Refutation of Objections Against Rafʿ al-Yadayn Based on Hadith

This excerpt is taken from the book Nūr al-ʿAynayn fī Ithbāt Rafʿ al-Yadayn ʿInd al-Rukūʿ wa Baʿdahu fī al-Ṣalāh by the Muḥaddith of the era, Ḥāfiẓ Zubayr ʿAlī Zaʾī رحمه الله.

A Detailed Refutation of the Objections Raised by the Opponents of Rafʿ al-Yadayn​

Now, a concise yet comprehensive review of the objections raised by the opponents of Rafʿ al-Yadayn—those who abandon it and those who claim its abrogation—is presented below:

① The Ḥadīth of ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd رضي الله عنه​

It is narrated that ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd رضي الله عنه said:

“Shall I not demonstrate to you the prayer of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ?”
Then he prayed and did not raise his hands except the first time.

Reference: Abū Dāwūd: 748

(from the route of Sufyān al-Thawrī from ʿĀṣim ibn Kulayb from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Aswad from ʿAlqamah from ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd)

Abū Dāwūd said: “This is an abbreviated narration from a longer ḥadīth, and it is not authentic with this wording.”

Reference: al-Tirmidhī: 257

(He said: ḥadīth ḥasan)

Reference: al-Nasāʾī: 1027, 1059

This narration is weak in terms of its chain.

In its chain is Imām Sufyān ibn Saʿīd al-Thawrī رحمه الله, who was a mudallis, and he narrated this report with ʿanʿanah. According to the principles of ḥadīth, such a chain is weak.

The student of Sufyān al-Thawrī, Abū ʿĀṣim al-Ḍaḥḥāk ibn Makhlad al-Nabīl, stated regarding this narration:

نرى أن سفيان الثوري إنما دلسه عن أبى حنيفة

“We believe that Sufyān al-Thawrī committed tadlīs in this narration from Abū Ḥanīfah.”

Reference: Sunan al-Dāraquṭnī: 3/201, ḥadīth 3423

(chain ṣaḥīḥ)

Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥibbān al-Bustī رحمه الله said:

وأما المدلسون الذين هم ثقات وعدول فإنا لا نحتج بأخبارهم إلا ما بينوا السماع فيما رووا مثل الثوري والأعمش وأبي إسحاق وأضرابهم

“As for those mudallisin who are trustworthy and upright, we do not use their narrations as proof unless they explicitly state hearing, such as al-Thawrī, al-Aʿmash, Abū Isḥāq, and others like them.”

Reference: al-Iḥsān, Muʾassasat al-Risālah ed., 7/161

Al-Qasṭallānī, al-ʿAynī, and al-Kirmānī all state:

“Sufyān (al-Thawrī) was a mudallis, and the ʿanʿanah of a mudallis is not accepted as proof unless hearing is established through another chain.”

Reference: Irshād al-Sārī: p. 286

Reference: ʿUmdat al-Qārī: 3/112

Reference: Sharḥ al-Kirmānī: 3/62

Ibn al-Turkmānī al-Ḥanafī said:

الثوري مدلس وقد عنعن

“Al-Thawrī was a mudallis, and he narrated this report with ʿanʿanah.”

Reference: al-Jawhar al-Muthannā: 8/362

For further details, see the treatise al-Taʾsīs fī Masʾalat al-Tadlīs, pp. 20, 32.

First Clarification​

This muʿanʿan narration of Sufyān al-Thawrī has no established corroboration (mutābaʿah) nor any supporting witness (shāhid). The reference cited in al-ʿIlal of al-Dāraquṭnī regarding a mutābaʿah is rejected due to being without a chain.

Second Clarification​

Imām Ibn al-Mubārak, Imām al-Shāfiʿī, Abū Dāwūd, al-Dāraquṭnī, and the majority of the muḥaddithīn declared this narration unestablished and weak.

② The Narration of Yazīd ibn Abī Ziyād​

Yazīd ibn Abī Ziyād al-Kūfī narrated from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Laylā (a trustworthy Tābiʿī) that al-Barāʾ ibn ʿĀzib رضي الله عنه said:

“When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ began the prayer, he raised his hands up to his ears, then he did not raise them again.”

Reference: Abū Dāwūd: 752

Abū Dāwūd said: “This ḥadīth is not authentic.”

This narration is weak due to Yazīd ibn Abī Ziyād, who has been declared weak by the majority of muḥaddithīn.

A corroboration is presented through Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Laylā, but:

Reference: Abū Dāwūd: 749

(its chain is weak)

Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Laylā himself took this narration from Yazīd ibn Abī Ziyād.

Reference: Kitāb al-ʿIlal by Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal: 1/143, no. 693

Reference: Maʿrifat al-Sunan wa al-Āthār by al-Bayhaqī: 1/219 (manuscript)

Therefore, this corroboration is rejected. Moreover, Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Laylā is weak according to the majority of scholars.

Reference: Fayḍ al-Bārī by Nūr Shāh al-Kashmīrī: 3/168

③ A Fabricated Chain from ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd رضي الله عنه​

It is narrated with a false chain that ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd رضي الله عنه said:

“I prayed with the Prophet ﷺ, Abū Bakr, and ʿUmar رضي الله عنهما. They did not raise their hands except at the opening takbīr.”

Reference: al-Dāraquṭnī: 295, ḥadīth 120

Al-Dāraquṭnī said:

تفرد به محمد بن جابر وكان ضعيفا

“It was uniquely narrated by Muḥammad ibn Jābir, and he was weak.”

Muḥammad ibn Jābir is weak according to the majority of muḥaddithīn.

Reference: Majmaʿ al-Zawāʾid: 5/191

Imām Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal said regarding this narration:

“This ḥadīth is munkar.”

Reference: Kitāb al-ʿIlal: 1/514, no. 701

Al-Ḥākim al-Nīsābūrī said:

هذا إسناد ضعيف

“This chain is weak.”

Reference: Maʿrifat al-Sunan wa al-Āthār by al-Bayhaqī: 1/220

Another defect in this narration is Ḥammād ibn Abī Sulaymān, who was afflicted by confusion (ikhtilāṭ).

Reference: Majmaʿ al-Zawāʾid: 1/120, 191

It is stated that only the narrations of Ḥammād reported by Shuʿbah, Sufyān al-Thawrī, and Hishām al-Dastawāʾī are acceptable; others reported from him after his confusion.

④ The Claim from Musnad al-Ḥumaydī​

Some people present a narration from Musnad al-Ḥumaydī (ḥadīth 614) published with the research of Ḥabīb al-Raḥmān al-Aʿẓamī al-Dīobandī, containing the words “fa-lā yarfaʿ” (“then he did not raise”).

However, in two ancient manuscripts of Musnad al-Ḥumaydī and in the edition edited by Ḥusayn Salīm Asad al-Dārānī, these words do not exist. Rather, the narration affirms Rafʿ al-Yadayn.

Reference: Dār al-Saqāʾ, Damascus/Dāriyā ed., 1/515, 626

The chain and text according to the Dārānī manuscript are:

حدثنا الحميدي قال حدثنا سفيان قال حدثنا الزهري قال أخبرني سالم بن عبد الله عن أبيه قال: رأيت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم إذا افتتح الصلاة رفع يديه حذو منكبيه وإذا أراد أن يركع وبعد ما يرفع رأسه من الركوع ولا يرفع بين السجدتين

Abū Nuʿaym al-Aṣbahānī also narrated this report with the same chain and wording in al-Mustakhraj ʿalā Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim.

Reference: al-Mustakhraj ʿalā Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 2/12, ḥadīth 856

⑤ The Claim from Musnad Abī ʿAwānah​

Some cite a narration from Musnad Abī ʿAwānah in which the conjunction “wa” before lā yarfaʿuhumā is omitted. However, in two manuscript copies of Musnad Abī ʿAwānah, this “wa” is present, which affirms Rafʿ al-Yadayn rather than negating it.

⑥ Argument from Silence in Certain Narrations​

Some people cite narrations in which the abandonment of Rafʿ al-Yadayn is not mentioned, such as a report in al-Mudawwanah al-Kubrā (1/71).
However, once a practice is explicitly mentioned in one narration, its absence in another narration does not necessitate negation.

Reference: al-Jawhar al-Naqī by Ibn al-Turkmānī: 4/317

Reference: al-Dirāyah maʿ al-Hidāyah: 1/177

Moreover, al-Mudawwanah al-Kubrā itself is unestablished and unreliable.

See: al-Qawl al-Matīn fī al-Jahr bi al-Taʾmīn, p. 73.

⑦ The Ḥadīth of Jābir ibn Samurah رضي الله عنه​

It is narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“Why do I see you raising your hands as if they were the tails of unruly horses? Be calm in prayer.”

Reference: Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 430

Reference: Dār al-Salām numbering: 968

This narration appears in Musnad Aḥmad with the words “وهم قعود” (“while they were sitting”), which clarifies that this prohibition does not relate to raising the hands during standing, but rather refers to raising hands while sitting, such as during tashahhud—an act practiced by the Shīʿah even today.

Thus, using a narration reported by Shīʿī narrators against the Ahl al-Sunnah practice of Rafʿ al-Yadayn is a grave injustice.

For this reason, Imām al-Bukhārī رحمه الله declared the one who argues from this narration as “lā yaʿlam” (ignorant).

Reference: Juzʾ Rafʿ al-Yadayn (critical ed.): 37

Imām al-Nawawī رحمه الله described this reasoning as the worst form of ignorance.

Reference: al-Majmūʿ Sharḥ al-Muhadhdhab: 4/403

Statements of Deobandī Scholars​

Maḥmūd Ḥasan Deobandī (Asīr-e-Mālṭā) stated:

“Responding with the narration of ‘tails of horses’ is not fair, because it relates to salām. The Companions said that we used to gesture with our hands during salām in prayer, so the Prophet ﷺ forbade that.”

Reference: al-Ward al-Shadhā ʿalā Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī: 63

Reference: Taqārīr Shaykh al-Hind: 65

Muḥammad Taqī ʿUthmānī Deobandī stated:

“But the fair conclusion is that the Ḥanafīs’ argument from this ḥadīth is doubtful and weak.”

Reference: Dars al-Tirmidhī: 2/36

Final Conclusion​

It is firmly established that not a single authentic narration exists against raising the hands before and after rukūʿ.