✍ Compiled by: Abu Hamzah Salafi
Explanation of Imām al-Bukhārī رحمه الله and the Early Muhaddithīn
① Imām al-Bukhārī (d. 256 AH):② Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī (d. 852 AH):
③ Imām Ibn Ḥibbān (d. 354 AH):
④ Imām Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr al-Mālikī (d. 463 AH):
⑤ Imām al-Nawawī al-Shāfiʿī (d. 676 AH):
⑥ Ibn Sayyid al-Nās (d. 734 AH):
⑦ Ibn al-Mulaqqin al-Miṣrī (d. 804 AH):
⑧ Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī (d. 852 AH):
⑨ Ibn Abī al-ʿIzz al-Ḥanafī (d. 793 AH):
⑩ Ibn al-Jawzī (d. 597 AH):
⑪ Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 728 AH):
⑫ Imām al-Qurṭubī (d. 656 AH):
⑬ Mughlatāy al-Ḥanafī (d. 762 AH):
⑭ Imām al-Ṭaḥāwī (d. 321 AH):
⑮ Imām Abū Dāwūd (d. 275 AH):
⑯ Imām al-Nasā’ī (d. 303 AH):
⑰ Imām Ibn Khuzaymah (d. 311 AH):
⑱ Imām ʿAbd al-Razzāq al-Ṣanʿānī (d. 211 AH):
⑲ Imām Abū ʿAwānah al-Isfarāyīnī (d. 316 AH):
⑳ Imām al-Bayhaqī (d. 458 AH):
㉑ Imām al-Shāfiʿī (d. 204 AH):
㉒ Imām al-Baghawī (d. 516 AH):
㉓ Imām Abū Nuʿaym al-Aṣbahānī (d. 430 AH):
㉔ Imām Ibn Abī Shaybah (d. 235 AH):
㉕ Imām Ibn Rajab al-Ḥanbalī (d. 795 AH):
㉖ Imām al-Muttaqī al-Hindī (d. 975 AH):
㉗ Imām ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq al-Ishbīlī (d. 581 AH):
㉘ Imām Ibn Ḥazm al-Andalusī (d. 456 AH):
㉙ Imām Muḥammad bin al-Ḥasan al-Shaybānī (d. 189 AH):
㉚ Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ (d. 544 AH):
㉛ Imām Nūr al-Dīn al-Sindī al-Ḥanafī (d. 1138 AH):
㉜ Senior Deoband Scholars (Maḥmūd al-Ḥasan, Taqī ʿUthmānī, Ashraf ʿAlī Thānvī, ʿĀbid Sindhī):
The Famous Narration of Jābir bin Samurah رضي الله عنه
The well-known narration of Ḥaḍrat Jābir bin Samurah رضي الله عنه contains the words:
«كَأَنَّهَا أَذْنَابُ خَيْلٍ شُمْسٍ»
Meaning: “As if they were the tails of restless (unruly) horses.”
Some Kūfan jurists (especially some Ḥanafīs) presented this narration as evidence for negating rafʿ al-yadayn before and after rukūʿ. However, this is entirely an incorrect inference.
In this article, the following matters will be clarified:
① The majority of the Muhaddithīn declared this narration to be related to gesturing with the hands at the time of salām after tashahhud, not to rafʿ al-yadayn in rukūʿ.
② Nearly 30 Muhaddithīn and 5 scholars from the Ḥanafīs agreed that this ḥadīth relates only to hand movement at the time of salām.
③ Whoever derives from it the negation of rafʿ al-yadayn in rukūʿ or qiyām displays absolute ignorance.
④ The statements of the Muhaddithīn will be quoted in original Arabic, along with their Urdu translations, so that the matter becomes fully clear.
Explanation of Imām al-Bukhārī رحمه الله and the Early Muhaddithīn
① Imām al-Bukhārī (d. 256 AH)
النص:…دخل علينا النبي ﷺ ونحن رافعو أيدينا في الصلاة فقال: ما لي أراكم رافعي أيديكم كأنها أذناب خيل شمس؟ اسكنوا في الصلاة، فإنما كان هذا في التشهد لا في القيام…
(قرة العينين برفع اليدين في الصلاة، ص 35)
Translation:
The Prophet ﷺ came to us while we were raising our hands in prayer. He ﷺ said:
“What is the matter with me that I see you raising your hands as if they were the tails of restless horses? Be calm in prayer. This matter was only in tashahhud (at the time of salām), not in qiyām.”
➥ Imām al-Bukhārī’s explicit clarification:
◈ This ḥadīth is only about gesturing with the hands at the time of salām in tashahhud.
◈ It is not meant as a prohibition of rafʿ al-yadayn in rukūʿ or qiyām.
◈ If it truly meant a prohibition of rafʿ al-yadayn, then the opening takbīr and the takbīrāt of ʿĪdayn would also fall under it, since no exception is mentioned.
② Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī (d. 852 AH)
Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar رحمه الله نقل Imam al-Bukhārī’s statement with a decisive wording and relied upon it.(فتح الباري 2/224)
③ Imām Ibn Ḥibbān (d. 354 AH)
النص:…إنما أُمروا بالسكون عند الإشارة بالتسليم دون رفع اليدين عند الركوع…
(صحيح ابن حبان، رقم 1879)
Translation:
Ibn Ḥibbān رحمه الله stated:
In this narration, the command to be calm in prayer was given when people were gesturing with their hands at the time of salām, not regarding rafʿ al-yadayn in rukūʿ.
④ Imām Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr al-Mālikī (d. 463 AH)
النص:…وَهَذَا لَا حُجَّةَ فِيهِ لِأَنَّ الَّذِي نَهَاهُمْ عَنْهُ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ غَيْرُ الَّذِي كَانَ يَفْعَلُهُ، لِأَنَّهُ مُحَالٌ أَنْ يَنْهَاهُمْ عَمَّا سَنَّ لَهُمْ، وَإِنَّمَا رَأَى أَقْوَامًا يَعْبَثُونَ بِأَيْدِيهِمْ فَنَهَاهُمْ عَنْ ذَلِكَ…
(التمهيد لما في الموطأ من المعاني والأسانيد)
Translation:
Some later Kūfans used this ḥadīth as proof for abandoning rafʿ al-yadayn, but this inference is false. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade them from an act that he ﷺ himself did not do—because it is impossible that he ﷺ would forbid them from something he ﷺ established as Sunnah. Rather, he ﷺ saw people playing with their hands and raising them out of place, so he ﷺ prohibited that.
⑤ Imām al-Nawawī al-Shāfiʿī (d. 676 AH)
النص:…وَأَمَّا حَدِيثُ جَابِرِ بْنِ سَمُرَةَ فَاحْتِجَاجُهُمْ بِهِ مِنْ أَعْجَبِ الْأَشْيَاءِ وَأَقْبَحِ أَنْوَاعِ الْجَهَالَةِ… لِأَنَّهُ إِنَّمَا وَرَدَ فِي السَّلَامِ لَا فِي الرُّكُوعِ وَالرَّفْعِ مِنْهُ…
(المجموع شرح المهذب)
Translation:
As for the ḥadīth of Jābir bin Samurah رضي الله عنه, their using it as evidence is among the strangest matters and one of the ugliest forms of ignorance regarding the Sunnah—because it only concerns salām, not rukūʿ or rising from it.
⑥ Ibn Sayyid al-Nās (d. 734 AH)
النص:…وأما حديث جابر بن سمرة فلا تعلق له برفع اليدين في التكبير، ولكنه ذكر للرد على قوم كانوا يرفعون أيديهم في حالة السلام…
(النفح الشذي في شرح جامع الترمذي)
Translation:
The ḥadīth of Jābir bin Samurah رضي الله عنه has no connection with raising the hands at takbīr. Rather, it is mentioned to الرد upon those people who raised their hands in the state of salām.
⑦ Ibn al-Mulaqqin al-Miṣrī (d. 804 AH)
النص:…فجعْله مُعَارضا لما قدمْنَاهُ من أقبح الجهالات… وإنما كانوا يرفعون أيديهم في حالة السلام من الصلاة…
(البدر المنير في تخريج الأحاديث والأثار)
Translation:
Presenting this ḥadīth as evidence against rafʿ al-yadayn is among the ugliest forms of ignorance. It only concerns raising hands at the time of salām, not rafʿ al-yadayn in rukūʿ.
⑧ Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī (d. 852 AH)
النص:ولا دليل فيه على منع الرفع على الهيئة المخصوصة في الموضع المخصوص، وهو الركوع والرفع منه، لأنه مختصر من حديث طويل.
(التلخيص الحبير 1/224)
Translation:
There is no evidence in it for prohibiting raising the hands in the specific manner at the specific place—namely rukūʿ and rising from it—because it is an abridgment of a longer ḥadīth.
⑨ Ibn Abī al-ʿIzz al-Ḥanafī (d. 793 AH)
النص:…فإن الأمر بالسكون ليس المراد منه ترك الحركة في الصلاة مطلقًا، بل الحركة المنافية للصلاة… فعُلم أن المراد منه الإشارة بالسلام باليد.
(التنبيه على مشكلات الهداية)
Translation:
The command for calmness does not mean abandoning all movement in prayer absolutely; rather, it refers to movement that contradicts the prayer. Rukūʿ, sujūd, and the takbīrāt are themselves legislated. Thus it is clear that what is meant here is only gesturing with the hand at salām.
⑩ Ibn al-Jawzī (d. 597 AH)
النص:…وقد احتج بعض أصحاب أبي حنيفة بهذا الحديث في منعهم رفع اليدين في الركوع وعند الرفع منه، وليس لهم فيه حجة؛ لأنه قد روي مفسرًا…
(كشف المشكل من حديث الصحيحين)
Translation:
Some followers of Abū Ḥanīfah used this ḥadīth to prohibit raising the hands in rukūʿ and when rising from it, but they have no proof in it—because it is narrated in other routes with explicit clarification that it was about gesturing by the hand at the time of salām.
⑪ Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 728 AH)
النص:…ومن ظن أن نهيه عن رفع الأيدي هو النهي عن رفعها حين الركوع وحين الرفع منه وحمله على ذلك فقد غلط.
(مجموع الفتاوى 22/453)
Translation:
Whoever thinks that the prohibition of raising the hands here is the prohibition of raising them at rukūʿ and when rising from it—and interprets it that way—has made a mistake.
⑫ Imām al-Qurṭubī (d. 656 AH)
النص:…كانوا يشيرون عند السلام من الصلاة بأيديهم يمينًا وشمالًا، وتشبيه أيديهم بأذناب الخيل الشُّمس تشبيه واقع؛ فإنها تحرك أذنابها يمينًا وشمالًا، فلما رآهم على تلك الحالة أمرهم بالسكون في الصلاة…
(المفهم لما أشكل من تلخيص كتاب مسلم 2/404)
Translation:
The Companions رضي الله عنهم used to gesture with their hands to the right and left at the time of salām. The resemblance to the tails of restless horses is accurate, because those horses move their tails right and left. So when he ﷺ saw them in that state, he ﷺ commanded them to remain calm in prayer. This is not related to rafʿ al-yadayn in rukūʿ.
⑬ Mughlatāy al-Ḥanafī (d. 762 AH)
النص:…وأما استدلال بعض الحنفية بحديث جابر بن سمرة… فليس بصحيح؛ لأنهم إنما كان ذلك حالة السلام كما ذكره البخاري وغيره.
(شرح سنن ابن ماجه)
Translation:
The inference of some Ḥanafīs from the ḥadīth of Jābir bin Samurah رضي الله عنه is not correct, because it only occurred at the time of salām, as stated by al-Bukhārī and others.
⑭ Imām al-Ṭaḥāwī (d. 321 AH)
النص:…أما يكفي أحدكم إذا جلس في الصلاة أن يضع يده على فخذه ويشير بأصبعه ويقول السلام عليكم؟…
(شرح معاني الآثار 1/1603)
Translation:
Is it not sufficient for one of you—when sitting in prayer—to place his hand on his thigh and gesture only with his finger while saying: “as-salāmu ʿalaykum”? (Meaning: do not wave the hand; rather just say the salām.)
⑮ Imām Abū Dāwūd (d. 275 AH)
باب في السلامالنص:
…فقال: ما بال أحدكم يومي بيده كأنها أذناب خيل شمس؟ إنما يكفي أحدكم…
(سنن أبي داود، رقم 998)
Translation:
He ﷺ said: “Why does one of you gesture with his hand as if it were the tail of a restless horse? It is sufficient for one of you…” (i.e., to give salām with the tongue.)
⑯ Imām al-Nasā’ī (d. 303 AH)
باب السلام بالأيدي في الصلاةالنص:
…فقال: ما بال هؤلاء يسلمون بأيديهم كأنها أذناب خيل شمس؟ أما يكفي أحدهم أن يضع يده على فخذه ثم يقول: السلام عليكم؟…
Reference: Sunan al-Nasā’ī: 1185
Translation:
He ﷺ said: “What is the matter with these people that they give salām with their hands as if they were the tails of restless horses? Is it not sufficient for one of them to place his hand on his thigh and then say: ‘as-salāmu ʿalaykum’?”
⑰ Imām Ibn Khuzaymah (d. 311 AH)
باب الزجر عن الإشارة باليد يمينًا وشمالًا عند السلامالنص:
…فقال رسول الله ﷺ: ما لي أرى أيديكم كأنها أذناب خيل شمس، ليسكن أحدكم في الصلاة…
(صحيح ابن خزيمة، رقم 733)
Translation:
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “What is the matter with me that I see your hands as if they were the tails of restless horses? Let each of you be calm in prayer…” This is evidence for forbidding gesturing with the hands at the time of salām.
⑱ Imām ʿAbd al-Razzāq al-Ṣanʿānī (d. 211 AH)
باب التسليمالنص:
…فقال: ما بال أقوام يلقون أيديهم كأنها أذناب خيل شمس، ألا يكفي أحدكم أن يضع يده على فخذه ثم يسلم على أخيه…
(المصنف لعبدالرزاق، رقم 3135)
Translation:
He ﷺ said: “Why do some people move their hands as if they were the tails of restless horses? Is it not sufficient for one of you to place his hand on his thigh and then give salām to his brother to the right and left?”
⑲ Imām Abū ʿAwānah al-Isfarāyīnī (d. 316 AH)
النص:…مالي أراكم رافعي أيديكم في الصلاة كأنها أذناب خيل شمس، اسكنوا في الصلاة…
(مستخرج أبي عوانة، رقم 1552)
Translation:
He ﷺ said: “What is the matter with me that I see you raising your hands in prayer as if they were the tails of restless horses? Be calm in prayer…”
➥ Abū ʿAwānah used this narration as evidence for the obligation of two salāms.
⑳ Imām al-Bayhaqī (d. 458 AH)
باب كراهية الإيماء باليد عند التسليم من الصلاةالنص:
…فقال رسول الله ﷺ: ما شأنكم تشيرون بأيديكم كأنها أذناب خيل شمس، إذا سلّم أحدكم فليلتفت إلى صاحبه ولا يرمي بيده.
(السنن الكبرى للبيهقي، رقم 2997)
Translation:
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “What is the matter with you that you gesture with your hands as if they were the tails of restless horses? When one of you gives salām, let him turn toward his companion and not throw (wave) his hand.”
㉑ Imām al-Shāfiʿī (d. 204 AH)
النص:…فَنَأْمُرُ كُلَّ مُصَلٍّ أَنْ يُسَلِّمَ تَسْلِيمَتَيْنِ إِمَامًا كَانَ أَوْ مَأْمُومًا أَوْ مُنْفَرِدًا…
(الأم للشافعي)
Translation:
We command every one who prays to give two salāms—whether he is an imām, a follower, or praying alone.
㉒ Imām al-Baghawī (d. 516 AH)
باب التسليم في الصلاةالنص:
…فقال النبي ﷺ: ما بالكم ترمون بأيديكم كأنها أذناب خيل شمس؟ أما يكفي أحدكم أن يضع يده على فخذه ثم يسلم عن يمينه وشماله: السلام عليكم ورحمة الله.
(شرح السنة للبغوي، رقم 699)
Translation:
The Prophet ﷺ said: “Why do you gesture with your hands as if they were the tails of restless horses? Is it not sufficient for one of you to place his hand on his thigh and then give salām to his right and left: ‘as-salāmu ʿalaykum wa raḥmatullāh’?”
㉓ Imām Abū Nuʿaym al-Aṣbahānī (d. 430 AH)
باب الكراهية أن يضرب الرجل بيديه… في الصلاةالنص:
…مالي أراكم رافعي أيديكم كأنها أذناب خيل شمس، اسكنوا في الصلاة.
(المستخرج على صحيح مسلم)
Translation:
He ﷺ said: “What is the matter with me that I see you raising your hands as if they were the tails of restless horses? Be calm in prayer.”
㉔ Imām Ibn Abī Shaybah (d. 235 AH)
باب من كره رفع اليدين في الدعاء في الصلاةالنص:
…فقال: ما لي أراكم رافعي أيديكم كأنها أذناب خيل شمس، اسكنوا في الصلاة.
(المصنف لابن أبي شيبة، رقم 8447)
Translation:
He ﷺ said: “What is the matter with me that I see you raising your hands in prayer as if they were the tails of restless horses? Be calm.”
㉕ Imām Ibn Rajab al-Ḥanbalī (d. 795 AH)
باب من لم يرد السلام على الإمام واكتفى بتسليم الصلاةالنص:
…وإنما يكفي أحدكم أن يضع يده على فخذه ثم يسلم على أخيه عن يمينه وشماله.
(فتح الباري لابن رجب)
Translation:
It is sufficient for one of you to place his hand on his thigh and then give salām to his brother to the right and left.
㉖ Imām al-Muttaqī al-Hindī (d. 975 AH)
باب منع الإشارة باليد وقت السلامالنص:
…ما بال الذين يرمون بأيديهم في الصلاة كأنها أذناب خيل شمس…
(كنز العمال، رقم 19881)
Translation:
He ﷺ said: “What is the matter with those who wave their hands in prayer as if they were the tails of restless horses?”
㉗ Imām ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq al-Ishbīlī (d. 581 AH)
باب كيفية السلام من الصلاة وكم يسلمالنص:
…مالي أراكم رافعي أيديكم كأنها أذناب خيل شمس؟ وإنما يكفي أحدكم أن يضع يده على فخذه ثم يسلم على أخيه…
(الأحكام الشرعية الكبرى)
Translation:
He ﷺ said: “What is the matter with me that I see your hands as if they were the tails of restless horses? It is sufficient for one of you to place his hand on his thigh and then give salām…”
㉘ Imām Ibn Ḥazm al-Andalusī (d. 456 AH)
النص:…مالي أراكم رافعي أيديكم كأنها أذناب خيل شمس؟ اسكنوا في الصلاة…
(المحلّى بالآثار 3/240)
Translation:
He ﷺ said: “What is the matter with me that I see you raising your hands as if they were the tails of restless horses? Be calm in prayer…”
➥ Ibn Ḥazm said: This ḥadīth proves two salāms (right and left), not one.
㉙ Imām Muḥammad bin al-Ḥasan al-Shaybānī (d. 189 AH)
باب التشهد والسلام والصلاة على النبي ﷺالنص:
…ما بال أقوام يؤمّون بأيديهم كأنها أذناب خيل شمس؟ أما يكفي أحدكم أن يضع يده على فخذه ثم يسلم.
(الحجة على أهل المدينة)
Translation:
He ﷺ said: “What is the matter with some people that they gesture with their hands as if they were the tails of restless horses? Is it not sufficient for one of you to place his hand on his thigh and then give salām?”
㉚ Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ (d. 544 AH)
باب الأمر بالسكون في الصلاة والنهي عن الإشارة باليد ورفعها عند السلامالنص:
…مالي أراكم رافعي أيديكم كأنها أذناب خيل شمس؟ اسكنوا في الصلاة…
(إكمال المعلم بفوائد مسلم)
Translation:
He ﷺ said: “Why do I see you raising your hands as if they were the tails of restless horses? Be calm in prayer…”
㉛ Imām Nūr al-Dīn al-Sindī al-Ḥanafī (d. 1138 AH)
حاشية السندي على النسائيالنص:
…وبهذه الرواية تبين أن الحديث مسوق للنهي عن رفع الأيدي عند السلام إشارة إلى الجانبين، ولا دلالة فيه على النهي عن الرفع عند الركوع والرفع منه.
Translation:
From this narration it becomes clear that the ḥadīth is meant to prohibit raising the hands at the time of salām as a gesture to both sides, and there is no evidence in it for prohibiting raising the hands at rukūʿ or rising from it.
㉜ Senior Deoband Scholars
✔ Maḥmūd al-Ḥasan Deobandī: This ḥadīth only concerns the time of salām. (al-Ward al-Shadhī)✔ Taqī ʿUthmānī: Using it to negate rafʿ al-yadayn is weak, because the narration of Ibn al-Qubṭiyyah contains explicit clarification. (Dars Tirmidhī)
✔ Ashraf ʿAlī Thānvī: What is meant is raising the hands at the time of salām.
✔ ʿĀbid Sindhī al-Ḥanafī: Using this ḥadīth as proof for negating rafʿ al-yadayn is not appropriate.
✦ Summary & Conclusion ✦
① The narration of Jābir bin Samurah رضي الله عنه — «كَأَنَّهَا أَذْنَابُ خَيْلٍ شُمُسٍ» — is only related to gesturing with the hands at the time of turning for salām after tashahhud.② Taking this ḥadīth as a prohibition of rafʿ al-yadayn in rukūʿ is ignorance of the Sunnah and مخالفت to the majority of the Muhaddithīn.
③ Around 30 Muhaddithīn (al-Bukhārī, Muslim, Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr, al-Nawawī, Ibn Taymiyyah, al-Bayhaqī, al-Shāfiʿī, Ibn Ḥajar, and others) and even 5 senior Ḥanafī scholars (al-Ṭaḥāwī, Mughlatāy, al-Sindī, Taqī ʿUthmānī, Thānvī) clarified that this ḥadīth has no connection to rafʿ al-yadayn in rukūʿ.
④ Therefore, using this ḥadīth to argue for ترکِ رفع یدین is false reasoning and against the consensus of the majority of scholars.
