Question:
Is there evidence for folding the hands after rukūʿ? What do ḥadīth and research indicate?
Source: Aḥkām wa Masā’il, Ṣalāh Section, Vol. 1, p.183
Answer:
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu wa-s-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, Ammā Baʿd!
This issue has been researched extensively by scholars. Shaykh Badīʿ al-Dīn Rāshidī (ḥafiẓahu’Llāh) has written approximately ten to eleven booklets on this topic. One should study at least one of them. In particular, one of his booklets includes a beneficial foreword by Shaykh ʿAbdullāh Nāṣir (ḥafiẓahu’Llāh).
A short treatise by Shaykh Ibn Bāz (رحمه الله) is also available on this issue, which is likewise useful.
◈ Evidence for Folding Hands after Rukūʿ
Those scholars who support folding hands after rukūʿ rely on the general wording of a ḥadīth in Sunan an-Nasā’ī:
«إِذَا قَامَ فِي الصَّلَاةِ وَضَعَ يَدَهُ الْيُمْنَى عَلَى يَدِهِ الْيُسْرَى»
“When he stood in prayer, he would place his right hand over his left hand.”
The generality of this narration applies both:
- before rukūʿ, and
- after rising from rukūʿ.
◈ Suggested References for Further Research
- Risālah Ir’sāl al-Yadayn by Ḥāfiẓ ʿAbdullāh Rūpūrī (رحمه الله).
- Treatise on this topic by Pīr Muḥibbullāh Shāh Rāshidī (ḥafiẓahu’Llāh).
Conclusion
- The evidence for placing the right hand over the left after rukūʿ is based on the generality of authentic narrations.
- Scholars differ on its practice, but respected researchers like Shaykh Badīʿ al-Dīn Rāshidī and others have defended its validity.
ھذا ما عندي والله أعلم بالصواب
