Fabricated Hadith Against Raf al-Yadayn Exposed by Scholars

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

The Narration of ʿAbdullāh bin ʿAwn al-Kharrāz​

Some people present the following narration:

Arabic Text:

عن عبدالله بن عون الخراز: ثنا مالك عن الزهري عن سالم عن ابن عمر أن النبى صلى الله عليه وسلم كان يرفع يديه إذا افتتح الصلوة ثم لا يعود

Translation:

Sayyidunā ʿAbdullāh bin ʿUmar رضي الله عنه states that the Noble Prophet ﷺ would raise his hands at the beginning of the prayer, then he would not return to raising them again.

Reference: al-Khilāfiyyāt by al-Bayhaqī, cited in Naṣb al-Rāyah 1/404; Nūr al-Ṣabāḥ by Ḥabībullāh Dīrwī Deobandī, pp. 61–62

① First Point​

Statement of Imām Abū ʿAbdullāh al-Ḥākim​

Imām al-Ḥākim said regarding this narration:

Arabic Text:

هذا باطل موضوع ولا يجوز أن يذكر إلا على سبيل القدح فقد روينا بالأسانيد الصحيحة عن مالك بخلاف هذا

Translation:

“This narration is false and fabricated. It is not permissible to mention it except for the purpose of criticizing it. Indeed, we have narrated with authentic chains from Imām Mālik that which is contrary to this (i.e., the affirmation of raising the hands).”

Reference: Naṣb al-Rāyah 1/404

Scholarly Praise of Imām al-Ḥākim​

Ḥāfiẓ al-Dhahabī said about him:

Arabic Text:

الإمام الحافظ الناقد العلامة شيخ المحدثين

Translation:

“He was the Imām, the Ḥāfiẓ, the critical scholar, the erudite authority, the Shaykh of the Muḥaddithīn.”

Reference: Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ 17/163

He further said:

Arabic Text:

وصنف وخرج وجرح وعدل وعلل وكان من بحور العلم على تشيع قليل فيه

Translation:

“He authored works, narrated, critiqued, declared reliability, explained defects, and he was an ocean of knowledge, though he had a slight inclination toward Shīʿism.”

Reference: Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ 17/165

Al-Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī said:

Arabic Text:

وكان ثقة

Translation:

“He was trustworthy.”

Reference: Tārīkh Baghdād 5/473

It is also stated:

Translation:

Imām al-Ḥākim is truthful, but in al-Mustadrak he authenticated some weak and fabricated narrations.

Reference: Mīzān al-Iʿtidāl 3/608; see also Tawḍīḥ al-Aḥkām 1/572–578

Imām al-Ḥākim was known to be lenient (mutasāhil).

Reference: Dhikr Man Yuʿtamad Qawluhu fī al-Jarḥ wa al-Taʿdīl by al-Dhahabī 2/159; al-Mutakallimūn fī al-Rijāl by al-Sakhāwī p. 137

✔ When a lenient scholar declares a narration to be false and fabricated, it is generally considered to be extremely false and fabricated.

Ḥāfiẓ al-Dhahabī referred to Imām al-Ḥākim as al-Ḥāfiẓ al-Kabīr and Imām al-Muḥaddithīn.

Reference: Tadhkirat al-Ḥuffāẓ 3/227; cited in Aḥsan al-Kalām 1/104

Statement of Ḥāfiẓ Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah (691–751 AH)​

He said:

Arabic Text:

ومن شم روائح الحديث على بعد: شهد بالله أنه موضوع

Translation:

“Whoever has even smelled the fragrance of ḥadīth from afar will testify by Allah that this narration is fabricated.”

Reference: al-Manār al-Munīf p. 138

Scholarly Praise of Ḥāfiẓ Ibn al-Qayyim​

◈ Ibn Rajab al-Dimashqī said:

Arabic Text:

وكان عارفا بالتفسير لا يجارى فيه، وبأصول الدين، وإليه فيهما المنتهى، والحديث ومعانيه وفقهه ودقائق الاستنباط منه لا يلحق فى ذلك

Translation:

“He was deeply knowledgeable in tafsīr, unmatched therein, and in the fundamentals of religion. In both, he reached the pinnacle. Likewise in ḥadīth, its meanings, jurisprudence, and subtle deductions—none could match him.”

Reference: Dhail Ṭabaqāt al-Ḥanābilah 2/448

◈ Ibn Kathīr said:

Arabic Text:

صاحبنا الشيخ الإمام العلامة… وبرع فى علوم متعددة، لا سيما علم التفسير والحديث والأصلين

Translation:

“Our Shaykh, the Imām, the great scholar… he excelled in many sciences, especially tafsīr, ḥadīth, and the two fundamentals.”

Reference: al-Bidāyah wa al-Nihāyah 14/246

◈ Ibn Nāṣir al-Dīn al-Dimashqī said:

Arabic Text:

الشيخ الإمام العلامة شمس الدين أحد المحققين

Translation:

“The Shaykh, the Imām, the great scholar, Shams al-Dīn, one of the foremost researchers.”

Reference: al-Radd al-Wāfir p. 119

◈ Ibn al-ʿImād al-Ḥanbalī said:

Arabic Text:

الفقيه الحنبلي بل المجتهد المطلق المفسر النحوي الأصولي المتكلم

Translation:

“The Ḥanbalī jurist—rather, the absolute mujtahid—mufassir, grammarian, scholar of uṣūl, and theologian.”

Reference: Shadharāt al-Dhahab 6/168

Additional references:

Reference: al-Durar al-Kāminah 3/400; al-Badr al-Ṭāliʿ 2/143

Mullā ʿAlī al-Qārī said about Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn al-Qayyim:

Arabic Text:

وكانا من أكابر أهل السنة والجماعة ومن أولياء هذه الأمة

Translation:

“They were among the greatest figures of Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jamāʿah and among the saints of this Ummah.”

Reference: Jamʿ al-Wasāʾil 1/208

Statement of Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī​

He said regarding this narration:

Arabic Text:

وهو مقلوب موضوع

Translation:

“It is reversed and fabricated.”

Reference: al-Talkhīṣ al-Ḥabīr 1/222

Scholarly Praise of Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar​

ʿAbd al-Ḥayy al-Lakhnawī said:

Arabic Text:

هو إمام الحفاظ

Translation:

“He is the Imām of the Ḥuffāẓ.”

Reference: Ghayth al-Ghamām p. 28

Sarfarāz Khān Ṣafdar wrote:

Translation:

“Ḥāfiẓ of the world.”

Reference: Rāh-e-Sunnat p. 39

Ibn al-ʿImād al-Ḥanbalī said:

Arabic Text:

شيخ الإسلام علم الأعلام أمير المؤمنين في الحديث حافظ العصر

Translation:

“Shaykh al-Islām, the banner of scholars, the Commander of the Faithful in ḥadīth, the Ḥāfiẓ of the era.”

Reference: Shadharāt al-Dhahab 7/270

✔ Imām al-Ḥākim, Ibn al-Qayyim, and Ibn Ḥajar unanimously declared this narration to be fabricated.
✔ From Imām al-Ḥākim to Ibn Ḥajar, not a single muḥaddith or Imām authenticated this narration.
✔ In declaring a narration authentic or weak, only the verdict of the muḥaddithīn is authoritative.

② Second Point​

The chain from Imām al-Bayhaqī (author of al-Khilāfiyyāt) to ʿAbdullāh bin ʿAwn al-Kharrāz is unknown.

ʿAbdullāh bin ʿAwn al-Kharrāz died in 232 AH.

Reference: Tārīkh Baghdād 1/36; Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb no. 3520

Imām al-Bayhaqī was born in 382 AH.

Reference: al-Ansāb 1/439; Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ 18/164

Even if it is claimed, following Mughaltāʾī, that Imām al-Bayhaqī narrated it via:

“Muḥammad bin Ghālib → Aḥmad bin Muḥammad al-Barqī → ʿAbdullāh bin ʿAwn al-Kharrāz”

The response is:

① Mughaltāʾī bin Qilīj is of unknown reliability. Scholars pointed out his severe errors and misunderstandings. His claims of hearing from major shaykhs were rejected.

Reference: Lisān al-Mīzān 6/72–74

② Muḥammad bin Ghālib died in 283 AH.

Reference: Tārīkh Baghdād 3/146

This is 101 years before the birth of Imām al-Bayhaqī, hence the narration is disconnected and rejected.

③ Third Point​

Shaykh al-Islām Imām al-Dāraquṭnī authored a book titled “Gharāʾib Ḥadīth Mālik”, in which he gathered all types of narrations (including fabricated ones). However, he did not include the narration of Mughaltāʾī al-Bakjī.

Reference: Naṣb al-Rāyah 1/404

✔ This proves that this narration was fabricated after Imām al-Dāraquṭnī and falsely attributed to Muḥammad bin Ghālib.