Practice of Raf' al-Yadayn Among the Tabi'in and Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz

This excerpt is taken from the book Nūr al-ʿAynayn fī Ithbāt Rafʿ al-Yadayn ʿInd al-Rukūʿ wa Baʿdahū fī al-Ṣalāh by the Muḥaddith of the era, Ḥāfiẓ Zubair ʿAlī Zaʾī رحمه الله.

Reports of the Tābiʿīn رحمهم الله أجمعين​

The real proof and evidence are the Qur’an, Ḥadīth, and consensus (ijmāʿ).
The reports of the Tābiʿīn are presented only to demonstrate that during the best generations, the Sunnah of Rafʿ al-Yadayn was continuously practiced without any interruption. Therefore, the claim of abrogation (naskh) is false.

With authentic chains, it is established that the following Tābiʿīn either performed Rafʿ al-Yadayn before and after rukūʿ or affirmed it:

➊ Abū Qilābah

Reference: Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah 1/235, Ḥadīth 2437 (Isnād Ṣaḥīḥ); Juzʾ Rafʿ al-Yadayn: 55

➋ Muḥammad bin Sīrīn

Reference: Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah 1/235, Ḥadīth 2436 (Isnād Ṣaḥīḥ); al-Bayhaqī in al-Khilāfiyyāt p.104 (manuscript, Isnād Ṣaḥīḥ)

➌ Wahb bin Munabbih

Reference: Muṣannaf ʿAbd al-Razzāq 2/69, Ḥadīth 2524; al-Tamhīd 9/228 — ʿAbd al-Razzāq explicitly stated hearing, so the chain is authentic

➍ Sālim bin ʿAbdullāh
➎ al-Qāsim bin Muḥammad
➏ ʿAṭāʾ

➐ Makḥūl

Reference: Juzʾ Rafʿ al-Yadayn: 62 (Isnād Ḥasan)

➑ Nuʿmān bin Abī ʿAyyāsh

Reference: Juzʾ Rafʿ al-Yadayn: 59 (Isnād Ḥasan)

➒ Ṭāwūs, the student of Ibn ʿAbbās

Reference: Musnad Aḥmad 2/44, Ḥadīth 50336 (Isnād Ṣaḥīḥ)

➓ al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī

Reference: Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah 1/235, Ḥadīth 2435 (Isnād Ṣaḥīḥ; with supporting evidences)

تلك عشرة كاملة
“These are ten complete.”

ʿUmar bin ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz رحمه الله and Rafʿ al-Yadayn​

Imām al-Bukhārī said in Juzʾ Rafʿ al-Yadayn:

حدثنا محمد بن يوسف، ثنا عبد الأعلى بن مسهر، ثنا عبدالله بن العلاء بن زبر، ثنا عمرو بن المهاجر قال: كان عبدالله بن عامر ليسألني أن أستأذن له على عمر بن عبدالعزيز، فاستأذنت له عليه، فقال: الذي جلد أخاه في أن يرفع يديه؟ إن كنا لنؤدب عليه ونحن غلمان بالمدينة، فلم يأذن له.

ʿAmr bin al-Muhājir said:
“ʿAbdullāh bin ʿĀmir used to ask me to seek permission for him to meet ʿUmar bin ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz. When I mentioned him to ʿUmar bin ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, he said: ‘Is this the same ʿAbdullāh bin ʿĀmir who beat his brother for raising his hands? We were taught Rafʿ al-Yadayn when we were boys in Madinah.’ So ʿUmar bin ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz did not grant him permission to enter.”

Reference: Juzʾ Rafʿ al-Yadayn (manuscript p.6; printed edition p.17); al-Tamhīd 9/218

Its chain is authentic.

➊ Muḥammad bin Yūsuf (al-Bukhārī, Abū Aḥmad al-Bīkandī) — trustworthy

Reference: al-Taqrīb: 6417

➋ ʿAbd al-Aʿlā bin Mushir — trustworthy and virtuous

Reference: Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb: 3738

➌ ʿAbdullāh bin al-ʿAlāʾ bin Zabr — trustworthy

Reference: al-Taqrīb: 3521

➍ ʿAmr bin al-Muhājir — trustworthy

Reference: al-Taqrīb: 5120

Thus, this chain is completely authentic.

In the narration of Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr, it is mentioned that ʿUmar bin ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz said:

سالم قد حفظ عن أبيه

“Sālim preserved (this practice) from his father (ʿAbdullāh bin ʿUmar رضي الله عنهما).”

Reference: al-Tamhīd 9/219 (Isnād Ṣaḥīḥ)

Conclusion​

It becomes clear that ʿUmar bin ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz رحمه الله, who was a renowned Tābiʿī and a just Caliph, was not only a believer in Rafʿ al-Yadayn but also a practitioner of it. In fact, he would not even tolerate meeting a person who forbade it.

This is the true spirit of obedience to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.

اللهم صل وسلم على محمد وآله وأزواجه وأصحابه أجمعين، آمين