Holding the hands and placing them on the chest in prayer is a recommended practice
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Question:
May Allah reward you with good and do you well. The woman who wrote this letter says: The people in our village disapprove of us holding our hands in prayer, and they make it a reason for declaring us misguided, because, as they say, this is not from our school of thought. I am certain of the legitimacy of this, but should I leave it off in their presence to reconcile their hearts? Or is following him (peace and blessings be upon him) better? And are there any hadiths regarding the ruling on holding the hands and letting them hang in prayer? May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
Holding the hands and placing them on the chest while standing in prayer is a recommended practice (sunnah), not obligatory. Disagreement on this does not necessitate declaring one another misguided or harboring enmity, as some ignorant people do. This is one of the recommended matters; if one leaves it off, he commits no sin, and if he does it, he earns reward. He is the one who follows the evidence, so he is rewarded for that.
As for the one who leaves it off, he commits no sin because he is leaving off a recommended practice, not an obligation. This does not necessitate enmity or declaring one another misguided among those who differ. The Imams used to differ on this, and they were brothers. Likewise, the scholars of knowledge differ on this and on some jurisprudential issues, and this does not affect their brotherhood and love for one another in Allah (Mighty and Majestic). Rather, this is from Satan, who exploits it through the ignorant and the common people.
So this phenomenon, which is the occurrence of enmity when there is disagreement on jurisprudential issues and recommended matters, is only from ignorance and from Satan’s embellishment. It is obligatory for these people to fear Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). And one who acts according to the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) should not be treated with enmity.
Rather, it is obligatory to encourage him in this, and it is obligatory to respect the Muslims, especially the students of knowledge, and especially those who seek to act according to the authentic Sunnahs from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Yes.
May Allah reward you with good and do you well. The woman who wrote this letter says: The people in our village disapprove of us holding our hands in prayer, and they make it a reason for declaring us misguided, because, as they say, this is not from our school of thought. I am certain of the legitimacy of this, but should I leave it off in their presence to reconcile their hearts? Or is following him (peace and blessings be upon him) better? And are there any hadiths regarding the ruling on holding the hands and letting them hang in prayer? May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
Holding the hands and placing them on the chest while standing in prayer is a recommended practice (sunnah), not obligatory. Disagreement on this does not necessitate declaring one another misguided or harboring enmity, as some ignorant people do. This is one of the recommended matters; if one leaves it off, he commits no sin, and if he does it, he earns reward. He is the one who follows the evidence, so he is rewarded for that.
As for the one who leaves it off, he commits no sin because he is leaving off a recommended practice, not an obligation. This does not necessitate enmity or declaring one another misguided among those who differ. The Imams used to differ on this, and they were brothers. Likewise, the scholars of knowledge differ on this and on some jurisprudential issues, and this does not affect their brotherhood and love for one another in Allah (Mighty and Majestic). Rather, this is from Satan, who exploits it through the ignorant and the common people.
So this phenomenon, which is the occurrence of enmity when there is disagreement on jurisprudential issues and recommended matters, is only from ignorance and from Satan’s embellishment. It is obligatory for these people to fear Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). And one who acts according to the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) should not be treated with enmity.
Rather, it is obligatory to encourage him in this, and it is obligatory to respect the Muslims, especially the students of knowledge, and especially those who seek to act according to the authentic Sunnahs from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، 4704- قبض اليدين ووضعهما على الصدر في الصلاة سنة - الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.