Ruling on Raising Hands (Rafʿ al-Yadayn) in Prayer
Source: Fatawa Amanpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amanpuri❀ Question:
What is the ruling on raising the hands (rafʿ al-yadayn) during prayer?
❀ Answer:
Allah Almighty created mankind for His worship, and worship must be performed according to the way beloved to Allah — the way taught by the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
❀ Narration of Malik ibn Huwairith (RA):
صلوا كما رأيتموني أصلي
"Pray as you have seen me praying."
Reference: [صحيح البخاري: 631]
The Prophet ﷺ used to raise his hands:
- At the start of prayer,
- When going into rukūʿ,
- When rising from rukūʿ,
- And when standing up after two rakʿahs.
This is a mutawatir Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. The Companions and the Tābiʿīn practiced it, and later, the great Imams authored works proving its authenticity.
When a Hanafi scholar gave a fatwa that raising the hands invalidates the prayer, ʿAllāmah ʿAbd al-Hayy Lakhnawi al-Hanafi (رح, d. 1304H) said:
ما أقبح كلام وما أضعفه أتفسد الصلاة بما تواتر فعله عن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم وأصحابه؟
"How ugly and weak is this statement! Raising the hands is established by tawatur from the Prophet ﷺ and his Companions — can prayer be invalidated by what is mutawatir from them?"
Reference: [حاشية الفوائد البهية، ص 50]
Our stance is that whoever does not adhere to the methodology of the scholars of Hadith has no right to present Hadith evidence, nor to pass judgment on Hadith narrators in contradiction to the muhaddithīn — as this would be academic dishonesty.
❀ Ibn al-Qayyim (رح, d. 751H) said:
He described the practice of raising hands in rukūʿ and rising from it as a continuous practice from the Prophet ﷺ and the Companions. ʿAbdullah ibn ʿUmar (RA) would even throw pebbles at one who did not raise his hands. Most of the Tābiʿīn in Madinah and other regions practiced it, as reported by Imam al-Bukhari and Imam Muhammad ibn Nasr al-Marwazi (رح). Only later did opposition to this Sunnah emerge.
Reference: [إعلام الموقعين: 3/2]
