This excerpt is taken from the book Nūr al-ʿAynayn fī Ithbāt Rafʿ al-Yadayn ʿInd al-Rukūʿ wa Baʿdah fī al-Ṣalāh by the Muhaddith of the era, Ḥāfiẓ Zubayr ʿAlī Zaʾī رحمه الله.
No Companion ever struck anyone for performing Rafʿ al-Yadayn; therefore, the claim of abrogation is false.
Ḥāfiẓ al-Zaylaʿī al-Ḥanafī said:
«فإنه بلفظ كان المقتضية للدوام»
“The word kāna implies continuity.”
Here, there is no contextual indicator to divert this meaning. Thus, it becomes clear that according to the Ḥanafīs themselves, the Prophet ﷺ always (continuously) performed Rafʿ al-Yadayn. Hence, the claim of abrogation is rejected.
«ومن ذلك أحاديث المنع من رفع اليدين فى الصلوة عند الركوع والرفع منه كلها باطلة على رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم لا يصح منها شيء كحديث عبدالله بن مسعود رضي الله عنه: إنما أصلي بكم صلوة رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قال: فصلى فلم يرفع يديه إلا فى أول مرة»
“All narrations prohibiting Rafʿ al-Yadayn in prayer before and after rukūʿ are false attributions to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. None of them are authentic—such as the narration attributed to ʿAbdullāh bin Masʿūd رضي الله عنه claiming that he only raised his hands the first time.”
Those who claim abrogation are obligated first to establish abandonment.
Ibn ʿUmar, Mālik bin al-Ḥuwayrith, Wāʾil bin Ḥujr, Abū Ḥumayd al-Sāʿidī, ʿAlī bin Abī Ṭālib, Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī, Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq, ʿAbdullāh bin al-Zubayr, Abū Qatādah, Sahl bin Saʿd al-Sāʿidī, Abū Usayd Muḥammad bin Maslamah, Jābir, and others رضي الله عنهم أجمعين.
(All these narrations have authentic chains.)
In contrast, not a single ṣaḥīḥ or ḥasan ḥadīth explicitly establishes the abandonment of Rafʿ al-Yadayn. Therefore, it is necessary for Muslims to perform Rafʿ al-Yadayn in every prayer.
Imām ʿAlī bin ʿAbdullāh al-Madīnī (a trustworthy Imām) said after mentioning a ḥadīth on Rafʿ al-Yadayn:
«حق على المسلمين أن يرفعوا أيديهم لهذا الحديث»
“Based on this ḥadīth, it is obligatory upon Muslims to raise their hands (in prayer).”
Let us see who responds to this call!
Seventh Objection: The Claim of Abrogation (Naskh)
Some people, demonstrating extreme obstinacy, have made an unfounded claim that Rafʿ al-Yadayn has been abrogated. This claim is rejected on multiple grounds:
There exists no explicit, authentic abrogating (nāsikh) evidence.
Throughout the blessed era of the Companions and the Tābiʿīn, Rafʿ al-Yadayn continued to be practiced, and the abandonment of Rafʿ al-Yadayn is not authentically established from even a single Companion, as will be detailed later.
Since the abandonment of Rafʿ al-Yadayn itself is not established, how can a claim of abrogation be valid?
Books authored on nāsikh and mansūkh, such as Kitāb al-Ḥāzimī, Kitāb Ibn Shāhīn, Kitāb Ibn al-Jawzī, and others—none of their authors even mentioned this issue in their works. Is there anyone who can extract this issue from even one book written on abrogation and present it to us?
I have established with authentic aḥādīth in the evidences of Rafʿ al-Yadayn that the Prophet ﷺ continued performing Rafʿ al-Yadayn in 9 AH and 10 AH. Now, we ask: with an authentic ḥadīth, tell us in which Hijri year was Rafʿ al-Yadayn abrogated or abandoned?
If—Allah forbid—Rafʿ al-Yadayn had been abrogated, then how did the Rafʿ al-Yadayn of Takbīr al-Taḥrīmah, Qunūt, and the ʿEid prayers escape this abrogation?
There is no proof of even a single prayer in the entire life of the Prophet ﷺ in which he did not perform Rafʿ al-Yadayn. When abandonment itself is not proven, how can abrogation be established?
ʿAbdullāh bin ʿUmar رضي الله عنهما used to throw pebbles at those who did not perform Rafʿ al-Yadayn.
Reference: Juzʾ Rafʿ al-Yadayn p.15 (chain authentic)
No Companion ever struck anyone for performing Rafʿ al-Yadayn; therefore, the claim of abrogation is false.
In the aḥādīth of Rafʿ al-Yadayn, the word “كان” is used.Ḥāfiẓ al-Zaylaʿī al-Ḥanafī said:
«فإنه بلفظ كان المقتضية للدوام»
“The word kāna implies continuity.”
Reference: Naṣb al-Rāyah 1/31
Here, there is no contextual indicator to divert this meaning. Thus, it becomes clear that according to the Ḥanafīs themselves, the Prophet ﷺ always (continuously) performed Rafʿ al-Yadayn. Hence, the claim of abrogation is rejected.
Ḥāfiẓ Ibn al-Qayyim said:«ومن ذلك أحاديث المنع من رفع اليدين فى الصلوة عند الركوع والرفع منه كلها باطلة على رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم لا يصح منها شيء كحديث عبدالله بن مسعود رضي الله عنه: إنما أصلي بكم صلوة رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قال: فصلى فلم يرفع يديه إلا فى أول مرة»
“All narrations prohibiting Rafʿ al-Yadayn in prayer before and after rukūʿ are false attributions to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. None of them are authentic—such as the narration attributed to ʿAbdullāh bin Masʿūd رضي الله عنه claiming that he only raised his hands the first time.”
Reference: al-Manār al-Munīf p.137
Those who claim abrogation are obligated first to establish abandonment.
◈ Summary of the Research
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to perform Rafʿ al-Yadayn before and after rukūʿ. This has been reported by the following Companions رضي الله عنهم:Ibn ʿUmar, Mālik bin al-Ḥuwayrith, Wāʾil bin Ḥujr, Abū Ḥumayd al-Sāʿidī, ʿAlī bin Abī Ṭālib, Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī, Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq, ʿAbdullāh bin al-Zubayr, Abū Qatādah, Sahl bin Saʿd al-Sāʿidī, Abū Usayd Muḥammad bin Maslamah, Jābir, and others رضي الله عنهم أجمعين.
(All these narrations have authentic chains.)
In contrast, not a single ṣaḥīḥ or ḥasan ḥadīth explicitly establishes the abandonment of Rafʿ al-Yadayn. Therefore, it is necessary for Muslims to perform Rafʿ al-Yadayn in every prayer.
Imām ʿAlī bin ʿAbdullāh al-Madīnī (a trustworthy Imām) said after mentioning a ḥadīth on Rafʿ al-Yadayn:
«حق على المسلمين أن يرفعوا أيديهم لهذا الحديث»
“Based on this ḥadīth, it is obligatory upon Muslims to raise their hands (in prayer).”
Reference: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī (margin, Nuskhah al-Shaʿb) 1/188; Pakistani edition 1/102; Fatḥ al-Bārī 2/175; Juzʾ Rafʿ al-Yadayn p.34, ḥadīth 2; al-Talkhīṣ al-Ḥabīr 1/218, ḥadīth 227
Let us see who responds to this call!
