Research on 8 Narrations Regarding Folding Hands in Salah

❖ Where Should the Hands Be Placed in Salah?​

A detailed analysis of the authenticity of related Ahadith, their sources (Takhrij), and the Tafsir of the verse:


فَصَلِّ لِرَبِّكَ وَانْحَرْ


Alongside the research on the Ahadith about folding hands on the chest.

① Narration: Wā’il ibn Ḥujr (رضي الله عنه)​

Text:


عن وائل بن حجر قال; رايت النبي صلي الله عليه وسلم يضع يمينه على شماله في الصلاة تحت السرة
(Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah 1/390)


Research:

• The printed edition of Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah (Azīziyyah Press, Hyderabad, 1386 AH) does not contain the phrase "تحت السرة".
• The handwritten manuscript by Ustadh al-Shaykh Abu al-Qasim Muḥibullah Shah al-Rashdi al-Sindi also omits these words.
• According to Anwar Shah Kashmiri Deobandi, none of the three manuscripts of the Musannaf include the phrase "تحت السرة".
  (Fayd al-Bāri Vol. 2, p. 267)
• The Beirut printed edition (Vol. 1, p. 342, Ḥadīth 3938) also lacks these words.
• Imam Wakī‘, through whom Imam Ahmad narrates this report, does not include "تحت السرة".
  (Musnad Ahmad Vol. 4, p. 316, Ḥadīth 19051)

Note:
Deobandi publishers added "تحت السرة" without basis, which is rightly objected to.

• This insertion was initially made by Qāsim ibn Qutlubughā (802–879 AH), who has been declared a liar:
  
  قاسم بن قطلوبغا كذاباً
  (Al-Ḍawʾ al-Lāmiʿ by al-Sakhāwī Vol. 6, p. 186)
  

Confessions of Deobandi scholars regarding fabrications:

• Muḥammad Qāsim Nānotwī:
  “I was deeply regretful… and I clearly lied that very day.”
  (Arwāḥ Thalāthah, p. 390; Maʿārif al-Akābir, p. 260)
• Rashīd Ahmad Gangohī:
  “I am a liar.”
  (Makātib Rashīdiyyah, p. 10; Faḍāʾil Ṣadaqāt, p. 558)

② Narration: From ʿAlī (رضي الله عنه)​

(Ibn Abī Shaybah Vol. 1, p. 391; Musnad Ahmad Vol. 1, p. 110; Abū Dāwūd 756)


Research:

• The chain includes ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Isḥāq al-Kūfī al-Wāsiṭī, who is considered weak by the majority of Hadith scholars.
  
  Anwar Shah Kashmiri:
  
  "al-Wāsiṭī is unanimously considered weak."
  (al-ʿUrf al-Shadhī Vol. 1, p. 76, line 28)
  

③ Narration: From Anas (رضي الله عنه)​

(al-Jawhar al-Naqī 2/32 citing Ibn Ḥazm’s al-Muḥallā 4/113)


Research:

• In al-Muḥallā, the narration is without a chain.
• In al-Khilāfiyyāt by al-Bayhaqī (manuscript p. 37), the chain is:
  
  ...ḥaddathanā Saʿīd ibn Zurayḥ from Thābit from Anas…
  
  
  
• Saʿīd ibn Zurayḥ was called “not strong” by al-Bayhaqī, and “denier of Hadith” in Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb.

Thus, this narration is weak.

④ Narration: From Abū Hurayrah (رضي الله عنه)​

(al-Jawhar al-Naqī 2/32 citing Ibn Ḥazm)


Research:

• The chain is authentic, but the narration is the saying of a Tābiʿī (Abū Mujliz), not of the Prophet ﷺ.
• The statement of a Tābiʿī is not valid evidence in comparison to a sound Prophetic Sunnah.

⑤ Narration: From Ibrāhīm​

(Ibn Abī Shaybah 1/390)


Research:

• This is merely the opinion of Tābiʿī Ibrāhīm al-Nakhaʿī, not a Prophetic narration.

Hence, it cannot be used as proof over the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ.

⑥ Narration: "يَضَعُ بَاطِنَ كَفِّ يَمِينِهِ..."​

(Ibn Abī Shaybah 1/391)


Research:

• This too is a statement of a Tābiʿī, not the elevated Sunnah (marfūʿ) of the Prophet ﷺ.

⑦ Narration in Musnad Zayd and al-Muḥallā​

(Musnad Zayd, p. 204; al-Muḥallā Vol. 4, p. 113, issue 448)


Research:

• The primary narrator in Musnad Zayd is Abū Khālid al-Wāsiṭī (ʿAmr ibn Khālid), who is a known liar.
  
  (Mīzān al-Iʿtidāl Vol. 3, p. 257)
  
  
• The entire book is considered fabricated.
• The narration from Sayyidah ʿĀʾishah (رضي الله عنها) is without a chain and does not contain the phrase "تحت السرة".

⑧ Tafsir of the Verse:​

فَصَلِّ لِرَبِّكَ وَانْحَرْ


Related Narration:

• Reported from ʿAlī (رضي الله عنه):
  
  وضع يده اليمنى على وسط ساعده اليسرى ثم وضعهما على صدره
  "He placed his right hand on the middle of his left forearm, then placed them both on his chest."
  (al-Tārīkh al-Kabīr by al-Bukhārī Vol. 6, p. 437; al-Sunan al-Kubrā by al-Bayhaqī Vol. 2, p. 30)
  

Research:

• The narrator ʿĀṣim al-Jahdarī's father, al-ʿAjjāj, is unknown, hence the chain is weak.
• Some narrations omit the link "from his father".
• al-Tamhīd (Vol. 9, p. 217) reveals that the narrator is al-Khaḍir ibn Dāwūd, whose reliability is unknown.

⑨ Authentic Narrations on Folding Hands on the Chest:​

✔ Narration of Qabīṣah ibn Hulb
(Musnad Ahmad Vol. 5, p. 226, Ḥadīth 22313)
A strong narration supporting the folding of hands on the chest.


✔ Hadith from Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī
(Ḥadīth 740)


على ظهر كفه اليسرى والرسغ
Generally supports placing hands on the chest.


✔ Hadith in Abū Dāwūd
(Ḥadīth 727)
The "dhirāʿ (forearm)" narration also supports this view and has an authentic chain.

Further Reading​

For more details, the work of the Shaykh titled “The Ruling and Position of Folding Hands in Salah” is recommended.
(Written testimony: July 2002)


وَاللّٰهُ أَعْلَمُ بِالصَّوَابِ