[Start of Quote from at-Tirmidhee]"Chapter: what occurs with regards to placing
the right hand upon the left in prayer
‘....and some of them were of the opinion
that you place them above the navel, and some below the navel. And all of that was
comprehensive according to them.’
[End of quote from at-Tirmidhee]
Commentary
His saying,
‘And all of that was com
prehensive according to them (wa kullu dhaalik waasi’un ‘indahum)’
It’s clear meaning is that the difference of
opinion between them over placing the hands above or below the navel is one of choice and
excellence. And know that the ahaadeeth and narrations that occur on this subject differ,
and due to this there occurred a difference amongst the Imaams, may Allaah have mercy upon
them. Here I shall mention the evidences (for each opinion) in 3 sections, alongwith an
explanation of what is for them and against them.
Section One: In explanation of the one who holds to
placing the hands below the navel, and they stick to the following ahaadeeth:
1) The hadeeth of Wa’il bin Hujr (RA)
reported by ibn Abee Shaybah in his ‘Musannaf’ from Wakee’ from Musa bin
Umar from ‘Alqama bin Wail Bin Hujr from his father who said, ‘I saw the Prophet
(sallallaahu `alaihi wasallam) placing his right hand over his left below the navel.’
al-Haafidh al-Qaasim bin Qatloobagaa said in his
‘Takhreej Ahaadeeth al-Ikhtiyaar Sharh al-Mukhtaar’ - ‘this sanad is
good.’ And ash-Shaykh Abu at-Tayyib al-Madanee said in ‘Sharh at-Tirmidhee’
- ‘This hadeeth is strong from the point of view of the sanad.’ And ash-Shaikh
Aabid as-Sindee said in ‘Tawaali al-Anwaar’ - ‘it’s narrators are
trustworthy.’
I say: even if the isnaad of this hadeeth is good,
affirming the words, ‘below the navel’ poses a serious problem. Ash-Shaikh
Muhammad Hayat as-Sindee said in his book, ‘Fath al-Ghafoor,’ ‘the
addition, "below the navel", is problematic, in fact it is a mistake arising
from neglect. For I checked the authentic text of the ‘Musannaf’ and I saw this
hadeeth in it with this sanad, with this wording but without the additional wording,
"below the navel". After this hadeeth is mentioned the narration of
an-Nakha’i and it’s wording is close to the wording of this hadeeth, and at
it’s conclusion are the words, "below the navel." So maybe the sight of the
scribe (of the texts of the ‘Musannaf’) slipped from one place to the other and
interpolated the wording of the mawqoof narration into the marfu’ narration (as
occurs in some of the texts of the ‘Musannaf’)’
And the writer of ‘ad-Durra fee Adh’haar
Gash Naqd as-Surra’ said, ‘And as for the hadeeth of Wail which is depended
upon, reported by ibn Abee Shaybah, then there is a lot of discussion on this hadeeth. For
ibn Abee Shaybah reported this hadeeth, and after it narrated the narration of
an-Nakha’i and the wording of the two is close, and at the conclusion of the wording
of the narration are the words, "below the navel." So the texts (of the
‘Musannaf’) differ, and in some of them occurs the mention of the hadeeth
without specifying the place of the hands followed with the narration of an-Nakha’i,
and in other texts the hadeeth is mentioned with the additional wording without the
narration of an-Nakha’i following it. So it is possible that the addition arises from
negligence on the part of the scribe (of the ‘Musannaf’) by his interpolating
the wording of the narration into the hadeeth. Just as it is possible that the absence of
the wording "below the navel" in the earlier texts (of the ‘Musannaf’
arises from neglect of the writer). But the differing in this way shows that the wording
of the narration got interpolated into the hadeeth.’
I say: and the saying of these scholars is supported
by the fact that Ahmad relates the hadeeth with the same sanad as ibn Abee Shaybah and the
addition does not occur in it. So in the ‘Musnad’ of Ahmad occurs, Wakee’
narrated to us from Musa bin Umar al-’Inbaree from ‘Alqama bin Wail al-Hadramee
from his father who said, ‘I saw the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu `alaihi wasallam) placing his right hand
upon his left in prayer.’
And ad-Daaruqutnee also relates this hadeeth with
the same sanad as ibn Abee Shaybah and there is no mention of the addition in it:
al-Husain bin Ismaa’eel and Uthmaan bin Ja’far bin Muhammad al-Ahwad both
related to us from Yusuf bin Musa from Wakee’ from Musa bin Umar al ’Inbaree
from ‘Alqama bin Wail al-Hadramee from his father who said, ‘I saw the Messenger
of Allaah (sallallaahu `alaihi wasallam) placing his right hand upon his left in the prayer.’
And this is also supported by the fact that ibn
Turkamaanee, the Shaykh of al-Haafidh az-Zayla’i mentioned in his
‘al-Jawhar’ two weak hadeeth to support his madhab where he said, ‘Ibn Hazm
said, "it is reported to us from Abu Hurayra who said, ‘place the hand upon the
hand below the navel.’ And from Anas who said, ‘three are from the manners of
the Prophethood: hastening the iftaar, delaying the suhoor, and placing the right hand
upon the left below the navel in the prayer.’"’
And before these two hadeeth he quotes the narration
of Abu Majliz in the ‘Musannaf’ of ibn Abee Shaybah, ‘Ibn Abee Shaybah said
in his ‘Musannaf’ from Yazeed bin Haaroon from al-Hajjaaj bin Hisaan who said I
heard Abu Majliz or I asked him, "how do I place (my hands)?" He said,
"place the palm of the right hand on the back of the left hand below the
navel"’
And he does not quote any other narration from the
‘Musannaf’ of ibn Abee Shaybah, and it is clear that the narration of Wa’il
in which the addition, ‘below the navel’ occurs was not in there. And if it was
there with this addition then ibn Turkamaanee would have quoted it, for it is
inconceivable that he would mention two da’eef hadeeth to support his madhab, and
quote the narration of Abu Majliz from the ‘Musannaf’, and not quote the
marfu’ hadeeth of Wa’il with this addition present and it’s saheeh sanad.
And this is also supported by the fact that
ash-Shaikh Muhammad Hayat as-Sindee said in his letter, ‘Fath al-Ghafoor’,
‘that more than one of the Companions of Hadeeth reported this hadeeth and there was
no mention of the words, "below the navel", in fact I have not seen or heard any
of the people of knowledge mention this hadeeth with this addition except al-Qaasim. And
this is ibn Abd al-Barr the Haafidh of his time saying in ‘at-Tamheed,’
‘And ath-Thawri and Abu Haneefah said, "below the navel" and this is
narrated from Alee and Ibraaheem an-Nakha’i but it is not authentic from them.’
So if this authentic hadeeth with this additional wording was in the ‘Musannaf’
he would have mentioned it because he often quotes from the ‘Musannaf’ in this
chapter and others. And this ibn Hajr, the Haafidh of his time, saying in his
‘Fath’, ‘And ibn Khuzaimah reported from Wa’il that he placed them
upon his chest, and in al-Bazzaar (the wording is) near his chest (‘inda sadrihi),
and Ahmad reports a similar hadeeth from the hadeeth of Halb.’ And he says in the
‘Takhreej al-Hidaayah’ that the narration of Alee is da’eef, and is
contradicted by the hadeeth of Wail bin Hujr, "I prayed with the Messenger of Allaah
(sallallaahu `alaihi wasallam) and he placed his right hand upon his left on his chest." And he indicates this
in ‘Takhreej Ahaadeeth ar-Raafi’ee.’ So if this addition was present in the
‘Musannaf’ he would have mentioned it, and his books are replete with ahaadeeth
and narrations.
And this is as-Suyutee, the Haafidh of his time,
saying in ‘Wadhaa’if al-Yawn wa al-Lail’, ‘he used to place his right
hand upon his left and place them firmly on his chest.’ And he mentioned in his
‘Jaami al-Kabeer’ about eight hadeeth of Wail from the ‘Musannaf’ and
the wording of some of them is, ‘I saw the Prophet (sallallaahu `alaihi wasallam) place his right hand upon
his left in prayer.’ And this is the wording that the author of ‘Naqd
as-Surra’ mentioned with the addition, ‘below the navel’ and if this
addition was present then as-Suyutee would have mentioned it. And this is al-Aini saying
in the commentary of Bukhaaree, ‘ash-Shaafi’ee relied upon the hadeeth of
Wa’il bin Hujr reported by ibn Khuzaimah in his ‘Saheeh’ who said, "I
prayed behind the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu `alaihi wasallam) and he placed his right hand upon his left on
his chest." And our Hanafee scholars seek support with evidences that are not strong
(ghayru watheeqa).’
So if this addition was present in the
‘Musannaf’ he would have mentioned it, and his works are replete with quotes
from it. And this is ibn Ameer al-Haaj, who outdid his shaykh ibn al-Hammaam in research
and depth of investigation, saying in ‘Sharh al-Maniyyah’, ‘What is
established in the Sunnah is to place the right hand upon the left in prayer, and there is
no authentic hadeeth that establishes the place of placing them on the body except the
aforementioned hadeeth of Wa’il.’ So if this hadeeth were present with this
addition, Ibn Ameer al-Haaj would have mentioned it especially since his commentaries are
overflowing with quotes from the ‘Musannaf’." [End of quote from as-Sindee]
I say (in conclusion): the aforementioned hadeeth of
Wail bin Hujr even though it’s sanad is good, there is a severe problem in affirming
the wording, ‘below the navel’ as you have come to know.
2) The hadeeth of Alee (RA)
reported by Abu
Dawood, Ahmad, ibn Abee Shaybah, ad-Daaruqutnee, al-Bayhaqee and Abu Juhayfah that Alee
said, ‘the Sunnah is to place the hand upon the hand below the navel.’
I say: it’s isnaad contains Abd ar-Rahmaan
Ishaaq al-Waasitee, and this hadeeth revolves around him. And he is da’eef and it is
not correct to depend upon him. al-Haafidh az-Zayla’i said in ‘Nasb
ar-Raayah’ after mentioning this hadeeth, ‘ibn Qattaan said, "Abd
ar-Rahmaan bin Ishaaq, he is ibn al-Harb Abu Shaybah al-Waasitee and ibn Hanbal and Abu
Haatim said about him, "rejected in hadeeth." And ibn Ma’een said, "he
is nothing." And Bukhaaree said, "there is a problem in him." And
al-Bayhaqee said in ‘al-Ma’rifah’, "it’s isnaad is not authentic,
And ar-Rahmaan bin Ishaaq al-Waasitee is alone in reporting it and he is abandoned."
And an-Nawawee said in ‘al-Khulaasa’ and ‘Sharh Saheeh Muslim’,
"and it is a hadeeth which is weak by agreement for Abd ar-Rahmaan bin Ishaaq is weak
by agreement."’
And Shaikh ibn al-Hammaam said in
‘at-Tahreer’, ‘when al-Bukhaaree says about someone, "there is a
problem in him" then his hadeeth are not depended upon or used for support, or given
any consideration.’
So when you come to know all of this, it becomes
clear that this hadeeth of Alee is not to be depended upon, or used as support or given
any consideration. Then it also contradicts the tafseer of Alee to the saying of Allaah,
"wanhar" that he placed his hand upon the center of his left forearm and placed
them upon his chest - reported by al-Bayhaqee, ibn Abee Shaybah, ibn al-Mundhir, ibn Abee
Haatim, ad-Daaruqutnee, Abu ash-Shaykh, al-Haakim and ibn Mardawiyyah as in ‘ad-Durra
al-Manthoor’.
al-Faadil Mulla al-Haddaad said in ‘Haashiyah
al-Hidaayah’, ‘so when the hadeeth of placing the hands below the navel is weak,
and contradicts the narration of Alee that he explained His saying, "wanhar", by
placing the right hand upon his left on his chest then it is obligatory to act upon the
hadeeth of Wa’il which an-Nawawee mentioned. Then this (da’eef) hadeeth of Alee
is also to be considered abrogated according to the way of the Hanafiyyah. The author of
‘ad-Durra fee Idh’haar Gash Naqd as-Surra’, and he is Hanafee in madhab,
said, "Abu Dawood reports on the authority of Jarir ad-Dabbi that he said, ‘I
saw Alee placing his right hand upon his left wrist above the navel.’ So the
principle of our scholars is that when the Companion acts contrary to what he narrates
then this indicates the abrogation of what is narrated.’
I say: the isnaad of the narration of Alee, I mean
the one that Abu Dawood relates from Jarir ad-Dabbi is saheeh as you will come to know.
3) The hadeeth of Abu Hurayra reported by Abu
Dawood from Abu Waa’il who said, ‘Abu Hurayra said, hold the hand with the hand
below the navel.’ I say: the isnaad of this hadeeth also contains Abd ar-Rahmaan bin
Ishaaq al-Waasitee. So this hadeeth is also not fit to depend upon, or use as a support or
give any consideration to as you have just come to know.
4) The hadeeth that ibn Hazm mentions in
‘al-Muhalla’ in ta’leeq form from Anas with the wording, ‘three are
from the manners of the Prophethood: hastening the iftaar, delaying the suhoor, and
placing the right hand upon the left below the navel in the prayer.’
I say: I have not come across the sanad of this
hadeeth, and the Hanafee scholars mention it in their books and depend upon it but they do
not mention it’s isnaad. And if the isnaad of something is not known then it is not
correct to depend upon it, or use it as support or give it any consideration.
The author of ‘ad-Durra’ said, ‘and
as for the hadeeth of Anas, "from the manners of the Prophethood is placing the right
hand upon the left below the navel" about which al-Aini said that it is reported by
ibn Hazm, then it’s sanad is not known so as to look into it’s narrators and see
if they are acceptable or not. And this hadeeth has been reported by more than one of the
Muhadditheen without the addition, "below the navel", and an addition (to the
wording of a hadeeth) is only acceptable from known and reliable narrators.’
Ash-Shaikh Haashim as-Sindee said in his letter,
‘Diraahim as-Surra’, ‘and from them is what az-Zaahidee mentioned in his
‘Sharh al-Qudooree’, and ibn Ameer al-Haaj and ibn Najeem mentioned in
‘al-Bahr ar-Raa’iq’, that it is reported from the Prophet (sallallaahu `alaihi wasallam) ,
"three are from the habit of the Messengers: hastening the iftaar, delaying the
suhoor, and placing the right hand upon the left below the navel in prayer." He said:
I have not come across the sanad to this hadeeth except that az-Zaahidee added that it is
reported by Alee bin Abu Taalib (RA) from the Prophet (sallallaahu `alaihi wasallam) . But ibn Ameer al-Haaj and ibn
Najeem said, "that the reporters of hadeeth do not know the wording, ‘below the
navel’ from a marfoo or mawqoof narration."’
So these ahaadeeth that are depended upon to place
the hands below the navel as you have come to know that none of them are correct to use as
evidence.
Section 2: In mention of the one who sticks to
holding the hands above the navel.
I have not come across a marfu’ hadeeth that
lends evidence to this position. Yes there is the narration of Alee (RA) which indicates
this, as reported by Abu Dawood in his ‘Sunan’ from Jareer ad-Dabbi who said,
‘I saw Alee grasping his left wrist with his right hand above the navel.’
I say: this isnaad is saheeh or hasan, but it is the
action of Alee and is not marfu’. Also the clear meaning of his saying, ‘above
the navel’ is a place raised from the navel, i.e. upon the chest or near the chest,
as occurs in the hadeeth of Wa’il bin Hujr and the hadeeth of Halb at-Taa’ee and
the mursal of Tawwoos, and these three ahaadeeth will follow. And this interpretation is
supported by his (RA) tafseer of His saying, "wanhar" by placing the hands upon
the chest in the prayer as has preceded.
Section 3: In mention of the one who holds to
placing the hands upon the chest.
These depend on some ahaadeeth, from them the
hadeeth of Wa’il bin Hujr who said, ‘I prayed with the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu `alaihi wasallam)
and he placed his right hand upon his left on his chest in the prayer.’ Reported by
ibn Khuzaimah, and this hadeeth is authentic, authenticated by ibn Khuzaimah as was made
clear by ibn Sayyid an-Naas in his ‘Sharh at-Tirmidhee.’ And ash-Shaikh Muhammad
Qaa’im as-Sindee al-Hanafee acknowledges this in his letter, ‘Fawz
al-Kiraam’ that this hadeeth fulfills the conditions of ibn Khuzaimah where he says,
‘I believe that this hadeeth fulfills the conditions of ibn Khuzaimah, and this is
strongly suggested in the manner of al-Haafidh in ‘al-Ittihaaf’, and is obvious
from the words of ibn Sayyid an-Naas after he mentioned the hadeeth of Wa’il bin Hujr
in ‘Sharh at-Tirmidhee’ - "and ibn Khuzaimah authenticated it".’
And ibn Ameer al-Haaj, who outdid his shaykh ibn
al-Hammaam in research and depth of investigation, said in ‘Sharh al-Minniyyah’,
‘What is established in the Sunnah is to place the right hand upon the left in
prayer, and there is no authentic hadeeth that establishes the place of placing them on
the body except the aforementioned hadeeth of Wa’il.’
And this was likewise said by the author of
‘al-Bahr ar-Raa’iq’ as is found in ‘Fath al-Ghafoor’ of Shaikh
Hayat as-Sindee. And ash-Shawkanee said in ‘Nail’, ‘and ibn Khuzaimah
reported in his ‘Saheeh’ and authenticated it.’
And al-Haafidh said in ‘Fath al-Baaree’ ,
‘and he did not mention (i.e. Sahl bin Sa’d) the place to put them on the body.
And ibn Khuzaimah reported from Wa’il that "he placed them upon his chest",
and in al-Bazzaar (the wording is) "near his chest" (‘inda sadrihi), and
Ahmad reports a similar hadeeth from the hadeeth of Halb. And in the ‘Zawaa’id
al-Musnad’ is the hadeeth of Alee that he placed his hands below the navel and
it’s isnaad is da’eef.’
And it is clear from the words of al-Haafidh that he
considered the hadeeth of Wa’il to be saheeh or hasan, because he mentioned here
three hadeeth for the purpose of appointing the place where the hands are to be placed:
the hadeeth of Wa’l, the hadeeth of Halb and the hadeeth of Alee. And he declared the
hadeeth of Alee to be da’eef, and was silent about the hadeeth of Wa’il and
Halb, and if these were also weak according to him then he would have made that
clear.......And also al-Haafidh made clear in ‘ad-Diraayah’, after mentioning
the hadeeth of Wa’il reported by ibn Khuzaimah, ‘it is in Muslim without the
words, "upon his chest"’.
So it is clear from the words of al-Haafidh that
this hadeeth is reported in Muslim, with the same text and sanad, but without mentioning
where the hands were to be placed.
In conclusion the hadeeth of Wa’il bin Hujr is
saheeh and acceptable to depend upon and to derive evidence that placing the hands on the
chest in prayer is totally correct.
And from the hadeeth that these scholars depend upon
is the hadeeth of Halb at-Taa’ee reported by Imaam Ahmad in his ‘Musnad’
that Yahya bin Sa’eed narrated to us from Sufyaan, from Samaak bin Qabeesa bin Halb
from his father that, ‘I saw the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu `alaihi wasallam) turn from his left to
right, and place these on his chest, and Yahya al-Yamanee depicted this by placing the
right hand upon the left (on the chest) above the level of the elbows.’ And the
narrators of this hadeeth are all trustworthy, and the isnaad is linked ....[biographies
of the narrators omitted]....and the author of ‘Aathar as-Sunan’ acknowledged
that it was hasan, so to derive evidence from this that the place for the hands in prayer
is on the chest is correct.
And from the ahaadeeth these scholars depend upon is
the hadeeth of Tawoos reported by Abu Dawood in ‘al-Maraaseel’ who said,
‘Abu Tawba narrated to us from al-Haytham i.e. ibn Humaid from Thawr from Sulaiman
bin Musa from Tawoos who said, ‘The Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu `alaihi wasallam) placed his right hand
upon his left and placed them firmly upon his chest while in prayer.’
And this hadeeth is found in some of the texts of
Abu Dawood. And al-Haafidh al-Mizzi said in ‘al-Atraaf’ under the letter
‘taa’ from the book ‘al-Maraaseel’: ‘the hadeeth reported by Abu
Dawood in ‘Kitaab al-Maraaseel’ and this was likewise stated by al-Bayhaqee in
‘al-Ma’rifah’. And the hadeeth of Tawoos is mursal, because Tawoos is a
Taabi’ee (so he could not have seen the Messenger 9= (sallallaahu `alaihi wasallam) ) and it’s isnaad is
hasan. And the mursal hadeeth is considered a proof with Abu Hanifah and Maalik and Ahmad
in general. And according to Shaafi’ee it is a proof when supported by something that
occurs via another route that builds upon the first route be it Musnad or mursal. And this
mursal hadeeth is supported by the aforementioned hadeeth of Wa’il and Halb
at-Taa’iee. So deriving evidence from these to place the hands upon the chest in
prayer is correct.
Addendum: Some of the Hanafiyyah try to claim that
the hadeeth of Wa’il is mudtarib (confused/confounded) because ibn Khuzaimah reports
this hadeeth with the wording ‘upon the chest’ and al-Bazzar with the wording
‘near the chest’ and ibn Abee Shaybah with the wording ‘below the
navel’.
I say: it is firmly established in the Usul of
Hadeeth that if the hadeeth simply differs in it’s wordings then this does not
necessitate idtiraab. Rather from it’s conditions is that the different aspects of
the narrations be equivalent in authenticity, so if one of the narrations is found to be
stronger then it takes precedence, and if they are equivalent then one can find a
reconciliation according to the principles of the Scholars of hadeeth.
And in this case the aspects of difference are not
equivalent, for indeed affirming the wording of Ibn Abee Shaybah ‘below the
navel’ poses a serious problem as has preceded. And as for the wording of ibn
Khuzaimah, ‘upon the chest’, and the wording of al-Bazzar, ‘near the
chest’, then the first is stronger and takes precedence over the second, the reason
being that the first has supports with the hadeeth of Halb and the mursal of Tawoos,
contrary to the second for it has no witnesses.......and even if we were to accept that
they were equivalent then a reconciliation is possible - that the two narrations were
reported with regards to two different prayers. And similar to this difference is the
difference of the wording of the ahaadeeth to do with raising the hands to the level of
the shoulders or to the level of the ears. [i.e. the narrations depict different prayers
and it is permissible to do either/or]. So the saying of the Hanafiyyah that the hadeeth
of Wa’il is mudtarib is not to be given any attention.
[the next three pages (83-85) go on to refute the
claim of the Hanafiyyah that the hadeeth of Wa’il is shaadh (odd/irregular) and why
the narrations here are not shaadh and the hadeeth of ibn Masud ‘then he did not
repeat that’ is]
On Placing the Hands in the Prayer