(Excerpt adapted from Shaykh Zubair ʿAlī Zaʾī’s book Hudiyyat al-Muslimīn – Namāz ke Aham Masāʾil maʿa Mukammal Namāz Nabawiyyah ﷺ)
From Abū Qilābah:
"He saw Mālik ibn al-Ḥuwayrith رضي الله عنه pray. When he said ‘Allāhu Akbar,’ he would raise his hands; when he intended to go into rukūʿ, he would raise his hands; and when he rose from rukūʿ, he would raise his hands. He then narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ did exactly the same."
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, 1/102, ḥadīth 737 – wording from al-Bukhārī; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, 1/168, ḥadīth 391)
① Proof of Rafʿ al-Yadayn Before and After Rukūʿ
This authentic narration shows that the Prophet ﷺ raised his hands:
② Mutawātir Sunnah
The act of raising hands before and after rukūʿ is mutawātir from the Prophet ﷺ.
(See Qaṭf al-Azhār al-Mutanāthir by al-Suyūṭī, p. 95; Ẓam al-Mutanāthir, p. 96, ḥadīth 67)
③ No Authentic Report of Leaving Rafʿ al-Yadayn
No ṣaḥīḥ report exists proving that the Prophet ﷺ abandoned this practice.
For example, the report in Sunan al-Tirmidhī (1/59, ḥadīth 257 – graded “ḥasan” by him and “ṣaḥīḥ” by Ibn Ḥazm, 1/116, ḥadīth 487, 752) and Sunan Abī Dāwūd etc., is weak due to Sufyān al-Thawrī’s use of ʿan — and he is a known mudallis.
(See: ʿUmdat al-Qārī, 1/223; Ibn al-Turkumānī’s al-Jawhar al-Naqī, 8/262; Sarfarāz Khān Ṣafdār’s K͟hazāʾin al-Sunan, 2/77; etc.)
④ Clarifying the Jābir ibn Samurah Report in Muslim
In Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim (ḥadīth 430), the narration of Jābir ibn Samurah رضي الله عنه has no mention of rafʿ al-yadayn before and after rukūʿ. It actually refers to raising the hands in duʿā during tashahhud, as confirmed by another narration in Muslim and wording in Musnad Aḥmad (5/93, ḥadīth 21166: “while sitting”).
Imām al-Bukhārī in Juzʾ Rafʿ al-Yadayn (ḥadīth 37) and Ibn Ḥajar in al-Talkhīṣ al-Ḥabīr (1/241) affirm that this narration is unrelated to rukūʿ. Even prominent Deobandī scholars (e.g., Muḥammad Taqī ʿUthmānī in Dars-e-Tirmidhī, 4/36) acknowledge it cannot be used against rafʿ al-yadayn.
⑤ Height of Hands
Both raising hands to the shoulders and raising them to the ears are established by authentic aḥādīth. Either method is permissible.
Some people cite the ḥadīth of Mālik ibn al-Ḥuwayrith in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim (1/168, ḥadīth 391) to prove raising up to the ears but deliberately omit the rest of the narration, which also proves rafʿ al-yadayn before and after rukūʿ.
⑥ Practice of the Ṣaḥābah
Rafʿ al-yadayn is established from the Companions. No authentic report exists of them abandoning it.
The claim from Sunan al-Bayhaqī (2/80–81) regarding ʿAlī رضي الله عنه not doing rafʿ al-yadayn is unauthentic, and even on the same page Bayhaqī himself critiques it.
⑦ Fabricated Report via Abū Bakr ibn ʿAyyāsh
The narration from Ibn ʿUmar رضي الله عنهما claiming he left rafʿ al-yadayn is rejected:
Hādhā mā ʿindī, wallāhu aʿlam biṣ-ṣawāb.
Primary Ḥadīth
From Abū Qilābah:
"He saw Mālik ibn al-Ḥuwayrith رضي الله عنه pray. When he said ‘Allāhu Akbar,’ he would raise his hands; when he intended to go into rukūʿ, he would raise his hands; and when he rose from rukūʿ, he would raise his hands. He then narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ did exactly the same."
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, 1/102, ḥadīth 737 – wording from al-Bukhārī; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, 1/168, ḥadīth 391)
Benefits and Rulings
① Proof of Rafʿ al-Yadayn Before and After Rukūʿ
This authentic narration shows that the Prophet ﷺ raised his hands:
- When starting prayer (takbīrat al-iḥrām)
- Before going into rukūʿ
- After rising from rukūʿ
② Mutawātir Sunnah
The act of raising hands before and after rukūʿ is mutawātir from the Prophet ﷺ.
(See Qaṭf al-Azhār al-Mutanāthir by al-Suyūṭī, p. 95; Ẓam al-Mutanāthir, p. 96, ḥadīth 67)
③ No Authentic Report of Leaving Rafʿ al-Yadayn
No ṣaḥīḥ report exists proving that the Prophet ﷺ abandoned this practice.
For example, the report in Sunan al-Tirmidhī (1/59, ḥadīth 257 – graded “ḥasan” by him and “ṣaḥīḥ” by Ibn Ḥazm, 1/116, ḥadīth 487, 752) and Sunan Abī Dāwūd etc., is weak due to Sufyān al-Thawrī’s use of ʿan — and he is a known mudallis.
(See: ʿUmdat al-Qārī, 1/223; Ibn al-Turkumānī’s al-Jawhar al-Naqī, 8/262; Sarfarāz Khān Ṣafdār’s K͟hazāʾin al-Sunan, 2/77; etc.)
④ Clarifying the Jābir ibn Samurah Report in Muslim
In Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim (ḥadīth 430), the narration of Jābir ibn Samurah رضي الله عنه has no mention of rafʿ al-yadayn before and after rukūʿ. It actually refers to raising the hands in duʿā during tashahhud, as confirmed by another narration in Muslim and wording in Musnad Aḥmad (5/93, ḥadīth 21166: “while sitting”).
Imām al-Bukhārī in Juzʾ Rafʿ al-Yadayn (ḥadīth 37) and Ibn Ḥajar in al-Talkhīṣ al-Ḥabīr (1/241) affirm that this narration is unrelated to rukūʿ. Even prominent Deobandī scholars (e.g., Muḥammad Taqī ʿUthmānī in Dars-e-Tirmidhī, 4/36) acknowledge it cannot be used against rafʿ al-yadayn.
⑤ Height of Hands
Both raising hands to the shoulders and raising them to the ears are established by authentic aḥādīth. Either method is permissible.
Some people cite the ḥadīth of Mālik ibn al-Ḥuwayrith in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim (1/168, ḥadīth 391) to prove raising up to the ears but deliberately omit the rest of the narration, which also proves rafʿ al-yadayn before and after rukūʿ.
⑥ Practice of the Ṣaḥābah
Rafʿ al-yadayn is established from the Companions. No authentic report exists of them abandoning it.
The claim from Sunan al-Bayhaqī (2/80–81) regarding ʿAlī رضي الله عنه not doing rafʿ al-yadayn is unauthentic, and even on the same page Bayhaqī himself critiques it.
⑦ Fabricated Report via Abū Bakr ibn ʿAyyāsh
The narration from Ibn ʿUmar رضي الله عنهما claiming he left rafʿ al-yadayn is rejected:
- Abū Bakr ibn ʿAyyāsh is weak according to the majority. (Nūr al-ʿAynayn, p. 157)
- Al-ʿAynī (Ḥanafī) said: “Abū Bakr was poor in memory.” (ʿUmdat al-Qārī, 1/245)
- Imāms Aḥmad and Ibn Maʿīn declared the narration false (bāṭil, lā aṣla lahu).
Conclusion
- Rafʿ al-yadayn before and after rukūʿ is an established, mutawātir Sunnah from the Prophet ﷺ and his Companions.
- There is no sound evidence for permanently abandoning it.
- Raising to the shoulders or to the ears are both valid.
- The safest and most authentic practice is to follow the hadith of Mālik ibn al-Ḥuwayrith and others as recorded in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī and Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim.
Hādhā mā ʿindī, wallāhu aʿlam biṣ-ṣawāb.
