Raising the hands in prayer

Raising the hands in prayer is the worshipper's lifting his hands to his shoulders with the takbir. Al-Shafi'i gives it a chapter titled "where the hands are raised in prayer" in the Disagreement of Malik and al-Shafi'i in al-Umm. ¹

Al-Rabi' asks him where the hands are raised in prayer; he answers: the worshipper raises his hands three times in the first rak'a and twice in each other: at the opening of the prayer with the takbir of consecration, to the shoulders; at the takbir for bowing; and on saying "God hears whoever praises Him" as he rises from bowing; there is an opening takbir only in the first rak'a, and he does not raise them in prostration. ^{1 2}

• The hadith of Malik from Ibn Shihab from Salim from his father Abd Allah ibn Umar that the Prophet, when he opened the prayer, raised his hands to his shoulders, and did so when he bowed and when he raised his head from bowing, and did not do it in prostration. ^{1 2}
• The same hadith narrated by Sufyan ibn Uyayna from al-Zuhri; al-Shafi'i says it was narrated from the Prophet by more than ten men. ²
• The hadith of Wa'il ibn Hujr that he saw the Prophet raise his hands at the opening, when about to bow and on raising his head from bowing, and that when he came to them in winter he saw them raising their hands inside their cloaks. ³
• Malik's report from Nafi' that Ibn Umar raised his hands to his shoulders when beginning the prayer, and less high when raising his head from bowing. ³

The editor traces the hadith in the notes to the Muwatta', al-Bukhari and Muslim, and gives the versions of Abu Humayd al-Sa'idi's description of the Prophet's prayer from the Sunan of Abu Dawud. ^{1 2 4}

The Hanafi and Hanbali views are not given here from their own books, nor any academic view.