[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.’
On Placing the Hands in the Prayer
