✦ Critical Analysis of the Narration Claiming Ibn ʿUmar Abandoned Rafʿ al-Yadayn
Source: Fatāwā ʿIlmiyyah, Volume 1, Kitāb al-Ṣalāh, Page 348
❖ The Question
A narration is often cited from Sunan al-Bayhaqī, claiming that ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar رضي الله عنهما did not raise his hands before and after Rukūʿ.
Is this narration authentic?
❖ Scholarly Response
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu was-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, Ammā Baʿd:
There is no authentic narration establishing that ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar رضي الله عنهما abandoned Rafʿ al-Yadayn before and after Rukūʿ.
✦ Evidence From Authentic Sources
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī clearly proves that Ibn ʿUmar himself used to perform Rafʿ al-Yadayn:“Ibn ʿUmar used to raise his hands at the start of the prayer, before Rukūʿ, and after rising from it.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, 1/102, Ḥadīth 739)
This narration is among the most authentic and widely transmitted (mutawātir) on the subject.
✦ Analysis of the Contradictory Report
The narration claiming he did not perform Rafʿ al-Yadayn is based on a report of Abū Bakr ibn ʿAyyāsh, which is flawed and defective (muʿallal).
❖ Scholarly Criticism:
➊ Imām Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal رحمه الله:
“This narration is bāṭil (false).”
(Masāʾil Aḥmad, narration of Ibn Hānī, Vol. –, p. 50)
➋ Imām Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn رحمه الله:
“This is a wahm (mistake) from Abū Bakr ibn ʿAyyāsh, and has **no basis (lā aṣl lahu).”
(Juzʾ Rafʿ al-Yadayn, p. 56)
Conclusion
There is no reliable evidence from the Prophet ﷺ or from Ibn ʿUmar that he abandoned Rafʿ al-Yadayn.
On the contrary, Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī and other authentic sources confirm his consistent practice of raising the hands:
◈ At the beginning of prayer
◈ Before Rukūʿ
◈ After rising from Rukūʿ
The narration in Sunan al-Bayhaqī — attributed to Ibn ʿUmar about not raising hands — is weak and unacceptable, having been rejected by leading imāms of ḥadīth.
(Shahādat: December 2001)
ھٰذَا مَا عِندِي، وَاللّٰهُ أَعْلَمُ بِالصَّوَاب
