Raising the hands with every takbir: Is there valid evidence for it? With the Shaykh’s note on the rule that the affirming is preferred over the denying, and examples thereof.

The questioner : Regarding raising the hands in every lowering and raising, is there evidence for it?

The Shaykh : Numerous hadiths have come regarding raising the hands with every takbir. Some are in Sunan al-Nasa'i and in Sunan Abu Dawud. Also, one of the hadith scholars who resided in Makkah—I think his name was 'Abd al-Haqq al-Hindi—has a small treatise specifically on this issue, in which he collected the hadiths that came regarding raising the hands with every takbir. Among them is the hadith of Anas in Musnad Ibn Abi Shaybah Therefore, this raising is a recommended practice (sunnah) that is desirable, but it is not a confirmed sunnah, unlike the raising when bowing and when raising the head from it.

The questioner : May Allah reward you for your explanation of the hadith of Ibn 'Umar.

The Shaykh : How?

The questioner : Your explanation of the hadith of Ibn 'Umar when he mentioned the places of raising, he said ... .

The Shaykh : That is what ... and what he saw. And we know from the rules of the scholars a very great jurisprudential rule, and if the student of knowledge knows it, he is enabled by it to resolve many issues regarding some hadiths, including this issue. That rule is the one that says, "The affirming is preferred over the denying." Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him and with all the Companions) denies the raising in prostration, but others affirm it. So we return to the rule and say, "The affirming is preferred over the denying." With this rule, Imam al-Bukhari answered the people of Kufa—and may Allah have mercy on you—who held that the raising does not occur except with the first takbir. They argued with the hadith of 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), who said, "Shall I pray for you the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)?" And it is necessary to tie the waist sash well, so that the navel and what is below it is at least part of the 'awrah, because the imams of hadith, led by Imam al-Bukhari, refuted the people of Kufa, and at their head was Abu Hanifa al-Nu'man ibn Thabit (may Allah have mercy on him), who argued with the hadith of Ibn Mas'ud. Imam al-Bukhari argued against the people of Kufa and at their head Imam Abu Hanifa (may Allah have mercy on him), who held that the raising is not legislated except in the takbir of ihram. He refuted him with this rule. Ibn Mas'ud denied, just as Ibn 'Umar denied the raising in prostration. However, Ibn Mas'ud's denial was broader; he denied the raising except in the takbir of ihram. With what did al-Bukhari argue against the people of Kufa who restricted the legislation of the raising only to the takbir of ihram? With the hadith of Bilal al-Habashi (may Allah be pleased with him), which Ibn 'Umar himself narrated from him. When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) entered Makkah as a conqueror and entered the interior of the Ka'bah, he prayed two rak'ahs. Bilal described when he came out with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) from the interior of the Ka'bah, and Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) met him and asked, "What did the Messenger (peace be upon him) do when he entered the Ka'bah?" He said, "He prayed two rak'ahs between the pillars." Look, he is now describing precisely. Bilal is the one describing.

Another questioner : Peace be upon you.

The Shaykh : And upon you be peace and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. And he said to him, "He prayed two rak'ahs between the pillars, and between them and the wall of the Ka'bah were three cubits." This is evidence that he was observing the prayer of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) precisely. This is the hadith of Ibn 'Umar about Bilal, which affirms that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed two rak'ahs in the interior of the Ka'bah. As for Ibn 'Abbas, he says, "He did not pray in the interior of the Ka'bah," but rather outside it. Al-Bukhari said, "So with what did the scholars take? With the hadith of Bilal, which affirms the prayer of the Messenger (peace be upon him) of two rak'ahs, or with the hadith of Ibn 'Abbas, which denied these two rak'ahs?" Al-Bukhari said, "They took the hadith of Bilal to fulfill the rule: 'The affirming is preferred over the denying.'" And this is a consistent rule, on the condition that what the affirmer affirmed is established for us by a chain of narration that serves as proof. Accordingly, Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) affirmed for us the raising when bowing and the raising from it, so we added this to the hadith of Ibn Mas'ud, which affirmed the raising only at the takbir of ihram. Then Anas ibn Malik and Malik ibn al-Huwayris and others of the Companions affirmed the raising in places other than the two that Ibn 'Umar added to Ibn Mas'ud. So it is obligatory for us to take the addition to the narration of Ibn 'Umar, just as we took his addition to the narration of Ibn Mas'ud. This collection is confirmed by the fact that it is authentic from Ibn 'Umar himself, who affirmed the denial of the raising in prostration, that he used to raise his hands in prostration. The scholars say that this is from the fairness of the Companions and their not stopping at what their knowledge reached, but rather some of them benefited from the knowledge of others. So although he said, "I did not see the Messenger (peace be upon him) raising," he was later seen raising, relying on the narrations of the other Companions who saw the Messenger (peace be upon him) raising in that place which Ibn 'Umar himself did not see. With this rule, the affirming hadiths and the denying hadiths are reconciled. And peace be upon you all.

The questioner : And upon you be peace.