Rafʿ al-Yadayn Before and After Ruku Proven by Sunnah

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

Consensus on Rafʿ al-Yadayn and Its Proof from Authentic Aḥādīth​

There is unanimous agreement that raising the hands (Rafʿ al-Yadayn) in the opening takbīr (Takbīr al-Taḥrīmah) is Sunnah and, linguistically, mustaḥabb.
Raising the hands before rukūʿ and after rukūʿ is established from the following authentic aḥādīth:

① Ḥadīth of ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar رضي الله عنهما​

رأيت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم إذا قام فى الصلوة رفع يديه حتى تكونا حذو منكبيه، وكان يفعل ذلك حين يكبر للركوع ويفعل ذلك إذا رفع رأسه من الركوع ويقول: سمع الله لمن حمده ولا يفعل ذلك فى السجود

“I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: when he stood for prayer (for the opening takbīr), he raised his hands until they were level with his shoulders. He would do the same when pronouncing the takbīr for rukūʿ, and he would do the same when raising his head from rukūʿ, saying: Samiʿa Allāhu liman ḥamidah. He did not raise his hands in the prostrations.”

Reference: al-Bukhārī: 736

Reference: Muslim: 390

Reference: Dār al-Salām numbering: 861–863

② Ḥadīth of Abū Qilābah رحمه الله​

He narrates that:

أنه رأى مالك بن الحويرث إذا صلى كبر ثم رفع يديه وإذا أراد أن يركع رفع يديه وإذا رفع رأسه من الركوع رفع يديه وحدث أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم كان يفعل هكذا

“He saw Mālik ibn al-Ḥuwayrith رضي الله عنه: when he prayed, he said the takbīr and then raised his hands; when he intended to bow, he raised his hands; and when he raised his head from rukūʿ, he raised his hands. He narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to do exactly the same.”

Reference: Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 391

Reference: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 737

③ Ḥadīth of Wāʾil ibn Ḥujr رضي الله عنه​

He saw the Prophet ﷺ: when he entered the prayer, he pronounced the takbīr and raised his hands (up to the ears), then placed his right hand over his left and wrapped his garment. When he intended rukūʿ, he took his hands out from the garment and raised them, then said the takbīr and bowed. When he said Samiʿa Allāhu liman ḥamidah, he raised his hands; then when he prostrated, he prostrated between his two palms.

Reference: Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 401

④ Summary of the Ḥadīth of Abū Ḥumayd al-Sāʿidī رضي الله عنه​

The summary of his narration is that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ raised his hands:

◈ At the beginning of prayer
◈ Before rukūʿ
◈ After rukūʿ
◈ And when standing up after two rakʿahs

Other Companions confirmed this ḥadīth.

Reference: Sunan Abī Dāwūd: 730

(Its chain is ṣaḥīḥ)

Other Companions Who Narrated Rafʿ al-Yadayn Before and After Rukūʿ​

◈ ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib رضي الله عنه

Reference: Juzʾ Rafʿ al-Yadayn (al-Bukhārī)

(chain ḥasan)

Reference: Abū Dāwūd: 744, 761

Reference: al-Tirmidhī: 3423 – “Ḥasan Ṣaḥīḥ”

Reference: Ibn Mājah: 864

Reference: Ibn Khuzaymah: 584

Reference: Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal

The narrator ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī al-Zinād is ḥasan al-ḥadīth.

Reference: Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ: 8/168–170

◈ Abū Hurayrah رضي الله عنه

Reference: Ibn Khuzaymah: 694–695

(chain ḥasan)

◈ Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī رضي الله عنه

Reference: al-Dāraquṭnī: 1/292, ḥadīth 1111

(chain ṣaḥīḥ)

◈ Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq رضي الله عنه

Reference: al-Bayhaqī, al-Sunan al-Kubrā: 2/73

(narrators trustworthy, chain ṣaḥīḥ)

◈ Jābir ibn ʿAbdullāh al-Anṣārī رضي الله عنه

Reference: Musnad al-Sirāj (manuscript) p. 52; printed ḥadīth 92

(chain ḥasan)

Reference: Ibn Mājah: 828

◈ Abū Qatādah رضي الله عنه

Reference: Abū Dāwūd: 730

(chain ṣaḥīḥ)

Conclusion from the Aḥādīth​

It is established that the narration of raising the hands before and after rukūʿ is mutawātir.

Reference: Naẓm al-Mutanāthir fī al-Ḥadīth al-Mutawātir: pp. 31–32

Practice of the Companions After the Prophet’s ﷺ Death​

After the death of the Prophet ﷺ, the following Companions continued to practice Rafʿ al-Yadayn before and after rukūʿ without any objection:

① ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar رضي الله عنهما

Reference: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 739

② Mālik ibn al-Ḥuwayrith رضي الله عنه

Reference: al-Bukhārī: 873

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Reference: Muslim: 391

③ Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī رضي الله عنه

Reference: al-Dāraquṭnī: 1/292

④ Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq رضي الله عنه

Reference: al-Bayhaqī: 2/73

⑤ ʿAbdullāh ibn al-Zubayr رضي الله عنهما

Reference: al-Bayhaqī: 2/73

⑥ ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهما

Reference: ʿAbd al-Razzāq: 2/69, ḥadīth 2523

Reference: Ibn Abī Shaybah: 335

(chain ḥasan)

⑦ Anas ibn Mālik رضي الله عنه

Reference: Juzʾ Rafʿ al-Yadayn: 20

(chain ṣaḥīḥ)

⑧ Jābir رضي الله عنه

Reference: Musnad al-Sirāj (manuscript) p. 25

(chain ḥasan)

⑨ Abū Hurayrah رضي الله عنه

Reference: Juzʾ Rafʿ al-Yadayn: 22

(chain ṣaḥīḥ)

⑩ ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb رضي الله عنه

Reference: al-Khilāfiyyāt by al-Bayhaqī

(chain ḥasan)

Statement of the Tābiʿī Imām Saʿīd ibn Jubayr رحمه الله​

He said:

The Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to raise their hands at the beginning of prayer, at rukūʿ, and after raising the head from rukūʿ.

Reference: al-Bayhaqī, al-Sunan al-Kubrā: 2/75

(chain ṣaḥīḥ)

No Authentic Evidence for Abandoning Rafʿ al-Yadayn​

Against these narrations and practices of the Companions, it is not established with any ṣaḥīḥ or ḥasan chain that any Companion abandoned raising the hands before or after rukūʿ.

Statement of Imām al-Bukhārī رحمه الله​

“Not a single Companion is proven to have abandoned Rafʿ al-Yadayn.”

Reference: Juzʾ Rafʿ al-Yadayn: 77

Reference: al-Majmūʿ Sharḥ al-Muhadhdhab (al-Nawawī): 3/405

Final Conclusion​

It is clearly established that there is consensus of the Companions on the practice of Rafʿ al-Yadayn.
If it had been abandoned or abrogated, the Companions would not have unanimously practiced it. Their agreement proves that the claim of abandonment or abrogation is completely false.

A detailed refutation of the doubts raised by the opponents of Rafʿ al-Yadayn will follow, in shāʾ Allāh.

Virtue of Gestures in Prayer​

ʿUqbah ibn ʿĀmir رضي الله عنه said:

A person receives one good deed or rank for every Sunnah gesture made in prayer (for every finger).

Reference: al-Ṭabarānī, al-Muʿjam al-Kabīr: 17/297, ḥadīth 819

(chain ḥasan)

This report is ḥukman marfūʿ, and it is also narrated explicitly as marfūʿ.
See:

Reference: al-Silsilah al-Ṣaḥīḥah: 7/848, ḥadīth 3286

Imām Isḥāq ibn Rāhawayh used this narration to prove that ten good deeds are granted for each raising of the hands before and after rukūʿ.

Reference: Maʿrifat al-Sunan wa al-Āthār (al-Bayhaqī, manuscript): 1/225

Imām Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal رحمه الله also used this narration as evidence for Rafʿ al-Yadayn in prayer.

Reference: Masāʾil Aḥmad (narration of ʿAbdullāh ibn Aḥmad): 1/237

Reference: Talkhīṣ al-Ḥabīr: 1/220