Benefits of the Hadith: (That the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to raise his hands to the level of his shoulders when he began the prayer . . . ) .

The Shaykh : Yes, so we take from this hadith several benefits, among which is:
The eagerness of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) to follow the actions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).
And among them is the permissibility of looking at the imam. Let us consider whether this benefit can be derived from this hadith or not. It appears that we can derive it, and that it is not a report from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) to Ibn 'Umar, meaning that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) did not say, "I raise my hands when I say the takbir," is that clear? If that had been the case, Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) would have mentioned it, because attributing it to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is more emphatic. And what indicates the permissibility of the ma'mum looking at the imam is what is established in Sahih al-Bukhari and others during the eclipse prayer, when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said to the Companions when Paradise was shown to me when the Fire was shown to him. And what indicates this is that the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them), when asked how it moved, and this indicates that the ma'mum sees the imam. And what indicates this, and this is the fifth proof, is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), when he prayed on the minbar, the first thing he did was say: And this indicates that they see him. But is this a sunnah with every imam so that the ma'mum may seek to follow him, or is it a sunnah with an imam who is followed and emulated for his knowledge and his application of the sunnah?
The student: The second.

The Shaykh : The apparent view is the second one, that if there is a person around him and the man is well-known, and the imam is well-known for his knowledge and what? And for his application of the sunnah, because not every scholar applies the sunnah. But if he is not a scholar, the matter is clear that he is not followed. The apparent view for me is the second one, and Allah knows best. The apparent view is the second one: if the imam is one of knowledge and religion who acts upon the sunnah, then there is no harm in the ma'mum looking at him in order to learn his prayer, how he learns. But on the condition that this does not lead to turning the head. If it leads to turning the head because the ma'mum is far away in the extreme of the row, then he should not do it, because the original ruling on turning the head in prayer is that it is disliked.
Among the benefits of this hadith is the prescription of raising the hands to the level of the shoulders, all together, like this, all together, like this, not the right before the left, no, all together.
If someone asks, what is the benefit of that? The answer is that it is an adornment for the prayer and a sign of the lifting of the veil between you and Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and it is an adornment for the prayer.
And among the benefits of this hadith is that the raising is to the level of the shoulders. And in the hadith of Malik ibn Huwayrith And in it is a third hadith that the author did not mention So is the description one, and the one he mentioned, that it is to the level of his shoulders, considered the bottom of the palm, and the one mentioned to the roots of the ears considered the top of the palm, or are they multiple descriptions? The apparent view is the second one, and the matter in this is broad. If he raises his hands to the level of the shoulders, it is sunnah; to the lobes of the ears, it is sunnah; to the roots of the ears, it is sunnah. But the exaggeration of some people or the negligence of some people is contrary to the sunnah. Some people, you see them when they want to say the takbir, is this correct or not? Yes, above the head, this is not correct. Okay, some people say the takbir to the level of the chest, raising to the level of the chest, this is also contrary to the sunnah. And is this an innovation or a shortcoming in the sunnah? Yes?
The student: ...

The Shaykh : There is a possibility. The man worships Allah with this, he worships Allah with this, but considering that he sees it as the sunnah, he exits from the innovation by this and that is ignorance, so he is taught, he is taught and it is said, this is not from the sunnah. Okay, if he says in supplication, raising his hands to the top of his chest or to the roots of the ears or to more? This is permissible, and the more a person becomes supplicating to Allah, the more he raises his hands, until the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) in the supplication for rain used to raise his hands a lot until the observer saw that the palms of his hands were toward the sky, and not as some scholars understood that he made the palms of his hands toward the sky and then added to that and said, if the supplication is for bringing good, extend your hands like this, and if it is for repelling evil, say like this. This has no validity, and the correct view, as said by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him), is that due to the exaggeration in raising the hands, their backs became toward the sky.
Okay, among the benefits of this hadith is the prescription of raising the hands when saying the takbir for bowing and when raising the head from bowing. These are three places. A fourth place remains, which is also established in the authentic hadith from Ibn 'Umar, and that is when he stands up from the first tashahhud. When he stands up from the first tashahhud, and the reason for that is that the prayer after the first tashahhud differs in its form from before the first tashahhud; it is limited to al-Fatihah and its rak'ahs and prostrations are lighter than what preceded, so it is as if he entered a new prayer. But when does he raise? He raises when he stands up. And as for what is mentioned from some of the brothers who are eager to follow the sunnah, that he raises while sitting, this is a mistake without doubt. He only raises when he stands up. And does he raise in the remaining transitions? The answer, listen, Ibn 'Umar says: And it was narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) , whenever he lowered and whenever he raised, but this hadith is not authentic.
First, because it does not match the hadith of Ibn 'Umar in authenticity, because the hadith of Ibn 'Umar is in the two Sahihs and this is not in them.
Second, as Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said in "Zad al-Ma'ad", that the narrator made a mistake and he intended to say, "he says the takbir whenever he lowers and raises," but he said, "he raises his hands whenever he lowers and raises." If someone asks, do you not say that the affirming is preferred over the negating in the first case? The answer is yes, we say this, but Ibn 'Umar now, in his saying , is considered an affirmer in reality, because the man observes the prayer from its beginning to its end and says, "he raises his hands in such and such and does not raise in such and such." This is affirmation and is not like absolute affirmation and negation. Correct, absolute affirmation and negation has an increase of knowledge with the affirmer, so it is preferred. But as for a man who details, saying, "he used to do such and such in such and such and he used not to do this in such and such," it is correct that he is following and that he ... is certain. And therefore the stronger view is that it is not sunnah to raise the hands except in these four places, and they are?
The student: The takbir of ihram.

The Shaykh : At the takbir of ihram.
The student: Bowing.

The Shaykh : At the time of bowing.
The student: Raising from it.

The Shaykh : At the time of raising from it.
The student: At the time of standing up ..

The Shaykh : At the time of standing up from the first tashahhud. Okay, if someone asks, if there is a masbuq and he catches up with the imam for three rak'ahs of the Zuhr, for example, and he stands up to make up the fourth, does he raise his hands or not?
The student: No.

The Shaykh : Does he raise, and we say that this is standing up from a tashahhud, so he is like one who stands up from the first tashahhud, or does he not raise? This is a matter for consideration. We may say by analogy, and we may say by not using analogy, because acts of worship?
The student: Are based on specific texts.

The Shaykh : Do not have analogy, they remain as they are. And we may say that this rare situation did not occur from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), and it is in reality standing up from a tashahhud, so it is exactly like standing up from the first tashahhud. The matter in this is broad for me: if he raises, we do not forbid him, and if he does not raise, we do not order him.
Okay, but here is a question: when is the raising? Is it with the beginning of the takbir? Or after the takbir? Or before the takbir? The answer is that all are sunnah. It was reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that when he said the takbir, he raised, and it was reported that he raises then says the takbir, and it was reported that he raises with the takbir. The hadith of Abu Humayd says: So the raising is before. The hadith of Ibn 'Umar: So the raising is? After, because he is not considered to have begun the prayer until he says the takbir. There is also a hadith, but the author did not mention it, that he says the takbir with the raising, so this is from what differed in the sunnah: say the takbir first then raise, raise first then say the takbir, make the takbir with the raising. Questions? Yes?

The questioner : May Allah reward you. Some imams are such that their state is unknown; that is, when a worshipper comes to pray behind them, he does not know whether the imam is a mujtahid (a scholar qualified to derive rulings) or not, or whether he adheres to the Sunnah.

The Shaykh : From what perspective?

The questioner : From the perspective of following him. If the ma'mum (one praying behind the imam) says, "I look at him so that I may follow him," based on the generality of the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in his saying: .

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : He says, "I look at him so that I may follow him," but he does not know his state: is he a mujtahid or not? So he takes the generality of the hadith. Is that permissible for him?

The Shaykh : It is possible to follow him without looking. Following him without looking is possible.

The questioner : For example, the imam brings his knees forward.

The Shaykh : Very well.

The questioner : And the ma'mum, for example, believes that bringing the knees forward is contrary to the Sunnah.

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : So he says, "I look at him to see if he brings his knees forward or brings his hands forward."

The Shaykh : That is not necessary in terms of following him. For example, if we assume that the imam does not consider raising the hands [in takbir] to be required, and I do consider it required, then I raise them. If he does not consider sitting cross-legged (tawarruk) in the final tashahhud to be required, and I do consider it required, then I sit cross-legged. What is prohibited is opposing him, such as lagging behind him or getting ahead of him; that is prohibited. Yes.