وَعَن مَالك بن الْحُوَيْرِث قَالَ: كَانَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ إِذَا كَبَّرَ رَفَعَ يَدَيْهِ حَتَّى يُحَاذِيَ بِهِمَا أُذُنَيْهِ، وَإِذَا رَفَعَ رَأْسَهُ مِنَ الرُّكُوعِ فَقَالَ: سَمِعَ اللَّهُ لِمَنْ حَمِدَهُ فَعَلَ مِثْلَ ذَلِك. وَفِي رِوَايَة: حَتَّى يُحَاذِيَ بِهِمَا فُرُوعَ أُذُنَيْهِ.
Sayidunā Mālik ibn al-Ḥuwayrith ʳᵃ said that when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said the takbīr, he raised his hands and placed them opposite his ears, and when he raised his head after bowing and said, “Allah listens to him who praises Him,” he did the same. Another narration states: “He placed them opposite the tops of his ears.” (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī and Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim)
Commentary:
All the ʿulamāʾ (scholars) and aʾimmah agree that the hands should be raised at the time of the takbīr taḥrīmah. As for raising them at other times, this is disputed between the Ḥanafīs and the Shāfiʿīs. The former hold that it should be done only with the takbīr taḥrīmah, while the latter contend that it should also be done when going into rukūʿ and when rising from it.
Both sides possess extensive evidence and numerous aḥādīth and āthār upon which they have built their respective positions. The ʿulamāʾ of the Ḥanafī school have sought to reconcile these aḥādīth. They explain that the Prophet ﷺ perhaps sometimes performed rafʿ al-yadayn and at other times omitted it. Or, he may have practiced it until it was regarded as abrogated in all postures except at the takbīr taḥrīmah, where it was retained.
The aḥādīth and āthār upon which the Ḥanafīs rely are presented here to clarify their point of view. Imām al-Tirmidhī ʳʰ has dedicated two chapters in his Jāmiʿ to this subject. The first is “Raising Both Hands When Going into Rukūʿ” (Chapter 76). Under this heading, he records the ḥadīth of Sayidunā ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar ʳᵃ, which will be mentioned shortly.
The second chapter is entitled, “The Prophet ﷺ Did Not Raise His Hands Except the First Time.” In this chapter, he cites the ḥadīth of Sayidunā ʿAlqamah ʳʰ from Sayidunā ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd ʳᵃ who said: “Shall I not demonstrate for you the prayer of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ?” He then performed the prayer and did not raise his hands except for the first time — that is, with the takbīr taḥrīmah.
In this same chapter, Imām al-Tirmidhī ʳʰ also confirms the ḥadīth of Sayidunā al-Barāʾ ibn ʿĀzib ʳᵃ of similar meaning. He rates the ḥadīth of Ibn Masʿūd ʳᵃ as ḥasan. Most of the Ṣaḥābah (Companions) and Tābiʿīn, including Sufyān al-Thawrī ʳʰ and the scholars of Kūfah, concur with this view.
The ḥadīth of Sayidunā Ibn Masʿūd ʳᵃ is recorded in Jāmiʿ al-Uṣūl on the authority of Abū Dāwūd and al-Nasāʾī, and the ḥadīth of Sayidunā al-Barāʾ ibn ʿĀzib ʳᵃ on the authority of Abū Dāwūd. Its wording is as follows:
“Sayidunā Ibn Masʿūd ʳᵃ narrates that he observed the Prophet ﷺ begin his prayer by raising his hands to the level of his shoulders (with the takbīr taḥrīmah), but he did not repeat it thereafter during the prayer.”
Another version adds: “He did not raise his hands again until he completed the prayer.”
As for Abū Dāwūd’s grading of this ḥadīth as “not ṣaḥīḥ,” this perhaps refers to a particular chain of transmission, not to the soundness of the ḥadīth itself. Alternatively, Abū Dāwūd may have intended the rating ḥasan, as Imām al-Tirmidhī ʳʰ has classified it. Therefore, all the aʾimmah and scholars of ḥadīth regard a ḥasan narration as acceptable for citation.
Imām Muḥammad ʳʰ reproduces in his Muwaṭṭaʾ the ḥadīth of Sayidunā Ibn ʿUmar ʳᵃ regarding raising the hands when going into rukūʿ and when rising from it. He comments that it is sunnah (practice of the Prophet ﷺ) to pronounce the takbīr at every change of posture, whether lowering or rising, but that rafʿ al-yadayn is done only once — at the takbīr taḥrīmah and not at any other time. This is also the opinion of Imām Abū Ḥanīfah ʳʰ. There are numerous āthār supporting this.
He further cites the report of ʿĀṣim ibn Kulayb al-Khurmī ʳʰ from his father, who was a Tābiʿ of Sayidunā ʿAlī ʳᵃ: “Sayidunā ʿAlī ʳᵃ did not perform rafʿ al-yadayn except with the first takbīr.”
Mujāhid ʳʰ said that he performed prayer with Sayidunā Ibn ʿUmar ʳᵃ, and he used to perform rafʿ al-yadayn only once. Al-Aswad ʳʰ said that he observed Sayidunā ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb ʳᵃ performing rafʿ al-yadayn only with the first takbīr.
Therefore, when such eminent Companions as ʿUmar ʳᵃ, ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd ʳᵃ, and ʿAlī ʳᵃ — all of whom were very close to the Prophet ﷺ — discontinued rafʿ al-yadayn, the opposite practice cannot be considered preferable or superior.
Sharḥ Ibn al-Humām records a narration from al-Dāraquṭnī ʳʰ and Ibn ʿAdī ʳʰ, through Muḥammad ibn Jābir ʳʰ, from Ḥammād ibn Sulaymān ʳʰ, from Ibrāhīm ʳʰ, from ʿAlqamah ʳʰ, from ʿAbdullāh ʳᵃ, who said:
“I have offered prayer with the Prophet ﷺ, Abū Bakr ʳᵃ, and ʿUmar ʳᵃ; they did not perform rafʿ al-yadayn except with the first takbīr.”
It is reported that once Imām Abū Ḥanīfah ʳʰ and Imām al-Awzāʿī ʳʰ met in Makkah at Dār al-Khayyāṭīn. The latter asked, “Why do you not perform rafʿ al-yadayn when going into rukūʿ or rising from it?” He replied, “Because it is not firmly established from the Prophet ﷺ.”
Imām al-Awzāʿī ʳʰ responded that al-Zuhri ʳʰ narrated to him from Sālim ʳʰ, from his father, Sayidunā Ibn ʿUmar ʳᵃ, that the Prophet ﷺ performed rafʿ al-yadayn at the first takbīr, when going into rukūʿ, and when rising from it.
Imām Abū Ḥanīfah ʳʰ said that he was informed by Ḥammād ʳʰ and al-Aswad ʳʰ, both from Ibrāhīm ʳʰ, from ʿAlqamah ʳʰ and al-Aswad ʳʰ, who both reported from Sayidunā ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd ʳᵃ that the Prophet ﷺ raised both hands only at the beginning of the prayer and did not do so again.
Imām al-Awzāʿī ʳʰ said, “I have narrated from al-Zuhri ʳʰ, from Sālim ʳʰ, from his father Ibn ʿUmar ʳᵃ. You have narrated from Ḥammād ʳʰ, from ʿAlqamah ʳʰ. Therefore, my isnād is stronger than yours.”
Imām Abū Ḥanīfah ʳʰ replied, “If that is so, then Ḥammād ʳʰ is a greater faqīh than al-Zuhri ʳʰ, and Ibrāhīm ʳʰ is not inferior to Ibn ʿUmar ʳᵃ in jurisprudence. It is true that Ibn ʿUmar ʳᵃ enjoyed the companionship of the Prophet ﷺ, but al-Aswad ʳʰ too possessed great merit. And ʿAbdullāh — meaning Ibn Masʿūd ʳᵃ — was truly incomparable, endowed with profound knowledge and understanding, well-known as the companion of the Prophet ﷺ.”
In other words, Imām al-Awzāʿī ʳʰ preferred a ḥadīth based on the strength of its isnād, whereas Imām Abū Ḥanīfah ʳʰ preferred it based on the juristic calibre of its narrators. This represents his methodological principle in fiqh — prioritizing narrators of juristic insight over those of mere transmission.
It is mentioned in al-Nihāyah (the commentary of al-Hidāyah) that Sayidunā ʿAbdullāh ibn al-Zubayr ʳᵃ saw a man offering prayer in al-Masjid al-Ḥarām, raising his hands when going into and coming out of rukūʿ. He advised the man not to do so, saying that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to perform it initially but later abandoned it — indicating that rafʿ al-yadayn at these postures was practiced early on but later abrogated.
Sayidunā ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd ʳᵃ said, “As long as the Prophet ﷺ performed rafʿ al-yadayn, we did so too; when he stopped, we stopped as well.”
Sayidunā Ibn ʿAbbās ʳᵃ said, “All the ten Companions who were given glad tidings of Paradise (al-ʿasharah al-mubashsharah) performed rafʿ al-yadayn only at the beginning of the prayer.”
Mujāhid ʳʰ also reported regarding Sayidunā Ibn ʿUmar ʳᵃ: “I prayed with Ibn ʿUmar ʳᵃ for years, and I never saw him perform rafʿ al-yadayn except at the beginning of the prayer.” This is noteworthy despite the ḥadīth of Ibn ʿUmar ʳᵃ which establishes rafʿ al-yadayn at three instances and serves as the chief evidence of the Shāfiʿīs.
It is a principle in ḥadīth that if a narrator acts contrary to his own narration, that narration is not used for practice. Hence, the ḥadīth of Ibn ʿUmar ʳᵃ is not implemented in practice.
Considering these aḥādīth and āthār, and the practice of some of the Ṣaḥābah ʳᵃ — particularly Sayidunā ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd ʳᵃ and his followers — alongside the reports supporting the other view, it can be concluded that both practices were known from the Prophet ﷺ at different times.
The juristic discernment of Imām Abū Ḥanīfah ʳʰ led him to adopt the isnād of Sayidunā ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd ʳᵃ and his followers. Since they did not practice rafʿ al-yadayn, Imām Abū Ḥanīfah ʳʰ also adopted the practice of omitting it. Thus, all Ḥanafīs follow him in not observing rafʿ al-yadayn apart from the takbīr taḥrīmah.
The scholars of the Ḥanafī school maintain that rafʿ al-yadayn, except at the takbīr taḥrīmah, is abrogated. They argue that even Sayidunā Ibn ʿUmar ʳᵃ — the very narrator of the ḥadīth of rafʿ al-yadayn — later abandoned it after the Prophet ﷺ. This indicates that although it was once commanded, the instruction was later withdrawn, despite the abundance of aḥādīth and āthār supporting it.
Shaykh ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq al-Muḥaddith al-Dihlawī ʳʰ has written extensively on this issue in his Sharḥ Safar al-Saʿādah. A summary of his discussion has been presented above. His conclusion is that rafʿ al-yadayn is sunnah — to perform and to omit — yet omitting it is better and more preferable. However, some other Ḥanafī scholars hold that the command of rafʿ al-yadayn has been abrogated.
And Allah knows best.
taken from “Manifestation of the Truth Vol. 1 Pg. 486 – 488”
Translation of Maẓāhir al-Ḥaqq Sharḥ Mishkāt al-Maṣābīḥ by Nawāb Quṭb al-Dīn Dehlawī ʳʰ
Disclaimer:
The above article has been prepared/translated under the full oversight and approval of the respected Muftī Ṣāḥib. The author may have utilized AI assistance for the purposes of language refinement, structural clarity, and improved coherence in English. However, the religious content and conclusions reflect the Muftī’s authoritative guidance.