Hadith of Abu Musa Ashʿari Proving Rafʿ al-Yadayn in Salah

Excerpt from the Book of the Contemporary Hadith Scholar
Ḥāfiẓ Zubair ʿAlī Zaʾī رحمه الله
Nūr al-ʿAynayn fī Ithbāt Rafʿ al-Yadayn ʿInd al-Rukūʿ wa Baʿdahu fī al-Ṣalāh

Ḥadīth of Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī رضي الله عنه​

عن أبى موسى الأشعري قال: هل أريكم صلوة رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم فكبر و رفع يديه ثم كبر ورفع يديه ثم قال: سمع الله لمن حمده ثم رفع يديه، ثم قال: هكذا فاصنعوا ولا يرفع بين السجدتين

Translation:

Sayyidunā Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī رضي الله عنه said: “Shall I show you the prayer of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ?”
Then he said Allāhu Akbar and raised his hands, then he said Allāhu Akbar and raised his hands (at rukūʿ). Then he said Samiʿa Allāhu liman ḥamidah and raised his hands. Thereafter he said: “Pray in this manner, and do not raise the hands between the prostrations.”

Reference: Sunan al-Dāraquṭnī: 1/292, ḥadīth 111

— its chain is ṣaḥīḥ

◈ Authentication of the Chain (Sanad Analysis)​

This ḥadīth is ṣaḥīḥ in terms of its chain. All its narrators are trustworthy, and there is no effective defect in it.

① Daʿlaj ibn Aḥmad, the shaykh of al-Dāraquṭnī, was thiqah thabt.

Reference: Tārīkh Baghdād: 8/388

② ʿAbdullāh ibn Shīrawayh was unanimously declared thiqah.

Reference: Tadhkirat al-Ḥuffāẓ: 3/706, no. 725

③ Isḥāq ibn Rāhawayh was a renowned thiqah Imām and compiler. His narrations are present in the Ṣaḥīḥayn, and his Musnad is well known.
It is reported that Imām al-Nasāʾī said: “Thiqah, trustworthy, an Imām.”

Reference: Tadhkirat al-Ḥuffāẓ (al-Dhahabī): 2/434

For the refutation of the claim of his confusion, see:

Reference: Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ: 1/377–378

④ al-Naḍr ibn Shumayl was thiqah thabt.

Reference: Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb: no. 7135

⑤ Ḥammād ibn Salamah was thiqah.

Reference: al-Jarḥ wa al-Taʿdīl: 3/142 (from Ibn Maʿīn, with a ṣaḥīḥ chain)

The narration of al-Naḍr ibn Shumayl from Ḥammād ibn Salamah is present in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim.

Reference: Tahdhīb al-Kamāl (al-Mizzī): 7/258

Thus, al-Naḍr’s hearing from Ḥammād occurred before any confusion, making it reliable.

⑥ Azraq ibn Qays was thiqah.

Reference: Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb: no. 302

⑦ Ḥiṭṭān ibn ʿAbdullāh was thiqah.

Reference: Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb: no. 1399

Ḥiṭṭān رحمه الله narrates this report from Sayyidunā Abū Mūsā رضي الله عنه.
This ḥadīth is ṣaḥīḥ as a marfūʿ narration, and it is also authentically reported as mawqūf.

Reference: Masāʾil Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal (narration of Ṣāliḥ ibn Aḥmad): p. 174

— mawqūf with a ṣaḥīḥ chain

Reference: al-Awsat by Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm ibn al-Mundhir al-Nīsābūrī: manuscript 1/148; printed 3/138

— its chain is ṣaḥīḥ

✔ Therefore, both the marfūʿ and mawqūf forms are authentic. And Allah knows best.

Additional Supporting Report​

عن عطاء بن أبى رباح قال صليت خلف عبدالله بن الزبير فكان يرفع يديه إذا افتتح الصلاة وإذا ركع وإذا رفع رأسه من الركوع فسألته فقال عبدالله بن الزبير: صليت خلف أبى بكر الصديق رضى الله عنه فكان يرفع يديه إذا افتتح الصلاة وإذا ركع وإذا رفع رأسه من الركوع وقال أبو بكر: صليت خلف رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم فكان يرفع يديه إذا افتتح الصلاة وإذا ركع وإذا رفع رأسه من الركوع

Translation:

ʿAṭāʾ ibn Abī Rabāḥ رحمه الله said: I prayed behind ʿAbdullāh ibn al-Zubayr رضي الله عنه, and he would raise his hands when beginning the prayer, before rukūʿ, and after rising from rukūʿ. I asked him about this, so ʿAbdullāh ibn al-Zubayr رضي الله عنه said: I prayed behind Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq رضي الله عنه, and he would raise his hands when beginning the prayer, before rukūʿ, and after rising from rukūʿ. And Abū Bakr رضي الله عنه said: I prayed behind the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and he would raise his hands when beginning the prayer, before rukūʿ, and after rising from rukūʿ.

Imām al-Bayhaqī, Ḥāfiẓ al-Dhahabī, and Ibn Ḥajar stated that the narrators of this report are trustworthy.

Reference: al-Sunan al-Kubrā (al-Bayhaqī): 2/73 — “Its narrators are trustworthy”

Reference: al-Muhadhdhab fī Ikhtiṣār al-Sunan al-Kabīr (al-Dhahabī): 2/49, ḥadīth 1943 — “Its narrators are trustworthy”

Reference: Talkhīṣ al-Ḥabīr (Ibn Ḥajar): 1/219, ḥadīth 328 — “Its narrators are trustworthy”

◈ Authentication of the Chain (Detailed Discussion)​

Regarding Abū ʿAbdullāh Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdullāh al-Ṣaffār al-Zāhid, Ḥāfiẓ al-Dhahabī said:

الشيخ الإمام المحدث القدوة
“He was the shaykh, the Imām, the ḥadīth scholar, and a role model.”

Reference: Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ: 15/437

Al-Bayhaqī and others declared him thiqah. Al-Ḥākim and al-Dhahabī authenticated his narration, declaring it ṣaḥīḥ according to the criteria of the two Shaykhs.

Reference: al-Mustadrak: 1/30, ḥadīth 82

His biographical details are mentioned in the following works:

Reference: Akhbār Aṣbahān: 2/271

Reference: al-Ansāb: 3/546

Reference: al-Intiẓām: 6/368

Reference: al-ʿIbar: 2/250

He heard al-Musnad al-Kabīr directly from Imām ʿAbdullāh ibn Imām Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal.

Reference: Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ: 15/437

Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdullāh al-Ṣaffār heard ḥadīth from Abū Ismāʿīl al-Sulamī.

Reference: al-Mustadrak: 1/117, ḥadīth 403

He was not a mudallis, therefore his use of ʿanʿanah is regarded as connected.

Reference: Ḥāshiyat Jalāʾ al-ʿAynayn, Takhrīj Riwayāt Juzʾ Rafʿ al-Yadayn: p. 8 — Shaykh Fayḍ al-Raḥmān al-Shūrā

Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl Abū Ismāʿīl al-Sulamī was thiqah.

Reference: Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ: 13/242

He was declared trustworthy by al-Nasāʾī, al-Dāraquṭnī, al-Ḥākim, Abū Bakr al-Khallāl, Ibn Ḥibbān, and others.

Reference: Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb: 9/53–54

The statement of Ibn Abī Ḥātim, “They spoke about him,” is rejected for several reasons:

● It contradicts the majority who declared him trustworthy.
● It is an unexplained criticism (jarḥ ghayr mufassar).
● The critic is unknown.

Ḥāfiẓ Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī al-ʿAsqalānī said:

ثقة حافظ لم يتضح كلام ابن أبى حاتم فيه
“He is a trustworthy ḥāfiẓ, and Ibn Abī Ḥātim’s statement regarding him is unclear.”

Reference: Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb: no. 5738

Abū al-Nuʿmān Muḥammad ibn al-Faḍl ʿĀrim is a central narrator of the Kutub al-Sittah. He was declared thiqah by Abū Ḥātim and others.
Ḥāfiẓ al-Dhahabī said: “al-Ḥāfiẓ, al-Thabt, the Imām.”

Reference: Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ: 10/265

It is established that he experienced some change at the end of his life.

Reference: Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb: no. 6236

Reference: Hady al-Sārī: p. 441

Reference: al-Jarḥ wa al-Taʿdīl: 8/59

However, Ḥāfiẓ al-Dhahabī decisively clarified:

تغير قبل موته فما حدث
“He experienced change before his death, but he did not narrate any ḥadīth during that state.”

Reference: al-Kāshif: 3/79, no. 1597

Moreover, the narrator Abū Ismāʿīl al-Sulamī prayed behind him. One whose intellect has vanished is not prayed behind except by one whose intellect has also vanished. Hence, this narration is from before the period of confusion and is completely authentic.

✔ Therefore, this narration is ṣaḥīḥ beyond doubt. And Allah knows best.