❖ Excerpt taken from the book Nūr al-ʿAynayn fī Ithbāt Rafʿ al-Yadayn ʿinda al-Rukūʿ wa Baʿdah fī al-Ṣalāh
By: Muḥaddith al-ʿAṣr Ḥāfiẓ Zubair ʿAlī Zai رحمه الله
All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds, and peace and blessings be upon His trustworthy Messenger.
To proceed:
In the Islamic Sharī‘ah, Ṣalāh (prayer) is a pillar of immense importance. Adherence to it is made obligatory. In fact, Ṣalāh is the distinguishing line between belief and disbelief.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
"Between a man and shirk and kufr is abandoning the prayer."
— [Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 82]
After the belief in Tawḥīd (monotheism), every action must meet two conditions for its acceptance:
① Sincerity of intention, and
② Conformity with the practice of the Messenger ﷺ.
Regarding prayer, the Prophet ﷺ explicitly commanded:
"Pray as you have seen me praying."
— [Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 631]
The act of Rafʿ al-Yadayn—raising the hands—before and after rukūʿ (bowing) is proven through mutawātir (mass-transmitted) ahādīth from the Prophet ﷺ.
However, like many other matters, this issue has been sacrificed at the altar of blind following (taqlīd) and sectarian bias.
When authentic marfūʿ ahādīth, statements of the Companions, Successors (Tābiʿīn), and early Imāms affirm this practice—what weight remains for weak, fabricated, or unattributed reports to oppose it?
In their desperation, the proponents of blind following (Ahl al-Taqlīd) go so far as to cite unauthentic and fabricated reports to support their view. They show no hesitation in quoting even baseless narrations.
For instance, Anwar Khurshīd Deobandi, in his book "Ḥadīth aur Ahl-e-Ḥadīth" (p. 404), states:
"ʿAlqamah رحمه الله narrated: I prayed behind ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd رضي الله عنه, and he did not perform Rafʿ al-Yadayn while going into or rising from rukūʿ. I asked him why. He replied: ‘I prayed behind the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, Abū Bakr رضي الله عنه, and ʿUmar رضي الله عنه. None of them performed Rafʿ al-Yadayn, except in the first takbīrah (opening of prayer).’"
The source he cited: Badāʾiʿ al-Ṣanāʾiʿ fī Tartīb al-Sharāʾiʿ, vol. 1, p. 207.
Refutation:
This narration is baseless and fabricated. The Ḥanafī scholar al-Kāsānī cited it without any chain of transmission (sanad) in Badāʾiʿ al-Ṣanāʾiʿ.
(See: same book, p. 304)
Dear readers! Be aware:
The arguments presented by the Ahl al-Taqlīd and their scholars hold no scholarly weight in the field of hadith and jurisprudence. They are addressed only so that laypeople may become acquainted with the authentic Sunnah, and not fall prey to the deceptions and doubts spread by those opposed to the Ahl al-Ḥadīth.
Nūr al-ʿAynayn fī Masʾalat Rafʿ al-Yadayn has already been published multiple times due to its significance and scholarly value. It has become widely accepted among serious academic circles. In fact, it can rightly be called a revolutionary work in the field of Islamic scholarship. Even after many years, it remains unmatched.
This latest edition of the book is published with new additions and revisions, including:
Also included are corrections of past inadvertent errors, necessary clarifications, and repetitions preserved where they provide academic benefit.
This revised edition is now the authorized and definitive version of the book.
May Allah Almighty make this book a perpetual charity (ṣadaqah jāriyah) and a means of salvation in the Hereafter for our respected teacher Ḥāfiẓ Zubair ʿAlī Zai رحمه الله.
May Allah protect him from all kinds of trials and difficulties.
Āmīn.
— Ḥāfiẓ Nadīm Ẓahīr
26 Rajab 1427 AH
By: Muḥaddith al-ʿAṣr Ḥāfiẓ Zubair ʿAlī Zai رحمه الله
✦ Introduction
All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds, and peace and blessings be upon His trustworthy Messenger.
To proceed:
In the Islamic Sharī‘ah, Ṣalāh (prayer) is a pillar of immense importance. Adherence to it is made obligatory. In fact, Ṣalāh is the distinguishing line between belief and disbelief.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
"Between a man and shirk and kufr is abandoning the prayer."
— [Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 82]
After the belief in Tawḥīd (monotheism), every action must meet two conditions for its acceptance:
① Sincerity of intention, and
② Conformity with the practice of the Messenger ﷺ.
Regarding prayer, the Prophet ﷺ explicitly commanded:
"Pray as you have seen me praying."
— [Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 631]
✦ Rafʿ al-Yadayn: Raising the Hands in Prayer
The act of Rafʿ al-Yadayn—raising the hands—before and after rukūʿ (bowing) is proven through mutawātir (mass-transmitted) ahādīth from the Prophet ﷺ.
However, like many other matters, this issue has been sacrificed at the altar of blind following (taqlīd) and sectarian bias.
When authentic marfūʿ ahādīth, statements of the Companions, Successors (Tābiʿīn), and early Imāms affirm this practice—what weight remains for weak, fabricated, or unattributed reports to oppose it?
✦ The Desperation of the Blind Followers
In their desperation, the proponents of blind following (Ahl al-Taqlīd) go so far as to cite unauthentic and fabricated reports to support their view. They show no hesitation in quoting even baseless narrations.
For instance, Anwar Khurshīd Deobandi, in his book "Ḥadīth aur Ahl-e-Ḥadīth" (p. 404), states:
"ʿAlqamah رحمه الله narrated: I prayed behind ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd رضي الله عنه, and he did not perform Rafʿ al-Yadayn while going into or rising from rukūʿ. I asked him why. He replied: ‘I prayed behind the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, Abū Bakr رضي الله عنه, and ʿUmar رضي الله عنه. None of them performed Rafʿ al-Yadayn, except in the first takbīrah (opening of prayer).’"
The source he cited: Badāʾiʿ al-Ṣanāʾiʿ fī Tartīb al-Sharāʾiʿ, vol. 1, p. 207.
Refutation:This narration is baseless and fabricated. The Ḥanafī scholar al-Kāsānī cited it without any chain of transmission (sanad) in Badāʾiʿ al-Ṣanāʾiʿ.
(See: same book, p. 304)
✦ Response to Ahl al-Taqlīd
Dear readers! Be aware:
The arguments presented by the Ahl al-Taqlīd and their scholars hold no scholarly weight in the field of hadith and jurisprudence. They are addressed only so that laypeople may become acquainted with the authentic Sunnah, and not fall prey to the deceptions and doubts spread by those opposed to the Ahl al-Ḥadīth.
✦ About the Book
Nūr al-ʿAynayn fī Masʾalat Rafʿ al-Yadayn has already been published multiple times due to its significance and scholarly value. It has become widely accepted among serious academic circles. In fact, it can rightly be called a revolutionary work in the field of Islamic scholarship. Even after many years, it remains unmatched.
This latest edition of the book is published with new additions and revisions, including:
- Detailed discussions on Rafʿ al-Yadayn during prostration (sujūd)
- Examination of the narration Akhbār al-Fuqahāʾ wa al-Muḥaddithīn
- A review of the tafsīr attributed to ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهما
- Discussions on abandonment of Rafʿ al-Yadayn
Also included are corrections of past inadvertent errors, necessary clarifications, and repetitions preserved where they provide academic benefit.
This revised edition is now the authorized and definitive version of the book.
Duʿā and Acknowledgment
May Allah Almighty make this book a perpetual charity (ṣadaqah jāriyah) and a means of salvation in the Hereafter for our respected teacher Ḥāfiẓ Zubair ʿAlī Zai رحمه الله.
May Allah protect him from all kinds of trials and difficulties.
Āmīn.
— Ḥāfiẓ Nadīm Ẓahīr 26 Rajab 1427 AH