❖ The Ruling on Raising Hands During Duʿāʾ in Witr Qunoot
Source: Fatāwā ʿIlmiyyah, Volume 1, Kitāb al-Ṣalāh, Page 415
❖ Question:
Is it established to raise the hands during duʿāʾ in the Qunoot of Witr prayer?
❖ Answer:
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu was-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh. Ammā baʿd:
✦ Dialogue Between Imām Abū Ḥātim al-Rāzī and Imām Abū Zurʿah al-Rāzī
Imām Abū Ḥātim al-Rāzī (d. 277 AH) narrates:
"قال لي ابو زرعة : ترفع في القنوت؟ قلت :لا! فقلت له : فترفع انت ؟ قال : نعم : فقلت :ماحجتك ؟ قال : حديث ابن مسعود ‘ قلت : رواه ابن لهيعة ‘ قال : حديث ابن عبا س‘ قلت <: رواه عوف ‘قال: فما حضتك في تركه ؟ قلت : حديث انس ان رسول الله صلي الله عليه وسلم كا ن لايرفع يديه في شئي من الدعاء الا في الاستسقاء فسكت "
✦ Explanation:
Imām Abū Zurʿah al-Rāzī (d. 268 AH) asked Imām Abū Ḥātim:
❝Do you raise your hands during Qunoot?❞
Abū Ḥātim replied: ❝No.❞
Abū Ḥātim then asked: ❝Do you raise your hands?❞
Abū Zurʿah replied: ❝Yes.❞
Abū Ḥātim asked: ❝What is your evidence?❞
Abū Zurʿah said: ❝The ḥadīth of Ibn Masʿūd.❞
Abū Ḥātim responded: ❝It was narrated by Ibn Lahīʿah.❞
Abū Zurʿah said: ❝The ḥadīth of Ibn ʿAbbās.❞
Abū Ḥātim said: ❝It was narrated by ʿAwf.❞
Then Abū Zurʿah asked: ❝What is your proof for not raising hands?❞
Abū Ḥātim said: ❝The ḥadīth of Anas which states that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ would not raise his hands in any duʿāʾ except during istisqāʾ.❞
So Abū Zurʿah remained silent.
(Source: Tārīkh Baghdād, vol. 2, p. 76, Biography no. 455 — Chain: Ḥasan; also reported by al-Dhahabī in Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ, 13/253)
❖ Brief Introduction of Narrators
◈ Manṣūr ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿĪsā ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz
"He was truthful."
(Tārīkh Baghdād 2/406, Biography 937)
◈ Ṣāliḥ ibn Aḥmad Muḥammad al-Ḥāfiẓ
"He was a ḥāfiẓ, intelligent, trustworthy, and firm."
(Tārīkh Baghdād 9/331, Biography 4871)
◈ Al-Qāsim ibn Abī Ṣāliḥ Bandār
"He was truthful and precise in ḥadīth."
(Lisān al-Mīzān 4/460, Biography 6685)
Note:
There is an accusation of Shīʿism against al-Qāsim ibn Abī Ṣāliḥ. However, this accusation is invalid in the context of ḥadīth narration.
Based on the statement of Ṣāliḥ ibn Aḥmad, his hearing from Qāsim ibn Abī Ṣāliḥ occurred before any confusion (ikhtiṭāṭ), hence this chain is considered ḥasan li-dhātihī.
❖ Examination of the Controversial Aḥādīth
➊ Ḥadīth of Ibn Masʿūd
- Juzʾ al-Qirāʾah by al-Bukhārī (Edited Edition: 99)
- Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah 2/307, Ḥadīth 6953
- Al-Ṭabarānī in al-Kabīr 9/327, Ḥadīth 19425
- Al-Sunan al-Kubrā by al-Bayhaqī 3/41
Analysis:
The chain contains Layth ibn Abī Sulaym, who is weak and a mudallis; thus, the ḥadīth is weak.
Despite the claim of Nīmavī (a blind follower) that the chain is ṣaḥīḥ (Āthār al-Sunan, 635), the majority of ḥadīth scholars have graded Layth as weak.
Al-Zaylaʿī al-Ḥanafī states:
"This Layth appears to be Layth ibn Abī Sulaym, and he is weak."
Further References for Criticism:
- Aḥsan al-Kalām (Sarfarāz Khān Ṣafdarī Deobandī, vol. 2, p. 128)
- Juzʾ al-Qirāʾah
- Taḥrīfāt Amīn Ukāṛwī (p. 70, Ḥadīth 58)
➋ Ḥadīth of Abū Hurayrah
- Al-Sunan al-Kubrā by al-Bayhaqī 3/41
Analysis:
The chain contains Ibn al-Lahīʿah, whose tadlīs and ikhtiṭāṭ render the narration weak.
➌ Ḥadīth of Ibn ʿAbbās
- Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah 2/316, Ḥadīth 7042, 7043
- Al-Awsaṭ by Ibn al-Mundhir 5/213
Analysis:
This narration pertains to Qunoot of Fajr, not Witr.
- First chain contains Sufyān al-Thawrī (a mudallis)
- Second chain contains Hushaym ibn Bashīr (a mudallis)
Both chains are weak.
Imām Abū Ḥātim al-Rāzī did not consider the narration of ʿAwf al-Aʿrābī reliable, even though al-Jarḥ wa al-Taʿdīl 7/15 labels him as "ṣadūq, ṣāliḥ al-ḥadīth".
Note:
Criticism on ʿAwf al-Aʿrābī is rejected — the majority of ḥadīth scholars consider him trustworthy and truthful.
His narrations in both Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī and Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim are authentic.
Thus, he is regarded as ḥasan al-ḥadīth or ṣaḥīḥ al-ḥadīth.
➍ Ḥadīth of Anas
- Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 1030
- Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 7/796
❖ Conclusion of the Research
- Imām Abū Ḥātim al-Rāzī did not consider ḥasan li-ghayrih narrations as ḥujjah (proof).
- The three narrations presented by Imām Abū Zurʿah al-Rāzī, despite being weak, can strengthen one another.
- According to the principle:
"Ḍaʿīf + Ḍaʿīf = Ḥasan li-ghayrih",
these narrations become ḥasan li-ghayrih for those who accept this methodology. - However, Imām Abū Ḥātim did not accept this principle.
❖ Additional Benefit
From the trustworthy Tābiʿī ʿĀmir ibn Shibl al-Jarrī:
"رأيت أبا قلابة يرفع يديه في قنوته"
(Al-Sunan al-Kubrā by al-Bayhaqī 3/41 — Chain: Ḥasan)
Translation:
"I saw Abū Qilābah raising his hands in Qunoot."
❖ Raising Hands in Qunoot Nāzilah
- Musnad Aḥmad 3/137, Ḥadīth 12429
(Chain: Ṣaḥīḥ)
❖ Position of the Imāms
- Imām Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal and Imām Isḥāq ibn Rāhawayh supported raising the hands during Qunoot of Witr.
Sources: - Masāʾil Abī Dāwūd, p. 66
- Masāʾil Aḥmad wa Isḥāq (Narration of Isḥāq ibn Manṣūr al-Kawsaj)
- Volume 1, Page 211, Narration 465
- Narration 259, Biography 3468
❖ Summary
✿ Raising or not raising the hands during the duʿāʾ of Witr Qunoot are both permissible.
✿ However, it is preferable not to raise the hands, based on the ḥadīth of Anas and other supporting evidences.
وَاللهُ أَعْلَمُ
