✦ Critical Rebuttal of a Baseless Narration Against Rafʿ al-Yadayn
Source: Fatāwā ʿIlmiyyah, Volume 1, Kitāb al-Ṣalāh, Page 362
❖ Introduction
A lecturer at the Textile University, Dr. Ṭāhir Ḥusayn, referenced Minhāj al-Sawī by Ṭāhir al-Qādirī. He claimed that the book distorts narrations related to Rafʿ al-Yadayn (raising of hands during Ṣalāh). In particular, he asked for clarification on a narration mentioned on page 114 of the book:
"From Ibn ʿAbbās that he said: The ten companions who were given glad tidings of Paradise did not raise their hands except at the beginning of prayer. As-Samarqandī said: Opposing these companions is reprehensible."
References cited:
- Tuḥfat al-Fuqahāʾ (1/132–133)
- Badāʾiʿ al-Ṣanāʾiʿ (1/207)
- ʿUmdat al-Qārī (5/272)
✿ The Role of Isnāds in Ḥadīth Sciences
Quoting Imām ʿAbdullāh ibn al-Mubārak:
"Isnād is part of the religion. If it were not for isnād, anyone would say whatever they pleased."
(Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Dār al-Salām numbering: 32; Monthly Minhāj al-Qurʾān, Vol. 20, Issue 11, Nov 2006, p. 22)
Even Ṭāhir al-Qādirī himself acknowledged:
"Transmission of Ḥadīth, Qurʾānic exegesis, and the entire religion relies upon isnād. Nothing was accepted without a chain."
(Monthly Minhāj al-Qurʾān, Vol. 20, Issue 11, p. 23)
✦ Scholarly Review of the Narration
① Source of the Narration
This narration was quoted by ʿAllāʾ al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Abī Aḥmad al-Samarqandī (d. 553 AH) in Tuḥfat al-Fuqahāʾ (pp. 132–133, also 66–67 in another edition).
Other scholars who quoted it:
- Al-Kāsānī in Badāʾiʿ al-Ṣanāʾiʿ (1/207)
- Al-ʿAynī in ʿUmdat al-Qārī (5/272)
Al-Kāsānī clearly mentioned he compiled his work based on his teacher Al-Samarqandī’s teachings.
(Badāʾiʿ al-Ṣanāʾiʿ, 1/2)
② Narrator Profile
- Al-Samarqandī died in 553 AH (See: Muʿjam al-Muʾallifīn, 3/67, Entry 11750)
- He was a jurist of the 5th–6th century AH, not a Muḥaddith.
③ Status of the Chain
- Ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنه passed away in 67 AH
- There is no chain of transmission from al-Samarqandī back to Ibn ʿAbbās
- This narration is baseless and without attribution, thus rejected
④ Use of Tentative Phrasing
Weak or unproven narrations often employ terms like "ruwiy" (it is narrated), which indicate lack of authenticity.
(See: Muqaddimah Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ with commentary of al-ʿIrāqī, p. 136, Section 22)
Hence, narrations without isnād and using phrases like "ruwiy" are classified as:
Mawḍūʿ (fabricated) Bāṭil (false) Mardūd (rejected)✿ Authentic Evidences Supporting Rafʿ al-Yadayn
✔ Evidence 1:
"I saw Ibn ʿAbbās raising his hands..."
(Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah, Vol. 1, p. 235, Ḥadīth: 12431)
This is Ḥasan li-dhātih and authentic — proving Ibn ʿAbbās himself practiced Rafʿ al-Yadayn.
✔ Evidence 2:
Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq رضي الله عنه used to raise his hands before and after Rukūʿ
(Al-Sunan al-Kubrā, Bayhaqī, Vol. 2, p. 73)
All narrators are trustworthy
✔ Evidence 3:
ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb رضي الله عنه also practiced Rafʿ al-Yadayn
Sources:
- Naṣb al-Rāyah (1/412)
- Musnad al-Fārūq, Vol. 1, pp. 165–166
- Sharḥ Sunan al-Tirmidhī by Ibn Sayyid al-Nās, Manuscript, Vol. 2, p. 217
Chain is Ḥasan, and with supporting chains becomes Ṣaḥīḥ li-ghayrih
✔ Evidence 4:
Among the Asharah Mubashsharah (ten promised Paradise), not a single Companion is authentically reported to have forbidden or abandoned Rafʿ al-Yadayn, nor is there any proof of its abrogation.
✦ Analysis of Ṭāhir al-Qādirī’s Referenced Narrations
In Minhāj al-Sawī (4th edition, pp. 228–229, Ḥadīths: 258, 260, 261), the narrations presented to support abandonment of Rafʿ al-Yadayn are weak according to the principles of Ḥadīth.
Example:
In one narration, Muḥammad ibn Ḥanbal is a narrator.
Imām Aḥmad said regarding this:
"This Ḥadīth is Munkar."
(Masāʾil, narrated by ʿAbdullāh ibn Aḥmad, Vol. 1, p. 242, Narration 327)
Summary of Research
The narration presented by Ṭāhir al-Qādirī regarding the ten Companions not raising their hands is:
◈ Without Isnāds
◈ Without Proper Reference
◈ Fabricated (Mawḍūʿ)
◈ Baseless (Bāṭil)
◈ Rejected (Mardūd)
وما علینا إلا البلاغ
(9 February 2007 – al-Ḥadīth, Issue 35)
