Source: Fatāwā Muḥammadīyah, Vol. 1, p. 392
In Salah, where should the hands be placed — on the chest or below the navel?
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu wa-s-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, ammā baʿd!
There are several authentic aḥādīth that prove placing the hands on the chest in Salah, established from the practice of the Prophet ﷺ. Below are the evidences:
➊ Ḥadīth of Wāʾil ibn Ḥujr رضي الله عنه
عَنْ وَائِلِ بْنِ حُجْرٍ قَالَ: «صَلَّيْت مَعَ النَّبِيِّ – صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ -، فَوَضَعَ يَدَهُ الْيُمْنَى عَلَى يَدِهِ الْيُسْرَى عَلَى صَدْرِهِ»
(Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Khuzaymah 479, Fatḥ al-Bārī, Vol. 2, p. 178)
“Wāʾil ibn Ḥujr رضي الله عنه reports: I prayed with the Prophet ﷺ, and he placed his right hand over his left hand on his chest.”
➋ Ḥadīth of Ḥulb رضي الله عنه
عَنْ ھُلْبٍ قَالَ رَاَیْتُ النبیﷺ یَنْصَرِفُ عَن یَّمِیْنِه وَعَنْ یَّسَارِہِ وَرَأَیْتُهُ قَالَ یَضَعُ ھٰذِه ِعَلیٰ صَدْرِهِ۔
(Musnad Aḥmad, Vol. 5, p. 226; Fatḥ al-Bārī, Vol. 2, p. 178; Tuḥfat al-Aḥwadhī, Vol. 1, p. 216)
“Ḥulb رضي الله عنه narrates: I saw the Prophet ﷺ placing his hands on his chest.”
The ḥadīth attributed to ʿAlī رضي الله عنه regarding placing hands below the navel is weak.
✔ In its chain is ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Isḥāq al-Wāsiṭī, unanimously declared weak.
Statements of the Scholars:
Other books such as al-Taʿlīq al-Mughnī (Vol. 1, p. 286), al-Dāriyya ʿalā Hāmish al-Hidāyah (Vol. 1, p. 101), al-Irwāʾ (Vol. 2, p. 92), Naṣb al-Rāyah (Vol. 1, p. 314) also classify this narration as weak.
Some present the report from Ibn Abī Shaybah stating that Wāʾil ibn Ḥujr رضي الله عنه narrated: the Prophet ﷺ placed hands below the navel.
✔ According to ʿAllāmah Muḥammad Ḥayāt al-Sindī al-Ḥanafī, this addition is a scribal error.
➤ Placing hands on the chest is established from authentic and reliable aḥādīth.
➤ Placing hands below the navel is not proven from any ṣaḥīḥ narration; rather, the narrations on this are weak and unreliable.
ھذا ما عندي واللہ أعلم بالصواب
❖ Question
In Salah, where should the hands be placed — on the chest or below the navel?
❖ Answer
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu wa-s-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, ammā baʿd!
There are several authentic aḥādīth that prove placing the hands on the chest in Salah, established from the practice of the Prophet ﷺ. Below are the evidences:
✿ Evidences for Placing Hands on the Chest
➊ Ḥadīth of Wāʾil ibn Ḥujr رضي الله عنه
عَنْ وَائِلِ بْنِ حُجْرٍ قَالَ: «صَلَّيْت مَعَ النَّبِيِّ – صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ -، فَوَضَعَ يَدَهُ الْيُمْنَى عَلَى يَدِهِ الْيُسْرَى عَلَى صَدْرِهِ»
(Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Khuzaymah 479, Fatḥ al-Bārī, Vol. 2, p. 178)
“Wāʾil ibn Ḥujr رضي الله عنه reports: I prayed with the Prophet ﷺ, and he placed his right hand over his left hand on his chest.”
➋ Ḥadīth of Ḥulb رضي الله عنه
عَنْ ھُلْبٍ قَالَ رَاَیْتُ النبیﷺ یَنْصَرِفُ عَن یَّمِیْنِه وَعَنْ یَّسَارِہِ وَرَأَیْتُهُ قَالَ یَضَعُ ھٰذِه ِعَلیٰ صَدْرِهِ۔
(Musnad Aḥmad, Vol. 5, p. 226; Fatḥ al-Bārī, Vol. 2, p. 178; Tuḥfat al-Aḥwadhī, Vol. 1, p. 216)
“Ḥulb رضي الله عنه narrates: I saw the Prophet ﷺ placing his hands on his chest.”
✿ The Reality of the Report About Placing Hands Below the Navel
The ḥadīth attributed to ʿAlī رضي الله عنه regarding placing hands below the navel is weak.
✔ In its chain is ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Isḥāq al-Wāsiṭī, unanimously declared weak.
Statements of the Scholars:
- Imām Aḥmad and Abū Ḥātim: “Munkar al-ḥadīth”
- Imām Ibn Maʿīn: “Laysa bi shayʾ”
- Imām al-Bukhārī: “Fīhi naẓar”
- Imām al-Bayhaqī: “Its chain is not established; ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Isḥāq narrated it alone, and he is abandoned.”
- Imām al-Nawawī (Sharḥ Muslim, Vol. 1, p. 173): “This ḥadīth is unanimously regarded weak.”
- Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar (Fatḥ al-Bārī, Vol. 2, p. 96): also declared it weak.
Other books such as al-Taʿlīq al-Mughnī (Vol. 1, p. 286), al-Dāriyya ʿalā Hāmish al-Hidāyah (Vol. 1, p. 101), al-Irwāʾ (Vol. 2, p. 92), Naṣb al-Rāyah (Vol. 1, p. 314) also classify this narration as weak.
✿ The Addition of “Below the Navel” in Ibn Abī Shaybah’s Report
Some present the report from Ibn Abī Shaybah stating that Wāʾil ibn Ḥujr رضي الله عنه narrated: the Prophet ﷺ placed hands below the navel.
✔ According to ʿAllāmah Muḥammad Ḥayāt al-Sindī al-Ḥanafī, this addition is a scribal error.
- He clarified that he reviewed a reliable manuscript of al-Muṣannaf of Ibn Abī Shaybah in which the words “taḥt al-surrah” were absent.
- The same ḥadīth was recorded by Imām Aḥmad in Musnad Aḥmad and by Imām al-Bayhaqī in Sunan al-Bayhaqī through the same chain — neither contained the words “below the navel.”
- Major Ḥanafī scholars such as Imām al-Zaylaʿī, al-ʿAynī, Ibn al-Humām, Ibn Amīr al-Ḥajj, Ibrāhīm al-Ḥalabī, and Mullā ʿAlī al-Qārī did not mention these words either.
(ʿAwn al-Maʿbūd, Vol. 1, p. 276; Tuḥfat al-Aḥwudhī, Vol. 1, p. 215)
✿ Conclusion
➤ Placing hands on the chest is established from authentic and reliable aḥādīth.
➤ Placing hands below the navel is not proven from any ṣaḥīḥ narration; rather, the narrations on this are weak and unreliable.
ھذا ما عندي واللہ أعلم بالصواب
