Raising Hands in Qunoot of Witr

Question: Is it proven to raise hands while supplicating in Qunoot of Witr?

Answer: Abu Hatim al-Razi (may Allah have mercy on him) (d. 277 AH) said:

"Abu Zur’ah asked me, 'Do you raise your hands in Qunoot?' I said, 'No.' Then I asked him, 'Do you raise your hands?' He said, 'Yes.' I asked, 'What is your evidence?' He said, 'The Hadith of Ibn Mas’ud.' I said, 'It is narrated by Lays bin Abi Sulaym.' He said, 'The Hadith of Abu Hurayrah.' I said, 'It is narrated by Ibn Lahi’ah.' He said, 'The Hadith of Ibn Abbas.' I said, 'It is narrated by Awf.' He then asked, 'What is your evidence for not raising hands?' I said, 'The Hadith of Anas that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) did not raise his hands in any supplication except in seeking rain.' He then remained silent."

[Tarikh Baghdad vol. 2, p. 76, no. 455. Its chain is Hasan. Mentioned by al-Dhahabi in Siyar A’lam al-Nubala’ vol. 13, p. 253.]

Narrators of the Above Narration:​

1. Abu Mansur Muhammad ibn ‘Isa ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz: He was truthful. [Tarikh Baghdad vol. 2, p. 406, no. 937]
2. Salih ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Hafiz: He was a Hafiz, intelligent, trustworthy, and reliable. [Tarikh Baghdad vol. 9, p. 331, no. 4871]
3. Al-Qasim ibn Abi Salih Bandar: He was truthful and proficient in Hadith. [Lisan al-Mizan vol. 4, p. 460, no. 6680]

Note: Al-Qasim ibn Abi Salih has been accused of Shiism, which is disregarded here in the narration of Hadith. According to Salih ibn Ahmad, his hearing from al-Qasim ibn Abi Salih was before his confusion, thus this chain is Hasan lighayrihi.

Brief Investigation of the Narrations Mentioned by Imam Abu Zur’ah and Imam Abu Hatim in Their Debate:​

1. Hadith of Ibn Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him):[Juz’ al-Qira’ah by al-Bukhari with my verification: 99; Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah vol. 2, p. 307, no. 2903; al-Tabarani in al-Kabir vol. 9, p. 327, no. 9425; al-Sunan al-Kubra by al-Bayhaqi vol. 3, p. 41]
   • Its chain is weak due to Lays bin Abi Sulaym (weak and a Mudallis).
   • It is surprising that the Hanafi scholar Nimawi declared this chain as "Sahih". [Aathar al-Sunan p. 235]
   • However, the majority of Hadith scholars have deemed Lays as weak and criticized him.
     ◈ Al-Zayla’i al-Hanafi said:
   • "Lays here appears to be Lays bin Abi Sulaym, who is weak." [Nasb al-Raya vol. 3, p. 96]◈ For criticism on Lays, see Ahsan al-Kalam [Sarfaraz Khan Safdar Deobandi vol. 2, p. 128; Juz’ al-Qira’ah with distortions by Amin Okarwi p. 70, no. 58]
2. Hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him):[al-Sunan al-Kubra by al-Bayhaqi vol. 3, p. 41]
   • Its chain is weak due to Ibn Lahi’ah’s Tadlis and confusion.
3. Hadith of Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him):[Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah vol. 2, p. 316, no. 7042, 7043; al-Awsat by Ibn al-Mundhir vol. 5, p. 213]
   • This narration is related to the Qunoot of Fajr. It has two chains; in the first, Sufyan al-Thawri is a Mudallis, and in the second, Hashim bin Bashir is a Mudallis, thus both chains are weak. Abu Hatim al-Razi deemed this narration weak due to Awf al-A’rabi. However, he says in al-Jarh wa al-Ta’dil that Awf is "truthful, good in Hadith." [vol. 7, p. 15]

Note: Criticism on Awf al-A’rabi is rejected. The majority of Hadith scholars have declared him trustworthy and truthful, thus his Hadith is Hasan or Sahih. All his narrations in Sahihayn are authentic. Alhamdulillah.

1. Hadith of Anas (may Allah be pleased with him):[Sahih al-Bukhari no. 1030; Sahih Muslim vol. 7, p. 796]

From this detailed investigation, it is clear that Imam Abu Hatim al-Razi did not consider Hasan lighayrihi Hadith as evidence. The three narrations mentioned by Imam Abu Zur’ah support each other, and their weakness is not severe. According to those who elevate weak narrations to Hasan lighayrihi, these narrations together become Hasan lighayrihi. It is evident that Abu Hatim al-Razi did not consider Hasan lighayrihi narrations as evidence.

Benefit: ‘Amir bin Shibl al-Jurmi (a trustworthy narrator) narrated:

"I saw Abu Qilabah (a trustworthy Tabi’i) raising his hands in his Qunoot." [al-Sunan al-Kubra by al-Bayhaqi vol. 3, p. 1 4. Its chain is Hasan]

Raising hands in Qunoot Nazilah (as in other supplications) is established. [Musnad Ahmad vol. 3, p. 137, no. 12429. Its chain is Sahih]

Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal and Imam Ishaq ibn Rahuyah also believed in raising hands in Qunoot of Witr. [See Masail of Abu Dawud p. 66 and Masail of Ahmad and Ishaq narrated by Ishaq ibn Mansur al-Kawsaj vol. 1, p. 211, no. 465, 59 no. 3468]

Summary: Raising or not raising hands in Qunoot of Witr both are permissible, but it is better not to raise hands based on the Hadith of Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) and other evidences. And Allah knows best.