Placing the hands and letting them hang in prayer
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The sixth question of Fatwa No. ( 181 )
Q6: Is the prayer of one who lets his hands hang valid? Is it valid to follow in prayer one who lets his hands hang and one who places his hands? Does letting the hands hang make a person a disbeliever? Is placing the hands after bowing more preferable than letting them hang? And which of these is established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)?
A6: The Sunnah is to place the right hand over the left; for what al-Bukhari narrated in his Sahih from Sahl ibn Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him), who said:Sahih al-Bukhari 740 . And in a narration by Muslim : Sahih Ibn Khuzaymah 2:159 . And there are hadiths regarding placing the right hand over the left hand from multiple routes. Among them is what al-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah narrated from Qabisa ibn Hulb from his father. Al-Tirmidhi said after narrating it: "A good hadith." And it is in the book of Ibn 'Abd al-Barr (al-Tamhid) and (al-Istidhkar) from Ghudayf ibn al-Harith . And it is in the book of al-Daraqutni from Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman , and from Abu al-Darda' in the book of al-Daraqutni , traced to the Prophet, and in the book of Ibn Abi Shaybah , traced to the Prophet, and in the book of Ahmad and al-Daraqutni from Jabir, and in the book of Abu Dawud from 'Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr , and in the book of al-Bayhaqi from 'A'ishah , and he said: "Authentic." And in the book of al-Daraqutni and al-Bayhaqi from Abu Hurayrah , and in the book of Abu Dawud from al-Hasan , as a mursal report, and also from him from Tawus , as a mursal report, and in the book of al-Nasa'i and Ibn Majah from Ibn Mas'ud . Ibn Sayyid al-Nas said: "Its narrators are the narrators of the authentic books." Al-Hafiz said in (al-Fath): "Its chain is good." And al-Tirmidhi said in his Jami' after narrating the hadith of Qabisa from his father: "The practice of the people of knowledge among the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), the Tabi'un, and those after them is that they consider it to be for a man to place his
right hand over his left hand in prayer. Some of them considered it to be placed above the navel, and some considered it to be placed below the navel, and all of that is broad in their view. This is the end of the words of al-Tirmidhi . Once it is established that the Sunnah is to place the right hand over the left hand, if a person prays while letting his hands hang, his prayer is valid; because placing the right hand over the left is not among the pillars of prayer, nor among its conditions, nor among its obligations. As for following in prayer one who places his right hand over his left by one who lets his hands hang, it is valid. The Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said: "(If any of the jurists who follow the schools of jurisprudence says: It is not valid to follow in prayer one who differs from you if he does or leaves something that affects the prayer in the view of the followers, then his statement leads him into the schools of the people of division and innovation, namely the Rafidah , the Mu'tazilah , and the Khawarij , who separated from the Sunnah and entered into division and innovation...)" He said: "(And for this reason, the matter ended up with some of the misguided such that one does not pray behind one who left the raising of the hands the first time, and another does not pray behind one who performs ablution from a small amount of water, and another does not pray behind one who does not guard against a small amount of excused impurity, to the extent of such misguidance that also leads to the people of one school of jurisprudence not praying behind one another, and the student not praying behind his teacher, and Abu Bakr not praying behind 'Umar , and 'Ali not praying behind 'Uthman, and the Muhajireen and the Ansar not praying behind one another...)" He said: "(It is not hidden from any Muslim that these are
the schools of the people of misguidance, even if some people have erred in them." And he also said: "(And the Salaf of the Ummah, from the Companions and the Tabi'un, agreed upon praying behind one another despite their disagreement in some branches of jurisprudence and in some of the obligations of prayer and its invalidators. And whoever forbids some of the Ummah from praying behind others because of what they disagree upon in matters of independent legal reasoning is of the kind of the people of innovation and misguidance." This is the end of the intended quote. If a person lets his hands hang while standing in his prayer, he has left a Sunnah, and one who leaves a Sunnah is not a disbeliever. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Q6: Is the prayer of one who lets his hands hang valid? Is it valid to follow in prayer one who lets his hands hang and one who places his hands? Does letting the hands hang make a person a disbeliever? Is placing the hands after bowing more preferable than letting them hang? And which of these is established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)?
A6: The Sunnah is to place the right hand over the left; for what al-Bukhari narrated in his Sahih from Sahl ibn Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him), who said:
The people were ordered to place the right hand on the left forearm
كان الناس يؤمرون أن يضع الرجل اليد اليمنى على ذراعه اليسرىThen he placed his right hand over the back of his left palm
ثم وضع يده اليمنى على ظهر كفه اليسرىright hand over his left hand in prayer. Some of them considered it to be placed above the navel, and some considered it to be placed below the navel, and all of that is broad in their view. This is the end of the words of al-Tirmidhi . Once it is established that the Sunnah is to place the right hand over the left hand, if a person prays while letting his hands hang, his prayer is valid; because placing the right hand over the left is not among the pillars of prayer, nor among its conditions, nor among its obligations. As for following in prayer one who places his right hand over his left by one who lets his hands hang, it is valid. The Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said: "(If any of the jurists who follow the schools of jurisprudence says: It is not valid to follow in prayer one who differs from you if he does or leaves something that affects the prayer in the view of the followers, then his statement leads him into the schools of the people of division and innovation, namely the Rafidah , the Mu'tazilah , and the Khawarij , who separated from the Sunnah and entered into division and innovation...)" He said: "(And for this reason, the matter ended up with some of the misguided such that one does not pray behind one who left the raising of the hands the first time, and another does not pray behind one who performs ablution from a small amount of water, and another does not pray behind one who does not guard against a small amount of excused impurity, to the extent of such misguidance that also leads to the people of one school of jurisprudence not praying behind one another, and the student not praying behind his teacher, and Abu Bakr not praying behind 'Umar , and 'Ali not praying behind 'Uthman, and the Muhajireen and the Ansar not praying behind one another...)" He said: "(It is not hidden from any Muslim that these are
the schools of the people of misguidance, even if some people have erred in them." And he also said: "(And the Salaf of the Ummah, from the Companions and the Tabi'un, agreed upon praying behind one another despite their disagreement in some branches of jurisprudence and in some of the obligations of prayer and its invalidators. And whoever forbids some of the Ummah from praying behind others because of what they disagree upon in matters of independent legal reasoning is of the kind of the people of innovation and misguidance." This is the end of the intended quote. If a person lets his hands hang while standing in his prayer, he has left a Sunnah, and one who leaves a Sunnah is not a disbeliever. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.