Raf‘ al-Yadayn in Salah: Practice of the Prophet ﷺ and Umar رضي الله عنه

Excerpt Source:
This excerpt is taken from the book Nūr al-ʿAynayn fī Ithbāt Rafʿ al-Yadayn ʿinda al-Rukūʿ wa Baʿdahū fī al-Ṣalāh by Muḥaddith al-ʿAṣr Ḥāfiẓ Zubayr ʿAlī Zaʾī رحمه الله.

The Ruling of Rafʿ al-Yadayn and Sayyidunā ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb رضي الله عنه​

Raising the hands before rukūʿ and after rukūʿ in prayer is established through mutawātir aḥādīth.

Reference: Qatf al-Azhār al-Mutanāthirah fī al-Akhbār al-Mutawātirah: 33

Reference: al-Naẓm al-Mutanāthir min al-Ḥadīth al-Mutawātir: 67

Reference: Lafẓ al-Ālī al-Mutanāthirah fī al-Aḥādīth al-Mutawātirah: 62

Explicit practice of rafʿ al-yadayn is also proven from the Companions such as Amīr al-Mu’minīn Abū Bakr, ʿUmar, ʿAlī, and others رضي الله عنهم أجمعين.

Rather, Amīr al-Mu’minīn in ḥadīth, Imām al-Bukhārī رحمه الله, states:

ولم يثبت عن أحد من أصحاب النبى صلى الله عليه وسلم إنه لا يرفع يديه
“It is not established from any Companion of the Prophet ﷺ that he did not raise his hands.”

Reference: Juzʾ Rafʿ al-Yadayn: 76

In this brief article, a narration of Amīr al-Mu’minīn ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb رضي الله عنه, with full chain analysis, is presented—establishing rafʿ al-yadayn both verbally and practically. Al-ḥamdu lillāh.

Ḥadīth of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb رضي الله عنه (With Chain Analysis)​

ʿAbdullāh ibn al-Qāsim narrates:

بينما الناس يصلون فى مسجد رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم إذ خرج عليهم عمر بن الخطاب رضى الله عنه فقال: اقبلوا على بوجوهكم أصلي بكم صلوة رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم التى كان يصلي و يأمر بها فقام مستقبل القبلة و رفع يديه حتى حاذا بهما منكبيه و كبر ثم غض بصره ثم رفع يديه حتى حاذا بهما منكبيه ثم كبر ثم ركع و كذلك حين رفع قال للقوم: هكذا كان رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يصلى بنا.

Reference: Naṣb al-Rāyah: 1/416

Reference: Musnad al-Fārūq (Ibn Kathīr): 1/165–166

Reference: Sharḥ Sunan al-Tirmidhī (Ibn Sayyid al-Nās): 2/217

Translation:
While people were praying in the mosque of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb رضي الله عنه came out and said: “Turn your faces towards me; I will demonstrate for you the prayer of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ which he used to pray and command.” He then faced the qiblah, raised his hands to his shoulders and said Allāhu Akbar. He lowered his gaze, then raised his hands again to his shoulders and said Allāhu Akbar, then went into rukūʿ. He did likewise when rising from rukūʿ and said to the people: “This is how the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to lead us in prayer.”

Brief Introduction of the Narrators​

① ʿAbdullāh ibn al-Qāsim (Mawlā Abī Bakr al-Ṣiddīq)​

A student of ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar, Ibn ʿAbbās, and Ibn al-Zubayr رضي الله عنهم. Narrated by Faḍl ibn Ghazwān, Qurrah ibn Khālid, and Abū ʿĪsā Sulaymān ibn Kaysān al-Khurāsānī.
Imām al-Bukhārī and Abū Ḥātim did not criticize him. Ibn Ḥibbān declared him thiqqah.

Reference: al-Tārīkh al-Kabīr (al-Bukhārī): 5/173

Reference: al-Jarḥ wa al-Taʿdīl (Ibn Abī Ḥātim): 5/140–141

Reference: Kitāb al-Thiqāt (Ibn Ḥibbān): 5/46

Claims of jahālah by Ibn al-Qaṭṭān al-Fāsī are rejected due to established tawthīq and recognized methodological issues.

② Abū ʿĪsā Sulaymān ibn Kaysān al-Khurāsānī​

Declared thiqqah by Ibn Ḥibbān and al-Dhahabī.

Reference: al-Kāshif: 3/321

③ Ḥaywah ibn Shurayḥ​

Narrator of Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī and Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim; thiqqah.

Reference: Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb: 1600

④ ʿAbdullāh ibn Wahb al-Qurashī​

Narrator of the Ṣaḥīḥayn; thiqqah ḥāfiẓ.

Reference: Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb: 3694

⑤ Ḥajjāj ibn Ibrāhīm al-Azraq​

Declared thiqqah by Abū Ḥātim, Ibn Ḥibbān, and al-ʿIjlī.

Reference: al-Jarḥ wa al-Taʿdīl: 3/154

Reference: al-Thiqāt: 8/203

⑥ Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Tirmidhī​

Narrator of Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī; thiqqah ḥāfiẓ.

Reference: Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb: 25

⑦ Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq ibn Khuzaymah​

Imām, Shaykh al-Islām, author of Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Khuzaymah.

Reference: Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ: 14/365–382

⑧ Abū Aḥmad al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā​

Declared thiqqah ḥujjah by al-Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī.

Reference: Tārīkh Baghdād: 4/74

⑨ Abū ʿAbdullāh al-Ḥāfiẓ (al-Ḥākim al-Nīsābūrī)​

Famous thiqqah ṣadūq Imām, author of al-Mustadrak.

⑩ Imām al-Bayhaqī​

Author of al-Sunan al-Kubrā; Imām, thiqqah by consensus.

Conclusion of Chain Analysis:
This chain is ḥasan.

Supporting Reports (Shawāhid)​

◈ Ḥadīth of al-Ḥakam → Ṭāwūs → Ibn ʿUmar → ʿUmar → the Prophet ﷺ

Reference: al-Sunan al-Kubrā (al-Bayhaqī): 2/74

Declared ** محفوظ (preserved)** by al-Ḥākim.

◈ Other reported chains exist but are weak due to known defects; however, they support the established ruling without contradicting it.

Final Conclusion ✔​

◈ Rafʿ al-yadayn before and after rukūʿ is firmly established from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
◈ It is proven both practically and verbally from Sayyidunā ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb رضي الله عنه.
◈ The command is supported by the Prophet’s ﷺ instruction:

صلوا كما رأيتموني أصلي
“Pray as you have seen me pray.”

Reference: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 631

◈ The practice of raising the hands to the shoulders is correct and not abrogated.
◈ Claims of abrogation are unsubstantiated; no Companion objected to ʿUmar’s practice.

Key Benefits Derived​

✔ Teaching by practical demonstration.
✔ The Prophet ﷺ commanded rafʿ al-yadayn.
✔ ʿUmar رضي الله عنه exemplified adherence and propagation of Sunnah.
✔ Facing the qiblah is obligatory as able.
✔ Lowering the gaze in prayer is recommended.
✔ Sūrat al-Fātiḥah is legislated in prayer.
✔ Proper rukūʿ posture and taʿdīl al-arkān are obligatory.
✔ Three tasbīḥāt in rukūʿ and sujūd are sufficient.
✔ Correct method of tashahhud and exiting prayer with salām is established.

وما علينا إلا البلاغ