✦ Four Scholarly Critiques on the Narration Attributed to Ibn ʿUmar Regarding Abandoning Rafʿ al-Yadayn
Source: Fatāwā ʿIlmiyyah, Volume 1, Kitāb al-Ṣalāh, Page 348
Topic: Critical Evaluation of the Narration Claiming Ibn ʿUmar رضي الله عنهما Practiced Rafʿ al-Yadayn Only at the Initial Takbīrah
❖ The Report
Narration:
"I prayed behind Ibn ʿUmar, and he would not raise his hands except at the first Takbīrah of the prayer."
Narrated by:
— Ibn Abī Dāwūd
— from Aḥmad ibn Yūnus
— from Abū Bakr ibn ʿAyyāsh
— from Ḥuṣayn
— from Mujāhid
(Source: Sharḥ Maʿānī al-Āthār, p. 235; Ibn Abī Shaybah, Vol. –, p. 237)
❖ Evaluation of the Narration
✦ Verdict:
This narration has been declared weak and a mistake by several leading scholars of ḥadīth.
❖ Four Key Analytical Points
➊ Statement of Imām Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn رحمه الله
“The ḥadīth of Abū Bakr from Ḥuṣayn is only a delusion (wahm). It has **no basis (lā aṣl lahu).”
(Source: Juzʾ Rafʿ al-Yadayn, p. 16; Naṣb al-Rāyah, 1/392)
This is a clear and decisive criticism from one of the foremost experts in ḥadīth criticism. His statement renders the narration unacceptable.➋ Statement of Imām Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal رحمه الله
“This narration — reported by Abū Bakr ibn ʿAyyāsh from Ḥuṣayn from Mujāhid from Ibn ʿUmar — is **false (bāṭil).”
(Source: Masāʾil Aḥmad, Riwayah of Ibn Hānī, Vol. –, p. 50)
Imām Aḥmad, a foundational figure among the four great Imāms, unequivocally rejected the narration.➌ Clarification About Abū Bakr ibn ʿAyyāsh
While some earlier scholars criticized him, later research confirms that the majority of ḥadīth scholars consider him trustworthy (ṣadūq wa mawthūq).
This updated position has been explained in:— Māhnāmah al-Ḥadīth (Hazro), Issue 28, p. 54
— Dated: 22 Rabīʿ al-Thānī 1427 AH
The author of the article has clearly retracted his earlier stance, in which he considered Abū Bakr ibn ʿAyyāsh to be weak.➡ However, the weakness of the narration still stands, due to its content (matn) and being contradicted (shādh).
➍ Contradiction with Authentic Reports
Authentic narrations from Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī and other reliable sources confirm:◈ Ibn ʿUmar رضي الله عنه used to perform Rafʿ al-Yadayn consistently —
— At the start, before Rukūʿ, and after rising from Rukūʿ.
(Source: Ḥadīth al-Sirāj, 2/34, Ḥadīth 115)
Those who abandoned Rafʿ al-Yadayn were even reprimanded:Ibn ʿUmar used to throw pebbles at one who did not raise his hands.
(Juzʾ Rafʿ al-Yadayn by al-Bukhārī; also referenced in Shahādat, July 2000)
Conclusion
This narration:
◉ Has been declared delusional (وهم) by Imām Ibn Maʿīn
◉ Labeled false (باطل) by Imām Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal
◉ Contradicts authentic and mutawātir narrations from Ibn ʿUmar himself
◉ Is not reliable in proving abandonment of Rafʿ al-Yadayn
Therefore, Rafʿ al-Yadayn remains a proven and legislated Sunnah, consistently practiced by ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar and upheld by the Ṣaḥābah and Tābiʿīn.
ھٰذَا مَا عِندِي، وَاللّٰهُ أَعْلَمُ بِالصَّوَاب
