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assalamualaikum


thank you brother muadh you've made some good points but firstly let's discuss your own opinion:

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.


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

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.’

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.’

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.

Now lets take a look at the hadith which you have shed your views on, the hadith of Wa’il bin Hujr who said, ‘I prayed with the Messenger of Allaah (SAW) 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.

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".

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.

nd 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.

al-Haafidh said in ‘Fath al-Baaree’{4}, ‘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.

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 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 (SAW) 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. al-Haafidh al-Mizzi said in ‘al-Atraaf’ under the letter ‘taa’ from the book ‘al-Maraaseel’, ‘the hadeeth is 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 (SAW)) 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.

Brother Muadh you have tried to claim as many of the hanafi ulama 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’.

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].

"When a hadeeth is found to be saheeh, then that is my madhhab."-Imam Abu Hanifa

"Then let those beware who withstand the Messenger's order, lest some trial befall them or a grievous penalty be inflicted on them." [an-Noor, 24:63]