Source: Fatāwā Amaanpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amaanpuri
Is it authentically reported that Sayyidunā ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (رضي الله عنه) abandoned raising the hands (Raf‘ al-Yadayn) after the opening takbīr?
It is narrated from al-Aswad al-Tābiʿī (رحمه الله):
“I saw ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (رضي الله عنه) raise his hands at the first takbīr, then he did not repeat it.”
(Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah: 1/237; Sharḥ Maʿānī al-Āthār by al-Ṭaḥāwī: 1/227)
This narration is weak. Its problem lies in Ibrāhīm al-Nakhaʿī (رحمه الله) who is a mudallis, and no explicit statement of hearing (sīmāʿ) is proven here. Thus, it is unacceptable.
Furthermore, even those who try to use this narration as proof contradict themselves — since they themselves practice Raf‘ al-Yadayn in Qunūt al-Witr and in the takbīrs of ʿĪd prayers. Why this inconsistency?
❀ Imām al-Ḥākim (رحمه الله) said:
“This is a shādh (anomalous) narration; it cannot be taken as evidence.”
(al-Khilāfiyyāt by al-Bayhaqī, under ḥadīth 1748)
Question:
Is it authentically reported that Sayyidunā ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (رضي الله عنه) abandoned raising the hands (Raf‘ al-Yadayn) after the opening takbīr?
Answer:
It is narrated from al-Aswad al-Tābiʿī (رحمه الله):
“I saw ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (رضي الله عنه) raise his hands at the first takbīr, then he did not repeat it.”
(Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah: 1/237; Sharḥ Maʿānī al-Āthār by al-Ṭaḥāwī: 1/227)
This narration is weak. Its problem lies in Ibrāhīm al-Nakhaʿī (رحمه الله) who is a mudallis, and no explicit statement of hearing (sīmāʿ) is proven here. Thus, it is unacceptable.
Furthermore, even those who try to use this narration as proof contradict themselves — since they themselves practice Raf‘ al-Yadayn in Qunūt al-Witr and in the takbīrs of ʿĪd prayers. Why this inconsistency?
❀ Imām al-Ḥākim (رحمه الله) said:
“This is a shādh (anomalous) narration; it cannot be taken as evidence.”
(al-Khilāfiyyāt by al-Bayhaqī, under ḥadīth 1748)
