Authentic Hadith Proofs for Rafʿ al-Yadayn Before and After Rukuʿ

Excerpt from the Book of the Contemporary Hadith Scholar
Ḥāfiẓ Zubair ʿAlī Zaʾī رحمه الله
Nūr al-ʿAynayn fī Ithbāt Rafʿ al-Yadayn ʿInd al-Rukūʿ wa Baʿdahu fī al-Ṣalāh

The Narration​

سليمان بن داود الهاشمي: أخبرنا عبدالرحمن بن أبى الزناد عن موسى بن عقبة عن عبدالله بن الفضل الهاشمي: أخبرنا عبدالرحمن الأعرج عن عبيد الله بن أبى رافع عن على بن أبى طالب عن النبى صلى الله عليه وسلم أنه كان إذا قام إلى الصلاة المكتوبة كبر و رفع يديه حذو منكبيه ويصنع مثل ذلك إذا قضى قراءته وأراد أن يركع ويصنعه إذا رفع من الركوع ولا يرفع يديه فى شي من صلاته وهو قاعد وإذا قام من السجدتين رفع يديه كذلك وكبر

Translation:

Sayyidunā ʿAlī رضي الله عنه stated that when the Prophet ﷺ would stand to perform the obligatory prayer, he would pronounce the takbīr and raise his hands up to his shoulders. He would do the same when he completed the recitation and intended to go into rukūʿ, and he would do the same when rising from rukūʿ. He would not raise his hands at any point while in a sitting position during the prayer. And when he stood up after the two prostrations (i.e., after two rakʿahs), he would raise his hands in the same manner and pronounce the takbīr.

References:

Reference: Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Khuzaymah: 1/294–295, ḥadīth 584

Reference: Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān (as cited in al-ʿUmdah by al-ʿAynī): 5/277

Reference: Sunan al-Tirmidhī: 5/487–488, ḥadīth 3423

He said: “This ḥadīth is ṣaḥīḥ ḥasan.”

Reference: Naṣb al-Rāyah: 1/412

Reference: al-Dirāyah: 1/153

Reference: Talkhīṣ al-Ḥabīr: 1/219

Reference: al-Fatāwā al-Kubrā (Ibn Taymiyyah): 1/105

Reference: Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā: 22/453

◈ Authentication of the Chain (Sanad Analysis)​

All the narrators of this chain are unanimously regarded as trustworthy except ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī al-Zinād, concerning whom there is scholarly disagreement.

① Criticism:
Imām Ibn Maʿīn and Abū Ḥātim, among others, declared him weak.

② Praise:
Imām Mālik, Imām al-Tirmidhī, Imām al-Anjālī, and others declared him trustworthy.

✔ Thus, according to the majority, he is thiqah and ṣadūq.

Statement of Imām al-Dhahabī رحمه الله​

حديثه من قبيل الحسن … هو حسن الحديث وبعضهم يراه حجة

“His ḥadīth fall under the category of ḥasan. He is ḥasan al-ḥadīth, and some consider him a proof.”

Reference: Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ: 8/168, 170

Statement of Imām Ibn al-Madīnī رحمه الله​

قد نظرت فيما روى عنه سليمان بن داود الهاشمي فرأيتها مقاربة

“I examined the narrations reported by Sulaymān ibn Dāwūd al-Hāshimī from him and found them to be consistent (muqārib).”

Reference: Tārīkh Baghdād: 1/229, no. 5359

— its chain is ṣaḥīḥ

ʿAbd al-Ḥayy al-Lakhnawī mentioned muqārib al-ḥadīth before ḥasan al-ḥadīth, indicating that it is a term of commendation.

Reference: al-Rafʿ wa al-Takmīl fī al-Jarḥ wa al-Taʿdīl: p. 72

✔ Therefore, this is a mufassar taʿdīl, which takes precedence over general criticism.

Important Clarification​

No Imām has declared Ibn Abī al-Zinād weak when Sulaymān ibn Dāwūd al-Hāshimī narrates from him. Rather, multiple Imāms have authenticated his narrations. Hence, all narrations of Sulaymān from him are accepted as ṣaḥīḥ or ḥasan.

◈ A Contradictory Report and Its Refutation​

Some people present the following report in opposition to this marfūʿ ḥadīth:

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

Translation:

Sayyidunā ʿAlī رضي الله عنه would raise his hands with the first takbīr of the prayer and then would not repeat it.

Reference: Naṣb al-Rāyah: 1/406

Reference: Maʿānī al-Āthār (al-Ṭaḥāwī): 1/225

Reasons for Rejecting This Evidence​

① Explicit, Detailed Criticism (Jarḥ Mufassar)​

◈ Sufyān al-Thawrī rejected this report.

Reference: Juzʾ Rafʿ al-Yadayn (al-Bukhārī): p. 47, ḥadīth 11

◈ Imām ʿUthmān ibn Saʿīd al-Dārimī declared it weak.

Reference: al-Sunan al-Kubrā: 2/80–81

◈ Imām Aḥmad implicitly rejected it.

Reference: al-Masāʾil li-Aḥmad: 1/243

◈ Imām al-Bukhārī declared it weak.

Reference: Sharḥ al-Tirmidhī (Ibn Sayyid al-Nās), cited in Ḥāshiyat Jalāʾ al-ʿAynayn: p. 48

◈ Ibn al-Mulaqqin said:

فأثر علي ضعيف لا يصح عنه وممن ضعفه البخاري

“The report attributed to ʿAlī is weak and not authentically established from him, and among those who declared it weak is al-Bukhārī.”

Reference: al-Badr al-Munīr: 3/499

◈ Imām al-Shāfiʿī said:

ولا يثبت عن علي

“It is not established from ʿAlī.”

Reference: al-Sunan al-Kubrā (al-Bayhaqī): 2/81

✔ Thus, this report is defective (muʿallal) and weak. No reliable ḥadīth scholar declared it authentic.

② General vs. Specific Evidence​

This report does not explicitly mention rukūʿ; rather, it is general. The authentic aḥādīth regarding rafʿ al-yadayn at rukūʿ are explicit and specific, and the specific takes precedence over the general.

Otherwise, those who abandon rafʿ al-yadayn would also have to abandon it in ʿĪdayn and qunūt, yet they practice it there.

If this general report were accepted, rafʿ al-yadayn in ʿĪdayn and qunūt would also be negated. If those are specified by other evidences, then why should the authentic, explicit, marfūʿ narrations of Ṣaḥīḥayn concerning rafʿ al-yadayn at rukūʿ not be accepted as specifying evidence as well?