21)
Raf ul Yad'ain
Raf'ay-yadayn simply means to raise the hands during prayer.
When people begin their salat, they raise their hands to signify
that they have left all things and submitted themselves towards
Allah alone. This also signifies the individual's testimony of Allah's
Unity. The Hanafis (as members of the Ahl as-Sunna wa'l-Jama'a)
believe that this act of raising the hands to the level of the ears
should only be undertaken at the start of the prayer and not during
it.
There are those who hold the opinion that raf' al-yadayn should
also be done before and after the ruku'; they hold their position
because of the following reasons:
1) The Prophet (may Allahbless him and grant him peace) used to
do this.
2) This was the practice of the Khulafa' ar-Rashidun and the 'Ashara
al-Mubashshara (the ten Companions of the Prophet (may Allah
bless him and grant him peace) who were given glad tidings of Janna
on this earth during their lives). Altogether, there are proofs
from twenty Companions.
3) The narrations of raf' al-yadayn are mutawatir (ahadith which
have been narrated by many authentic narrators during the period
of the Companions, The Tabi'un, and their students).
4) Raf' ay-yadayn is a pillar of salat and leaving it makes the
salat invalid.
However, the position of the Hanafi madhab is that towards the
end of our beloved Prophet's (may Allahbless him and grant him peace)
life the practice of raf' al-yadayn had been abrogated, and that
the Messenger of Allah (may Allahbless him and grant him peace)
during his last prayers on this earthly life only performed raf'
al-yadayn at the beginning of his salat.However, there were still
some Sahaba who unknowingly continued the practice of raf' al-yadayn,
without realizing that it had indeed been abrogated and obsolete.It
was for this reason that at times, those who knew of its abrogation,
began to ask those who continued its practice for their reason for
doing so.
Regarding the claim that twenty Companions, including the 'Ashara
al-Mubashshara and the Khulafa ar-Rashidun, performed raf'
al-yadayn ,this incidentally proves that the majority of the Companions
did not practise raf' al-yadayn . Secondly, if this claim is true
then why is this not recorded in Bukhari and Muslim, or in any other
famous book of Hadith? If the support for twenty Companions practising
raf' al-yadayn is not found in any Hadith book then how can this
claim be true?
The claim that the hadith regarding raf' al-yadayn is mutawatir
is also not true. This is because Imam Muslim and Imam al-Bukhari
have only narrated the action of raf' al-yadayn from two Companions:
'Abdullah ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) and Malik ibn
Huwayris. Imam Zuhri narrated the hadith from Salim and Salim in
turn narrated from 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar. Abu Qalaba and Nasr narrated
from Malik ibn Huwayris, and from them, Khalid and Qatada narrated.
In any one of these chains there is only one narrator at a time,
whilst in the other there were two at a time. How can this be called
mutawatir? The above narrator's position and the narrations which
go against the above narrations will be discussed later, insha'llah.
Regarding the claim that omitting raf' al-yadayn invalidates salat,
nobody from among the Companions or even the Prophet (may Allahbless
him and grant him peace) himself said that omitting raf' al-yadayn
invalidates salat. The evidence for raf' al-yadayn being a pillar
of salat is not even found in the books which contain collections
of fabricated hadith. It is another matter if someone decides to
introduce fabricated hadith!
Analysis of Those Narrations Which Prove Raf' ay- yadayn
Ibn Jurayj narrated from Zuhri who narrated from Salim who narrated
from 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) that Ibn
'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
"I saw the Prophet (may Allahbless him and grant him peace)
offering salat; he raised his hands up to his shoulders at the beginning
of salat and also before and after the ruku', but not between the
two prostrations"
[Bukhari and Muslim , chapter
on 'Raf' ay-yadayn']
Those who follow the Hanafi madhab believe that this hadith only
proves that the Prophet (may Allahbless him and grant him peace)
performed raf' al-yadayn during his lifetime, but it does not prove
that he (may Allahbless him and grant him peace) performed it in
his last prayers. Also it does not prove that raf' al-yadayn is
an emphasized Sunna. One example is given below:
Imams al-Bukhari & Muslim record that when Hazrat 'A'isha (may
Allah be pleased with her) was in her menstruation, the Prophet
(may Allah bless him and grant him peace) used to place his head
in her lap and recite the Qur'an [Bukhari & Muslim,
Bab al-Hayd]. From this hadith we cannot conclude that reciting
the Qur'an in the lap of one's menstruating wife is an emphasized
Sunna. In the same way, the naration from Ibn 'Umar does not prove
that raf' al-yadayn is an emphasized Sunna. Also Ibn 'Umar's narration
seems to go against some of his other narrations.
Imam adh-Dhahabi writes:
"Ibn'Umar said that he swore by Allah that raf' al-yadayn
is bid'a and that he had never seen the Prophet (may Allah bless
him and grant him peace) practicing it
(adh-Dhahabi, Mizan al-I'tidal, Biography of Bishr ibn
Harab]
Ibn 'Umar, in another place, said that the Prophet (may Allah bless
him and grant him peace) said: "Raf' ay-yadayn is only done
in seven places: once to start salat and six times during hajj"
[Kanz al-'ammal, vol. 7, p35]
The teacher of Imam al-Bukhari and Muslim, Imam Humaydi, writes:
"The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) used
to only practise raf' al-yadayn at the start of the prayer"
{Musnad Humaydi, vol. 1, p277]
Imam an-Nasa'i writes: "Malik ibn Huwayris reported that the
Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) used to perform
raf' al-yadayn before and after the ruku', and also between the
two sajdas"
[an-Nasa'I, Bab Raf' al-Yadayn]
From the above narrations it can be seen that Ibn 'Umar's narration
of raf' al-yadayn goes against his own narrations based on a direct
commandment from the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him
peace). It also goes against the narrations of Imam Humaydi, Imam
an-Nasa'i andMalik ibn Huwayris.
Examination of Above Narrations
(1) Imam al-Bukhari's above narration is against Imam Nasa'i's
narration.
(2) Imam Abu Dawud said this narration is not directly from the
action of the Prophet (may Allahbless him and grant him peace),
but is in fact the action of 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased
with him).[Sunan of Abu Dawud, chapter on 'Salat']
(3) Ibn 'Umar's above narrations prove that the Prophet (may Allahbless
him and grant him peace) did raf' al-yadayn nine or ten times during
salat [Bukhari, chapter on 'Salat']
(4) Imam Malik writes, regarding the above narrations by Ibn 'Umar:
"The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) use
to do raf' al-yadayn five times in salat." He also said: "This
is the action of Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) and not
the action of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace)
[Imam Malik, al-Muwatta', chapter on 'Salat']
We can see that when this narration was narrated in Madina it was
narrated to be five raf' al-yadayn in salat. When it reached Bukhara
it changed from five to nine or ten raf' al-yadayn in salat.
Let us first examine the narrators of Ibn 'Umar's hadith - 'Abd
al-Malik ibn Jurayj and Imam Zuhri:
'Abd al-Malik ibn Jurayj
Imam adh-Dhahabi and Imam al-'Asqalani write:
"Ibn Jurayj did not take narrations directly from people but
he would attribute the narrations to them in such a way as to convince
people that he actually heard the narrations from those people directly.
The scholars of Hadith have called this process tadlis.
Imam Ahmad said that Ibn Jurayj has narrated some ahadith which
were fabricated. Also Ibn Jurayj is said to have performed mut'a
[a marriage contract for a limited period] with 90 women in Makka
al-Mukarrama [this was after it was made haram for Muslims]. Khurasani
said that his narrations were weak. Also he never heard a narration
from Imam Zuhri but only asked his permission if he could use his
name in narrations"
[adh-Dhahabi, Mizan al-I'tidal and Tadhkirat
al-Huffaz; al-'Asqalani, Tahzib at-Tahzib, Biography of
'Abd al-Malik ibn Jurayj]
Imam Zuhri
The main narrator of the above narration is Imam Zuhri. Indeed
the narration is almost completely based on his narration. Before
Imam Zuhri, the chain of narration of this Hadith was Umar ibn 'Abd
al- Aziz, then Salim, then Imam Zuhri. After Imam Zuhri, his students
made it more famous.
Imam adh-Dhahabi writes:
"Imam Zuhri's full name was Muhammad ibn Muslim ibn 'Abdullah
ibn Shihab az-Zuhri. However, he is famous as Ibn Shihab az-Zuhri.
He was born in the 50th year AH in Madina. He saw only
a few Companions of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him
peace). He was such a great scholar that many scholars of his time
used to praise him, including even 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar (may Allah
be pleased with him).
[adh-Dhahabi, Tadhkirat al-Huffaz and
Tahzib at-Tahzib, Biography of Imam Zuhri]
It is a fact that Imam Zuhri has narrated hadith (which have been
collected by Muslim and Bukhari) which show that the family of the
Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and the Companions
did not get on well with each other [Sahih Muslim and Sahih
Bukhari, Bab al-Fay]. The truth is that the Prophet's (may
Allah bless him and grant him peace) family and the Companions did
get on well with each other.
Hafiz al-'Asqalani wrote:
"It was a habit of Imam Zuhri to perform tadlis and attribute
the narrations to people like 'Abd ar-Rahman ibn Azhar, Ibn Ka'b,
Abban, Ibn Uthman, Ibn Hakim, Ibn as-Salimi, 'Abdullah ibn Ja'far,
'Ubadah ibn as-Samit, Rafi', Umm 'Abdullah, Abu Hurayra, and 'Abdullah
ibn 'Umar. Concerning 'Abdullah ibn Umar, the scholars of Hadith
are split as to whether Imam Zuhri actually saw him or not. In the
same way, there is no proof that Imam Zuhri did take narrations
from 'Urwa ibn Zubayr. Nethertheless, the scholars of Hadith accept
these narrations which Imam Zuhri allegedly took from 'Urwa. For
us, this is evidence and we should therefore believe that Imam Zuhri
heard something from 'Urwa. Imam Zuhri was from a group of scholars
of Hadith who used to 'grab' hadith when they heard them
[Tahzib at-Tahzib, Biography of Imam Zuhri]
Tadlis - What is it?
Hafiz al-'Asqalani writes:
"The literal meaning of the arabic word 'tadlis' is 'hiding'.
Technically, it means to hide a hadith narrator. If a muhaddith
did tadlis, he would use a narrator's name but it would be a name
by which he was not commonly known. Thus, the identity of the weak
narrator was hidden. The stronger narrators in the chain would be
emphasized so that the attention of the hearer of the hadith would
be diverted
[al-'Asqalani, Sharh an-Nukhba, chapter
on 'Tadlis']
Imam adh-Dhahabi and Hafiz al-'Asqalani write:
"Imam Zuhri narrated 2, 200 ahadith, of which about a half
have a chain leading to the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant
him peace). He used to perform tadlis, albeit of a minor manner.
Imam Zuhri's murasil ahadith [where a Tabi'i quoted a hadith directly
from the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) without
mentioning the Companion from whom he received it] used to be weaker
than other peoples'
[adh-Dhahabi, Tadhkirat al-Huffaz; al-'Asqalani,Tahzib
at-Tahzib, Biography of Imam Zuhri]
Imam adh-Dhahabi narrated that Imam Shubah Wasiti writes: "I
would rather fall from the skies and be broken to pieces, than to
perform tadlis" [Tadhkirat al-Huffaz, Biography of
Imam Shubah Wasiti]
Hafiz al-'Asqalani writes:
"Yazid ibn Zuray was asked, 'What is the legal ruling regarding
tadlis?' To this, he replied 'It is an absolute lie'
[Tahzib at-Tahzib, Biography of Yazid
ibn Zuray]
Imam adh-Dhahabi writes:
"Sulayman ibn Harb said that Imam Jarir 'Azdi was asked about
tadlis. The Imam said, 'I reject it. A mudallis [one who performs
tadlis] shows that which he has not heard' "
[Tadhkirat al-Huffaz, Biography of Imam
Jarir ibn Hazin 'Azdi]
Hafiz Ibn Kathir writes:
"Imam ash-Shafi'i rejects all the narrations of any muhaddith
who did tadlis, but other scholars say that if a mudallis identified
who he took narrations from and if that was a reliable source, that
particular narration would be accepted"
[Ibn Kathir, Ikhtisar 'Ulum al-Hadith,
chapter on 'Tadlis']
Hafiz al-'Asqalani writes:
"If a mudallis uses the words 'Qala' [so and so said], or
'An, [from so-and-so]in a narration, the hadith will be rejected.
However, if the mudallis uses a word implying that he directly heard
the narration i.e. 'sami'tu' [I heard] then he would be lying. The
rule concerning such people is that even if the mudallis was truthful,
the hadith would not be accepted"
[al-'Asqalani, Sharh an-Nukhbah, chapter
on 'Hadith Mu'dal']
Idraj and Imam Zuhri
Imam Zuhri used to do idraj, so it was difficult for people to
understand his narrated ahadith.
Hafiz al-'Asqalani writes:
"Idraj literally means 'inserting something.' Its technical
meaning is to insert one's own words into the text of a narration.
Sometimes the text could be added at the start, or at the end. To
find the actual hadith text from a mudrij [person who performs idraj]
is very difficult. Either the hadith was analyzed be someone who
had very deep knowledge, or the mudrij showed which words he inserted
into the hadith text"
[al-'Asqalani, Sharh an-Nukhbah, chapter
on 'Hadith Mudrij']
Imam al-Bukhari writes:
"It was reported by Imam Malik that the famous scholar of
Hadith, Rabi'a Turayy, used to advise Imam Zuhri to show clearly
in his narrations which were his own words and which were those
of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace)"
[al-Bukhari, Ta'rikh al-Kabir, Biography
of Rabi'a Turayy]
Muslim and Bukhari contain ahadith in which Imam
Zuhri has inserted his own words. Scholars of Hadith have refuted
these words. An example is given below:
Imam Muslim and Imam al-Bukhari write:
When Hazrat Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) became the
khalifa, Hazrat 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) did not give
bay'a (pledge of allegiance) to him nor did the tribe of Banu Hashim.
However, six months later, after Hazrat Fatima (may Allah be pleased
with her) passed away they all [including 'Ali] gave bay'a to him"
[Bukhari, chapter on 'Khaybar'; Muslim,
Bab al-Fayy]
Hafiz al-'Asqalani writes:
"Imam Ibn Hibban, Imam al-Bayhaqi, and other scholars of Hadith
say that this narration contains some of Imam Zuhri's own words.
Somebody told Imam Zuhri that when Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased
with him) became the khalifa, Hazrat 'Ali (may Allah be pleased
with him) did not give bay'a for six months. Imam Zuhri did not
contain himself with only 'Ali, but asserted that the whole tribe
of Banu Hashim did not give bay'a to Abu Bakr until Hazrat Fatima
(may Allah be pleased with her) passed away. The fact is that Imam
Zuhri's words are wrong, and also that Hazrat 'Ali (may Allah be
pleased with him) gave bay'a to Hazrat Abu Bakr on the first day
he was appointed khalifa
[Fath al-Bari, end of Chapter of Khaybar]
Hafiz Qastalani also writes the same as above. Hafiz Ibn Kathir
writes that the narrations which say that 'Ali (may Allah be pleased
with him) gave bay'a to Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him)
on the first day he was appointed khalifa are more authentic than
those which do not support this. The reason for this is that 'Ali
(may Allah be pleased with him) used to pray behind Abu Bakr (may
Allah be pleased with him) and stayed with him all the time [Ta'rikh
Ibn Kathir,. Yawm as-Saqifa]
The references prove that Imam Zuhri used to perform tadlis and
idraj. The scholars have pointed out that some of his narrations
are not reliable.
Ijaza and Imam Zuhri
Ijaza literally means 'giving permission.' Its technical meaning
is for a muhaddith to give permission to his students to narrate
his ahadith, or any book of Hadith which he has knowledge of [al-'Asqalani,
Sharh al-Nukhbah, chapter on Ijaza]. This is the correct
way to give ijaza, but Imam Zuhri's way to give ijaza was very strange.
Imam adh-Dhahabi writes that Ubaydullah reported:
"I saw that the students of Imam Zuhri used to bring books
to the Imam and ask him for permission to narrate from it using
the Imam's name. The Imam used to allow them without knowing what
was in those books. This was because neither the Imam used to read
the ahadith, nor did the students read the ahadith to him"
[adh-Dhahabi, Tadhkirat al-Huffaz, Biography
of Imam Zuhri]
Shaykh Salih Subhi writes:
"Imam Ibn Hazm said that if a scholar of Hadith gives permission
to his students to narrate a book of Hadith using his name, and
the scholar has not read the narrations, nor has anyone read them
to him, then this is a bid'a and not permissible. Other scholars
of Hadith have been more strict in this respect and have said that
the scholars of Hadith who used to do this, in effect, gave permission
to their students to attribute lies to them"
['Ulum al-Hadith, chapter on Ijaza]
From the above, it is evident that the authenticity of Imam Zuhri's
narrations are in question. It could be the case that one of the
students of the Imam used to narrate non-authentic ahadith and use
the Imam's name, as he had given him permission to do so without
checking the hadith.
Our Shaykh Shah Abul Husayn Zayd Faruqi writes:
"Hafiz Ibn al-Qayyim writes in his book I'lam al Muwaqqi'in(vol.
3 p 85), that Imam Malik wrote a letter to his colleague Imam Layth
ibn Sa'd, whose knowledge was greater than his own. When ImamLayth
replied to the letter, he mentioned a few things about Imam Zuhri.
He wrote: 'There is no doubt that our teacher, Imam Zuhri, was a
great scholar but we have to accept that some of Imam Zuhri's verbal
and written statements used to contradict one another. When we used
to ask him something, sometimes the written answer would be different
from the answer he used to give us verbally. Even some of his written
statements used to contradict one another. The Imam did not realize
what he had said before and what he was writing at the time. These
are the reasons why I have left him' "
[Faruqi, A, Z., Sawani Hayat Imam Abu Hanifa,
Biography of Imam Layth]
This statement highlights the fact that Imam Zuhri's narrations
are not necessarily authentic. For this reason, we cannot use a
single narration from Imam Zuhri as being more authentic than the
practice of the Companions, Tabi'un, Tabi'u't-Tabi'in or a great
group of scholars.
Apology
We regret highlighting weaknesses in Imam Zuhri but we have above,
only just quoted what other scholars of Hadith have said about him.
We also respect Imam Zuhri greatly as a muhaddith, but he was a
man like us and had weaknesses.
Returning to the point of our discussion - the raf' al-yadayn narration
is only taken from Imam Zuhri. His students made the narration famous
after this.
How the Narration Became Famous
Imam Ibn 'Abdi'l-Barr writes:
"Ibn Umar's narration became famous from Imam Zuhri's students.
Eleven students took this narration from Imam Zuhri; they were:
Imam Malik, az-Zubaydi, Ma'mar, Awza'i, Muhammad ibn Ishaq, Sufyan
ibn Husayn, Aqil ibn Khalid, Abu Hamza, Ibn Uyayna Yunus and Yahya.
26 of Imam Malik's students narrated this hadith from him. They
were: Yahya ibn Yahya, Ibn Bukayr, Abu Mas'ab, Sa'id, Ibn Wahab,
Ibn al-Qasim, Ibn Sa'id, Ibn Abi 'Uways, 'Abd ar-Rahman, Juwayria
bint Asma', Ibrahim, Ibn al-Mubarik, Bishr, 'Uthman, 'Abdullah,
Khalid, Maki ibn Ibrahim, Ibn Hasan, Ibn Mas'ab, 'Abd al-Malik,
Ibn Nafi', Abu Qura, Musa, Matraf, Qutayba, and Imam ash-Shafi'i.
After all these people narrated this hadith and told their students
this narration, it soon became very famous"
[At-Tamhid, chapter on 'Raf' ay-yadayn']
From this, it can be concluded that this narration was not famous
at the time of the Sahaba and the Tabi'un. When people try to find
evidence to support raf' al-yadayn they say that there are over
a hundred ahadith supporting it. In reality, there is only one hadith
which has been transmitted by Imam Zuhri, and his students have
transmitted it further. So many chains were produced after Imam
Zuhri.
When Imam Awza'i debated with Imam Abu Hanifa concerning raf' al-yadayn
, the only hadith Awza'i could give as evidence for it was the one
from Imam Zuhri. This demonstrates that if there were any other
hadith to support raf' al-yadayn then Awza'i would certainly have
revealed it.
Furthermore, Bukhari and Muslim only wrote ahadith with chains
leading to Imam Zuhri. If there were any other hadith, then they
would have included them.
Imam Malik's Opinion on Raf' al-Yadayn
Imam Malik had the most knowledge of Imam Zuhri's narrations. Let
us see what his opinion about this was.
Imam Ibn al-Qasim, who was Imam Malik's student, writes that Imam
Malik said:
"Apart from the begining of the prayer, I am unaware of performing
raf' al-yadayn at any other time. I believe that the practice of
raf' al-yadayn during the prayer is weak"
[al-Madunah, Bab Raf' al-Yadayn]
Imam Malik's saying that he was unaware of performing raf' al-yadayn
does not mean that he was unaware of the hadith. This was because
he himself heard it along with ten of his colleagues and transmitted
it to 26 of his students. The real meaning of his saying is that
he was unaware of the practice of it. This was because neither Imam
Zuhri, nor any of his students performed raf' al-yadayn . Likewise,
the people of Madina did not practise it, nor the people coming
for Hajj from all over the world. Another point to raise is that
Imam Malik, who is a main narrator of this hadith, did not practice
raf' al-yadayn himself. The practice of raf' al-yadayn was very
uncommon in Imam Malik's time.
How can we use this narration as evidence for raf' al-yadayn when
the scholars who narrated it did not act upon it, and when there
are doubts concerning the reliability of the two main narrators
(Ibn Jurayj and Imam Zuhri)?
Second evidence for Raf' al-Yadayn
The second evidence of people who peforming raf' al-yadayn is that
Imam al-Bukhari and Imam Muslim write:
"Abu Qalaba and Nasr ibn Asim, say that they saw Malik ibn
Huwayris performing raf' al-yadayn before ruku and after ruku in
salat and he reported that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and
grant him peace) used to do this as well"
[Bukari and Muslim, Bab Raf'
al-Yadayn]
The people who perform raf ay-yadayn give this as their evidence
and say that it is a Sunna mu'akkada (emphasised sunna which the
Prophet [may Allah bless him and give him peace] performed regularly)
and that non performance of it means that the prayer is not accepted
properly.
We answer this by saying that this narration cannot prove that
raf' al-yadayn is Sunna mu'akkada and also you cannot prove from
this narration that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him
peace) used to perform raf' al-yadayn all the time. Also, Malik
ibn Huwayris's narration goes against his other narration:
"Imam Nasa'i writes that Malik ibn Huwayris reported that
the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) used to perform
raf' al-yadayn before and after the ruku' and in the middle of the
two sajdas"
[an-Nasa'i, Bab Raf ay-Yadayn]
From Malik ibn Huwayris's second narration there is also proof
of performing raf' al-yadayn between the sajdas, but the people
who perform raf' al-yadayn only do it before and after the ruku'
and not in the middle of the sajdas. Their argument is that this
action has been abrogated - this inspite of the fact that Malik
ibn Huwayris's narration does not confirm this.
Secondly, Malik ibn Huwayris was only in Madina for a few weeks
and did not stay with the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant
him peace) at times, so he did not know the last actions of the
Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). This suggests
that he did not know whether the Prophet (may Allah bless him and
grant him peace) performed raf' al-yadayn or not. On the other hand,
'Abdullah ibn Ma'sud saw the Prophet's (may Allah bless him and
grant him peace) last actions concerning raf' al-yadayn . He saw
the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) perform the
prayer without raf' al-yadayn . 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud's narration
is more reliable than Malik ibn Huwayris's as Ibn Mas'ud stayed
with the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) all the
time.
Proof that Malik ibn Huwayris Stayed in Madina for Only a Few
Weeks
Imam al-Bukhari and Imam Muslim write:
"Malik ibn Huwayris came to Madina with some other people
and stayed in Madina for twenty nights and then they really wanted
to go home. So when the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him
peace) found this out, he gave them permission to leave for Basra,
where Malik was from"
[Bukhari, Muslim, Bab al-Adhan]
From this narration there is proof that Malik ibn Huwayris was
only in Madina for a short time and so he could not have known the
last actions of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace)
concerning raf' al-yadayn . Malik ibn Huwayris's narration about
raf' al-yadayn does not prove that the Prophet (may Allah bless
him and grant him peace) performed raf' al-yadayn all the time;
it only proves that Malik ibn Huwayris saw him (may Allah bless
him and grant him peace) perform raf' al-yadayn in that period.
This also does not prove that it is a Sunna mu'akkada. If someone
tries to prove from this narration that it is Sunna mu'akkada to
perform raf' al-yadayn then people could also say that it is Sunna
mu'akkada to pick a child up during salat!
Imam al-Bukhari writes: "The Prophet (may Allah bless him
and grant him peace) while praying salat picked up his grand-daughter,
Amama, and put her down when he went into sujud" [Bukari,
Bab as-Salat]. No one can say from this narration that it is a Sunna
mu'akkada to pick up a child while praying, so how can some say
that because Malik ibn Huwayris saw the Prophet (may Allah bless
him and grant him peace) perfom raf' al-yadayn in salat on a particular
occasion it is Sunna mu'akkada.
Narrators of the Second Hadith Supporting Raf' al-Yadayn
There are four main narrators of the narration supporting raf'
al-yadayn . They are, Abu Qalaba, Khalid al-Hazza, Nasr ibn Asim,
and Qatada. Of course, we believe that they had full knowledge of
Hadith but they were human and had some weaknesses.
Abu Qalaba
Imam adh-Dhahabi and Hafiz al-'Asqalani write:
"Abu Qalaba's full name was 'Abdullah ibn Zayd; he used to
live in the city of Basra. He was a great and knowledgeable man.
He was against and had no regards towards 'Ali (may Allah be pleased
with him). He used to narrate ahadith from people whom he had never
met before, for example: 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar, 'Abdullah ibn 'Abbas,
'A'isha, and Abu Hurayra. When he related ahadith, it seemed as
if he had heard the hadith directly from the Companions of the Prophet
(may Allah bless him and grant him peace), but in reality he heard
them from other people"
[adh-Dhahabi, Mizan at-I'tidal and al-'Asqalani,
Tahzib at-Tahzib, Biography of Abu Qalaba]
Khalid ibn Hazza
Hafiz adh-Dhahabi and Hafiz al-'Asqalani write:
"Imam Ibn Sa'd Khalid was not an authentic Imam. Abu Khatam
said that hadith narrated by Khalid cannot be used as evidence.
When Khalid came to Syria he told ahadith to the people but the
scholars rejected his narrations. He had also lost his memory. Despite
this, Ibn Mu'in and Nasa'i praised him"
[adh-Dhahabi, Mizan at-I'tidal;al-'Asqalani,
Tahzib at-Tahzib and Muqaddama Fath al-Bari, Biography
of Abu Qalaba]
Abu Qalaba's other student Ayyub also narrated this hadith, but
he never mentions raf' al-yadayn . This hadith is also found in
Sahih al-Bukhari. The scholars of Hadith agree that Ayyub was more
knowledgeable than Khalid.
Nasr ibn Asim
Hafiz al-'Asqalani writes:
"Imam Dawud said that he was from amongst a misled sect, but
others said that he repented from his wrong beliefs"
[Tahzib at-Tahzib, Biography of Nasr ibn Asim)]
Qatada
Imam adh-Dhahabi and Hafiz al-'Asqalani write:
"Qatada was a great scholar and a mufassir [scholar of Tafsir
(Quranic exegesis)]. He was very intelligent, and many scholars
praised him. He narrated ahadith of such people whom he had never
heard, met, nor seen. He saw only one Companion of the Prophet,
Malik ibn Anas, but he attributed narrations from many other people
despite this.
He had evil beliefs about Islam; he openly declared his sinful
beliefs. Despite the fact that Qatada held wrong beliefs, the scholars
still took narrations of hadith from him (may Allah forgive him)
[adh-Dhahabi, Mizan al-I'tidal and Tadhkirat
al-Huffaz, Biography of Qatada Basri; al-'Asqalani, Tahzib
at-Tahzib]
From all the above references, it cannot be proved that the Prophet
(may Allah bless him and grant him peace) did raf' al-yadayn all
the time. Also, Malik ibn Huwayris did not stay with the Prophet
(may Allah bless him and grant him peace) during the last period
of the Prophet's (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) life.
The four main narrators of this hadith have been criticized by the
scholars of Hadith. Therefore this hadith does not stand at the
same level as 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud's hadith.
The Third Evidence Used to Support Raf' al-Yadayn.
Qadi Shawkani writes:
"The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), when
performing his last salat, performed raf' al-yadayn "
[Nayl al-Awtar, chapter on Raf' al-Yadayn]
The people who perform raf' al-yadayn say that the above narration
proves that raf' al-yadayn was not abrogated. In response to this
we say that this hadith is not authentic. This is the reason why
it was not written in Sahih al-Bukhari, or Muslim - even Imam al-Bayhaqi
did not include it in his book of sunan. All the narrators of this
hadith are weak.
Examining the Narrators of the Hadith
'Abd ar-Rahman Harwi
Imam adh-Dhahabi writes that Harwi used to fabricate hadith and
tell them to people [Mizan al-I'tidal, Biography of 'Abd
ar-Rahman Harwi]
If Harwi used to fabricate his narrations of hadith it follows
that his narrations cannot be relied upon.
Usamah ibn Muhammad Ansari (the student of Musa ibn 'Uqba)
Imam adh-Dhahabi writes:
"Imam Abu Khatim said that Usamah was not strong in the knowledge
of Hadith. Imam Yahya ibn Mu'in said that he fabricated hadith and
attributed them to the great scholars of Hadith. He was a liar.
Imam Daraqutni said that he was not reliable and that is why the
scholars did not take any narrations of hadith from him. Imam Ibn
Addi said that all his narrated ahadith are not safe. He narrates
one hadith that says that you should make du'a' to Allah Most High
when you see a beautiful face, and He will accept it"
[Mizan al-I'tidal, Biography of Usamah
ibn Muhammad Ansari]
Qadi Shawkani writes that Usamah ibn Muhammad Ansari was a liar
and he fabricated hadith [al-Majmu'at al-Ahadith, chapter
on Sadaqa, p.67]
It is strange that Qadi Shawkani wrote in his book that Usamah
ibn Muhammad was a liar, and yet despite this took his narration
as evidence in his other book. The other surprising thing is that
Qadi Shawkani always discusses the narrators of the hadith, but
with this hadith he does not mention or discuss anything about them.
It seems as if he is totally unaware of them.
We are also surprised concerning those people who present this
hadith as evidence of their practice of raf' al-yadayn . They are
proud and say that they are following the Sunna of Rasulu'llah (may
Allah bless him and grant him peace).
Performing Salat Without Raf' al-Yadayn - Proof from Ahadith
Imam Muslim writes:
"Once we were performing salat and the Prophet (may Allah
bless him and grant him peace) came to us and asked us: 'Why are
you doing raf' al-yadayn as a stubborn horse waving its tail?' He
also told us: 'Perform your salat with peace'
[Muslim, chapter on Sukun fi as-Salat]
The above hadith proves that one must not perform raf' al-yadayn
in the middle of one's salat.
Imam Muslim writes in another narration, after the above:
"Jabir ibn Samrah reported: 'At the end of the salat, we used
to wave our hands left and right when saying salam. The Prophet
(may Allah bless him and grant him peace) told us not to wave our
hands but only to say the salam."
The above narrations prove that the Prophet (may Allah bless him
and grant him peace) stopped raf' al-yadayn as well as waving the
hands during the Prayer.
Imam Humaydi, who was the teacher of Imam al-Bukhari and Muslim,
writes:
" 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar said: 'The Prophet (may Allah bless
him and grant him peace) only performed raf' al-yadayn at the beginning
of salat, not before or after doing ruku' ' "
[Musnad Humaydi, Vol. 2, p. 277, Maktabah
Salafiyya, Madina al-Munawwara]
Imam Ibn Abi Shayba and Imam 'Abd ar-Razzaq write:
" 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: 'The Prophet
(may Allah bless him and grant him peace) performed raf' al-yadayn
at the beginning of salat.'
" 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud and Brabin Azib reported: 'We saw the
Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) only performing
raf' al-yadayn at the beginning of the salat.'
" Aswad, Imam Shabi, Ibrahim an-Nakha'i, 'Ali and Ibn Mas'ud's
student (may Allah be pleased with them) only performed raf' al-yadayn
at the beginning of salat"
[Musnad Ibn Abi Shayba and Musnad 'Abd ar-Razzaq,
Chapter on Raf' al-Yadayn]
Imam Ibn al-Qasim writes:
"Imam Malik said that Imam Zuhri told him that he heard from
Salim, who said that his father ['Abdullah ibn 'Umar] reported,
that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) only
performed raf' al-yadayn at the beginning of the salat and not in
any other part of it."
This narration also proves that Imam Zuhri narrated a hadith stating
that the practice of raf' al-yadayn was only performed at the beginning
of the salat.
Imam Malik said that he has no knowledge of doing raf' al-yadayn
in any other part of the salat apart from the beginning [al-Mudawwana,
chapter on 'Raf' al-Yadayn']
Imam Malik also said:
"To do raf' al-yadayn is weak, except at the beginning"
[al-Mudawwana, chapter on 'Raf' al-Yadayn']
How could Imam Malik say that he had no knowledge of someone who
practices raf' al-yadayn even when he himself heard a hadith supporting
it from Imam Zuhri? The answer to this is, as mentioned earlier,
that Imam Malik knew the hadith of raf' al-yadayn but he never saw
anyone in Makka or Madina who practiced it. The reason for this
is that the practice of raf' al-yadayn was abrogated.
Imam at-Tirmidhi writes:
" 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud said that he would perform the salat
the way that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace)
did. When he performed the salat he only did raf' al-yadayn at the
beginning of the salat.
"Many Companions of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant
him peace), their students (Tabi'un), Sufyan, the Scholars of Kufa
and many other scholars followed this hadith"
[at-Tirmidhi, Bab Raf' al-Yadayn; Ibn
Hazm in his Muhalla (chapter of salat) writes that this
hadith is authentic; Ahmed Shakir, a famous Najdi scholar, also
writes that this hadith is authentic in his Takhrij Ibn Hazm]
Even other scholars wrote this hadith in their books, for example:
Imam Abu Dawud Ibn Abi Shayba, Imam 'Abd ar-Razzaq, Imam Abu Ya'la
and many others.
Imam at-Tirmidhi wrote in his narration:
"The Companions of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant
him peace), Tabi'un and scholars of Kufa were performing salat without
raf' al-yadayn ."
[at-Tirmidhi, Bab Raf' al-Yadayn]
Who Were the Scholars of Kufa?
Imam Ibn Sa'd, Hafiz Ibn al-Qayyim and Hafiz Ibn Taymiyya write:
" 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) gave an order to build
the city of Kufa. When the city was built, people from various Islamic
areas came to live in the city. Many Companions of the Prophet (may
Allah bless him and grant him peace) moved to Kufa and started to
live there. Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) sent 'Abdullah
ibn Mas'ud and Ammar ibn Yasir to teach the people in Kufa. After
sixteen or seventeen years, when 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with
him) became the Khalifa, he transferred the capital from Madina
to Kufa. A large number of Companions (may Allah be pleased with
them) moved to Kufa. They taught people about Islam. Kufa thus became
the centre point for Islamic scholars"
[Tabaqat Ibn Sa'd; Minhaj
as-Sunna Alam al-Muwakki'in, chapter on 'Kufa']
Kufa was the central point of Islamic knowledge, which is why so
many scholars of Hadith travelled to it repeatedly to gain knowledge.Hafiz
al-'Asqalani writes:
"Imam al-Bukhari travelled to various cities to gain knowledge
of Hadith. He went to the city of Jazeera twice, Basra four times,
and stayed in the Hijaz [Makka and Madina] for six years. Imam al-Bukhari
said himself that he could not account for how many times he went
to Kufa and Baghdad to learn knowledge of Hadith"
[Muqaddima Fath al-Bari, Biography of
Imam al-Bukhari]
Imam at-Tirmidhi's narrations prove that no one practiced raf'
al-yadayn in the city of Kufa which became the centre point of Islamic
knowledge and thought. Imam Malik's narration proves that no one
was practicing raf' al-yadayn in Makka or Madina, as this practice
had been abrogated.
The Debate Between Imam Awza'i and Imam Abu Hanifa
These two Imams once debated the matter of raf' al-yadayn , and
it is described by Sufyan ibn Uyayna:
"Once Imam Abu Hanifa and Imam Awza'i met in a market in Makka.
Imam Awza'i asked Imam Abu Hanifa why he did not practice raf' al-yadayn
during the salat.
Abu Hanifa: There is no authentic hadith about practicing raf'
al-yadayn .
Awza'i:Why isn't there an authentic hadith? Here is one: Imam Zuhri
told me, who was told by Salim, who was told by Ibn 'Umar (may Allah
be pleased with him) that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant
him peace) practiced raf' al-yadayn before and after theruku'.
Abu Hanifa: Hamad told me, who was told by Ibrahim, who was told
by Ikrama, who was told by Aswad who was told by 'Abdullah ibnMas'ud
(may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (may Allah bless
him and grant him peace) only practiced raf' al-yadayn at the beginning
of performing his salat and not afterwards.
Awza'i:The narration that I have presented to you has a shorter
chain and your hadith has a longer chain; for this reason, my hadith
is more reliable than yours.
Abu Hanifa: It does not matter if the chain of the hadith is long
or short. The priority of the hadith depends on the narrators of
the hadith and how much knowledge of Hadith they had. The narrators
of the hadith which I have presented possess more expertise in the
knowledge of Hadith. For example, Hamad is more knowledgeable than
Imam Zuhri. Ibrahim is more knowledgeable than Salim; Ikrama is
a great scholar and Ibn Mas'ud is unique.
Imam Awza'i then became silent"
[Musnad Imam Abu Hanifa, chapter on
'Raf' al-Yadayn]
This debate shows that Imam Awza'i had no other evidence. If he
had then he would have presented it to defend his case in support
of raf' al-yadayn . Imam Abu Hanifa replied so beautifully that
Imam Awza'i was forced to become silent.
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