهما, and he did not raise his hands except in the first takbīr of the prayer.”

Reference: Maʿānī al-Āthār 1/225; Naṣb al-Rāyah 1/409

First Response​

Imām Yaḥyā bin Maʿīn رحمه الله said:

حديث أبي بكر عن حصين إنما هو توهم منه لا أصل له

“The narration of Abū Bakr from Ḥuṣayn is merely his misconception; it has no basis.”

Reference: Juzʾ Rafʿ al-Yadayn: 16; Naṣb al-Rāyah 1/392

This is a specific and detailed criticism by Imām Ibn Maʿīn. Regardless of how much effort the deniers of Rafʿ al-Yadayn make, this narration remains invalid and rejected. The status of Ibn Maʿīn is not hidden even from beginner students of ḥadīth.

Regarding this narration, Imām Aḥmad bin Ḥanbal said:

رواه أبو بكر بن عياش عن حصين عن مجاهد عن ابن عمر وهو باطل

“It has been narrated by Abū Bakr bin ʿAyyāsh from Ḥuṣayn from Mujāhid from Ibn ʿUmar, and it is false.”

Reference: Masāʾil Aḥmad, riwāyah Ibn Hānī 1/50

Imām al-Dāraquṭnī said:

قاله أبو بكر بن عياش عن حصين وهو وهم منه أو من حصين

“This was stated by Abū Bakr bin ʿAyyāsh from Ḥuṣayn, and it is a mistake from him or from Ḥuṣayn.”

Reference: al-ʿIlal 13/16, no. 2902

The Imāms of ḥadīth have declared this narration of Abū Bakr bin ʿAyyāsh to be based on error and misconception, therefore this narration is false and baseless.

Important Clarification​

The author states that his earlier research held Abū Bakr bin ʿAyyāsh رحمه الله to be weak according to the majority of scholars. Later, upon renewed research, it became clear that he is considered ṣadūq and reliable by the majority of muḥaddithīn. Therefore, the author openly retracted his earlier view.
See: Monthly al-Ḥadīth Ḥaḍro, issue 28, p.54 (written 22 Rabīʿ al-Thānī 1427 AH).

The authentication and strengthening of Abū Bakr bin ʿAyyāsh is established from the following scholars:

① al-Bukhārī
② Ibn Khuzaymah
③ al-Tirmidhī
④ al-Ḥākim
⑤ al-Dhahabī
⑥ al-Haythamī
⑦ Ibn al-Jārūd
⑧ al-Ḍiyāʾ al-Maqdisī
⑨ Abū ʿAwānah
⑩ al-Būṣīrī
⑪ al-ʿIjlī
⑫ Abū Ḥātim al-Rāzī
⑬ Aḥmad bin Ḥanbal
⑭ Ibn al-Mubārak
⑮ ʿAbd al-Raḥmān bin Mahdī
⑯ Ibn ʿAdī
⑰ Yaḥyā bin Maʿīn
⑱ Muslim
⑲ Ibn al-Jawzī
⑳ Yazīd bin Hārūn
㉑ Ibn ʿAmmār
㉒ Abū Nuʿaym al-Aṣbahānī
㉓ al-Baghawī
㉔ Ibn Ḥibbān
㉕ Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī
and others.

Summary of Research:
According to explicit statements of the muḥaddithīn, apart from those narrations in which Abū Bakr bin ʿAyyāsh made errors or had misconceptions, he is ṣadūq and ḥasan al-ḥadīth in the rest of his narrations. All praise is for Allah.

Since the narration of abandoning Rafʿ al-Yadayn reported by Abū Bakr bin ʿAyyāsh has been declared baseless and false by Yaḥyā bin Maʿīn, Aḥmad bin Ḥanbal, and others, this narration remains weak and rejected.

Second Response​

Abū Bakr bin ʿAyyāsh suffered from memory deterioration (ikhtilāṭ) in his later life.

Reference: al-Kawākib al-Nayyirāt by Ibn al-Kayyāl pp. 439–444; Naṣb al-Rāyah 1/409; al-Intibāh fī Maʿrifat man Rumiya bil-Ikhtilāṭ p.26

Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥibbān also stated in al-Thiqāt that when Ibn ʿAyyāsh reached old age, his memory weakened and he would commit mistakes in narration. The correct approach is to reject the narrations in which he erred, and accept those free from error.

Reference: al-Tahdhīb 12/39

Imām al-Bukhārī explained in detail that in earlier times, Abū Bakr bin ʿAyyāsh narrated this report as mursal and mawqūf from Ḥuṣayn from Ibrāhīm from Ibn Masʿūd, and this version is preserved. The disputed narration is a gross error, because it contradicts the narrations of the students of Ibn ʿUmar.

Reference: Naṣb al-Rāyah 1/409

This statement of Imām al-Bukhārī is a detailed and decisive criticism that cannot be reconciled away.


From this detailed discussion, it becomes clear that after his memory deterioration, Abū Bakr bin ʿAyyāsh narrated this report in contradiction to many trustworthy narrators. Therefore, his narration is shādh, and shādh narrations are rejected. For this reason, Imām Yaḥyā bin Maʿīn, Imām Aḥmad, and others declared it weak.

Despite all this, if someone still insists on the authenticity of this narration, then his treatment should be sought in a mental hospital.

◈ A Second Chain​

Muḥammad bin al-Ḥasan al-Shaybānī said:

أخبرنا محمد بن أبان بن صالح عن عبد العزيز بن حكيم قال: رأيت ابن عمر يرفع يديه حذاء أذنيه فى أول تكبيرة افتتاح الصلوة ولم يرفعهما فيما سوى ذلك

Muḥammad bin Abān bin Ṣāliḥ narrated from ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz bin Ḥakīm that he said:
“I saw Ibn ʿUmar رضي الله عنهما raising his hands up to his ears in the opening takbīr of the prayer, and he did not raise them apart from that.”

Reference: Muwaṭṭaʾ Muḥammad bin al-Ḥasan al-Shaybānī p.92

Answer​

This chain is severely weak.

① Muḥammad bin al-Ḥasan al-Shaybānī, a student of Imām Abū Ḥanīfah, is severely weak. The majority of muḥaddithīn criticized him.

Imām Yaḥyā bin Maʿīn said:

جهمي كذاب

“He is a Jahmī liar.”

Reference: Kitāb al-Ḍuʿafāʾ by al-ʿUqaylī 4/52 (Isnād Ṣaḥīḥ)

Imām al-Nasāʾī said: “Ḍaʿīf.”

Reference: al-Ḍuʿafāʾ wa al-Matrūkīn p.266

Ibn ʿAdī said:
“The Ahl al-Ḥadīth are in no need of his narrations.”

Reference: al-Kāmil 6/2184

Abū Zurʿah al-Rāzī said:
“Muḥammad bin al-Ḥasan was a Jahmī.”

Reference: Kitāb al-Ḍuʿafāʾ p.570

ʿAmr bin ʿAlī al-Fallās said: “Weak.”

Reference: Tārīkh Baghdād 2/181 (Isnād Ṣaḥīḥ)

② Muḥammad bin Abān bin Ṣāliḥ al-Juʿfī is a weak narrator. The majority of muḥaddithīn criticized him.

Reference: Lisān al-Mīzān 5/122

Imām al-Nasāʾī said: “Ḍaʿīf Kūfī.”

Reference: al-Ḍuʿafāʾ wa al-Matrūkīn: 512

Imām al-Bukhārī said: “Not strong.”

Reference: al-Ḍuʿafāʾ al-Ṣaghīr: 512

In conclusion, this chain too is fabricated, false, and rejected.

Final Conclusion​

From this research, Imām al-Bukhārī’s statement is proven to be correct:

“Not a single Companion has been authentically proven to have abandoned Rafʿ al-Yadayn.”