Ḥadīth: Raising Hands While Supplicating and Acceptance of Duʿāʾ – Authentication of Chain and Critical Analysis
Source: Fatāwā ʿIlmiyyah, Vol. 1 – Principles, Takhrīj, and Authentication of Narrations – p. 599
❖ The Original Ḥadīth
"ما رفع قوم أَكُفَّهم إلى الله – عز وجل – يسألونه شيئاً إلا كان على الله حقاً أن يضع في أيديهم الذي سألوا"
Translation:
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
"Whenever a group of people raises their palms to Allah – the Mighty and Majestic – asking Him for something, it becomes incumbent upon Allah to place in their hands that which they asked for, meaning Allah accepts their supplication."
(al-Muʿjam al-Kabīr, 6/254, ḥadīth no. 6142)
❖ Takhrīj of the Ḥadīth
Imām Abū al-Qāsim al-Ṭabarānī (d. 360 AH) recorded this narration as follows:
"حدثنا يعقوب بن مجاهد البصري، ثنا المنذر بن الوليد الجارودي، ثنا أبي، ثنا شداد أبو طلحة الراسبي، عن الجريري، عن أبي عثمان، عن سلمان رضي الله عنه قال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: ما رفع قوم أَكُفَّهم إلى الله – عز وجل – يسألونه شيئاً إلا كان على الله حقاً أن يضع في أيديهم الذي سألوا"
(al-Muʿjam al-Kabīr, vol. 6, p. 254, ḥadīth 6142)
❖ Analysis of the Chain
This narration is ḍaʿīf (weak) due to the following reasons:
① Yaʿqūb ibn Mujāhid al-Baṣrī – His condition is unknown (majhūl al-ḥāl). No clear statement of tawthīq or jarḥ is found.
– Important: He is not Yaʿqūb ibn Mujāhid Abū Ḥarzah al-Madanī al-Qurashī (who died around 150 AH, long before Ṭabarānī’s time). Hence, the narrator here is an unidentified individual.
② Saʿīd ibn Iyyās al-Jurayrī – Although generally reliable, he suffered from ikhtilāṭ (confusion/weak memory) in his later life.
– (al-Kawākib al-Nayyirāt fī Maʿrifat man Ikhtalaṭ min al-Ruwāt al-Thiqāt, pp. 35–37)
③ Shaddād ibn Saʿīd – It is not established whether he narrated from al-Jurayrī before or after his ikhtilāṭ. If after, the narration is considered weak.
❖ Conclusion
Due to two major defects:
➊ The narrator Yaʿqūb ibn Mujāhid al-Baṣrī being majhūl (unknown).
➋ The possibility of al-Jurayrī’s narration being post-ikhtilāṭ.
This narration is considered ḍaʿīf (weak) and therefore unreliable for deriving rulings.
Certification: April 2001
ھذا ما عندي، واللہ أعلم بالصواب