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I need al proofs for raising the hands for the takbir of Qunut in Witr where the hands are raised like in Takbir al Tahrimah,

Answered as per Hanafi Fiqh by Askimam.org

I need al proofs for raising the hands for the takbir of Qunut in Witr where the hands are raised like in Takbir al Tahrimah, I have come across to many hadith that suggest that the hands must be raised like in duaa with palms to the sky DURING the whole dua of Qunut like;

‘Umar (RA) raised his hands in Witr prayer whilst supplicating.” [Al-Bayhaqi] and in the Juz of Bukhari is mentioned that the people saw Umar’s palm’s and elbows when he raised his hands during the Qunut.

Hakim has recorded from Abu Hurayrah, that the Prophet (SAW) did raise his hands after the ruku of Fajr and recited Qunut. The evidenses in this regards seems to show that the hand smust be raise din a manner of dua during the qunut.

Please read also the follwing;

Shayk Muin al Sindi (d. 1161AH) has stated in Dirasat al Labib fi Uswa al Hasana bi al Habib;

‘From amonst the legal rulings which are baseless is the obligation of the takbir before the Qunut of Witr. Pertaining to its obligation I have found no marfu hadith let alone that the Prophet (SAW) performed it perpetually or that ant warning exists upon abandoning it, though I perform the takbir perpetually trusting in the Hanafi scholars, I do not regard it as Wajib.

The same work states;

From those legal rulings which have no foundation is the statement of Abu Hanifa that to raise the hands for the takbir of Qunut is Wajib. I as yet, I have not found an authentic athar from an eminent Tabii upon the issue, let alone anything from a Sahabi.

In the same work it is stated;

”It is established from the narration related by Hafiz Abu bakr ibn Abi Shaibah in his Muasannaf upon the authority of Abdullah ibn Masud (ra) that he would raise his hands for the Qunut of Witr.

He has also related another narration stating that in the final rakah of the Witr after the recitation, Abdullah ibn Masud (ra) would not perform anything else after the takbir.

He has also related from Abd al Rahman ibn al Aswad (rah) from his father that, ”After the recitation in the final rakah of Witr; Abdullah ibn Masud (rah) would recite the takbir and then the Qunut. When he would the Qunut then he would recite the takbir and perform ruku.

The Hanafis have contradicted the actions of Abdullah ibn Masud (ra) in two issues;

-Firstly, the raising of the hands at the Qunut.
-Secondly, the addition of the raising of the hands at the time of the takbir.”

The author of Al Hidayah in presenting a proof for raising the hands at the time of the takbir before the Qunut in Witr has adduced the hadith;

”The hands should not be raised in beside seven places;
1.Takbir of commencement of salah
2.Takbir for the Qunut in the Witr
3.In the two Eid prayers
4.At time of touching Hajar al Awsad
5.Upon al Saffa and al Marwa
6.At Muzdalifa and Arafa
7.At the two jamras

The authors of Fathul Qadir (Ibn al Humam, Volume 1,Page 304-308) and Nasbur Rayah (Zaylai, Volume 1 Page. 390) have mentioned that this hadith with this wording is Gharib (strange)

Al Ayni has stated in Al Binayah the commentary of Al Hidayah, after relating the multiple chains of transmissions for this narration; ”Study the narrations, is there any mention of raising the hands for the takbir of Qunut? This addition is only to be found in the works of the Hanafis. From amongst whom is the author of Al Hidayah.

In the same work in the chapter of Witr he states; ”We have mentioned in the chapter of Salah that there is no reference to the takbir of Qunut in the narrations of Bukhari (Juz Rafa Yadain), al Bazzar, and Tabarani their narration reads;

Do not raise the hands except in seven places.
1. When commencing Salaat.
2. When entering Musjidul Haraam and seeing the Baitullah.
3. When standing on Marwah.
4. When making Wuqoof with the people in Arafaat.
5. At Muzdalifah.
6. At Maqaamain.
7. When pelting the Jamrah..

Answer

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Assalaamu `alaykum waRahmatullahi Wabarakatoh

On the outset it should be borne in mind that we are Muqalids and follow the Hanafi Madhhab.  It is incumbent upon us to follow the madhhab without asking for poofs or questioning them.  The Imams of Fiqh had mastery in Quranic sciences as well as in the Traditions of Rasulullah (Sallalahu Alaihi Wasallam).  What they have concluded is proof for us and it is necessary for us to follow them even if we do not find any proof or if we find any proof contrary to the madhhab, or we regard the proof to be weak due to our limited understanding.

To compare proofs and analyze them is the work of a Mujtahid.  There are different levels of Mujtahids.  One has to have mastery in many different sciences before one can be regarded in the lowest level of the Mujtahids, leave alone the other higher levels.

Furthermore, it is impermissible for a layman to discuss issues of Deen as he has not studied the required sciences to have the understanding of Shariah.  For him it is incumbent to follow the rulings of the Madhhab.

We have studied your questionnaire.  You have first brought Ahadith trying to prove that the hands must be raised in qunoot as if when supplicating.  Later you have brought a quote of Shaykh Mu’in al-Sindhi (ra).  We would first like to ask if you have all the books in your possession in which you quote from?  Do you have fluency in the Arabic Language?  Besides that, have you read all the proofs regarding this topic?  If you have not then it does not befit you to quote text which you have not read or for you to discuss topics which are not for you to discuss.  As we have stated above, it is impermissible for a layman to indulge in such topics as he is unqualified.

Nevertheless, the ruling in the Hanafi Madhhab is that in the third raka’ of witr after the surah, the takbir will be said and the hands will be raised till the ears and then folded again.  One will not keep his hands raised for the duration of qunoot as if when supplicating.  This is the ruling of Imam Abu Hanifa (ra), Imam Muhammad (ra), and Imam Abu Yusuf (ra).  In your previous questionnaire, you attributed the view of Imam Abu Yusuf (ra) to raise the hands during qunoot in supplications.  This is incorrect.

In ‘Ala al-Sunan, Allamah Zafar Ahmed al-Thanwi (ra) writes:

الحاصل: أنه يضع عند الشيخين فى القنوت سواء كان قبل الركوع أو بعده، و عند محمد يرسل ولا يرفع يديه فى خلال القنوت حذاء الوجه أو الصدر كرفعهما فى الدعاء خارج الصلاة عندهم اتفاقا، فإن المشروع عندهم بعد رفعهما فى افتتاح الصلاة أو عند القنوت، أما الوضع وإما الارسال لا إبقائهما مرفوعين، ويؤيده ما مر عن ابن عمر فى آخرالباب السابق… – إعلاء السنن 6:122 ادارة القران وعلوم الاسلامية

In conclusion, he will fold his hands during Qunoot according to Imam Abu Hanifa (ra) and Imam Abu Yusuf (ra) regardless if it is after ruku’ or before.  According to Imam Muhammad (ra) he will keep his hands on the side (during Qunoot).  According to ALL THREE IMAMS, he will not raise his hands during Qunoot till the face or sholders as raised for supplication out of salah.  This is due to the fact that according to them what is Mashroo’ after raising the hands for the al-takbir al-tahreema or for qunoot is either to fold them or keep them to the sides and not to keep them raised.” (‘Ala al-Sunan 6/122)

Allamah Ibn Abideen (ra) has mentioned Imam Abu Yusuf’s (ra) view as to keep them raised, but he has mentioned it with “qeela”.  Any student of knowledge knows that the words “qeela” is normally used for a weak view or narration.

Rad al-Muhtar (2:6) H.M. Saeed Company

( ويكبر قبل ركوع ثالثته رافعا يديه ) كما مر ثم يعتمد ، وقيل كالداعي… ( قوله وقيل كالداعي ) أي عن أبي يوسف أنه يرفعهما إلى صدره وبطونهما إلى السماء إمداد

Imam al-Tahawi (ra) narrates that Ibn Abu Imran narrates that Farj, the freed slave of Abu Yusuf, narrates “I saw my master Abu Yusuf (ra) that when he started Qunoot of Witr, he would raise his hands in supplication”  Imam Tahawi (ra) says that Ibn Abu Imran said to me that none narrate this from Abu Yusuf (ra) except Farj and he is trustworthy.”  Allamah Zafar Ahmed Thanwi (ra) regarding this says:

It is apparent that to raise the hands till the ears is the popular view according to our Imams as in Zahir al-Riwayah.  The raising of hands as mentioned by Farj is not the same as this raising [as in Zahir al-Riwayah].  He is alone in mentioning this since the popular view of Abu Yusuf (ra) is to fold the hands [after Qunoot] as is the view of Imam Abu Hanifa (ra).

Therefore the view of the Hanafi Madhhab is to raise the hand till the ears upon the takbeer of Qunoot and fold them afterwards.

You mentioned that in a narration of Bayhaqi and Juz Raf’ al-Yadain of Imam Bukhari (ra) they mentions that Umar (Radhiyallahu Anhu) raised his hands in Witr.  You did not mention the Arabic text for the hadith.  Even if what you say is correct, that still does not affect the Hanafi Madhhab.  Each of the madhhabs have their proofs from various sources.  It is not for us to pick and choose which hadith we like.  It if possible the one of the other Imams use this hadith as their proof.

Also, if we find Ahadith in support of a Madhhab, that does not necessarily mean that the Imams based their ruling on those Ahadith.  It could be possible that they had other proofs in basing their ruling but those proofs did not reach us.  Nevertheless, hereunder are some of the Ahadith for the Hanafi method of Qunoot.

– عن الاسود عن عبدالله (هو ابن مسعود) : ((أنه كان يقرأ فى آخر ركعة من الوتر قل هو الله أحد، ثم يرفع يديه فيقنت قبل الركعة)). رواه الامام البخارى فى “جزء رفع اليدين” له وقال: صحيح (إعلاء السنن ادارة القران وعلوم الاسلامية 6/84)

– عن: عبد الله (هو ابن مسعود رضى الله عنه): ((أنه كان يكبر حين يفرغ من القراءة، فإذا فرغ من القنوت كبر فركع)) رواه الطرانى فى “الكبير”، وفيه ليث بن أبى سليم وهو ثقة ولكنه مدلس “مجمع الزوائد” (1/197) قلت: أخرج له مسلم واستشهد به البخارى فهو حسن الحديث (إعلاء السنن ادارة القران وعلوم الاسلامية 6/85)

 – عن: ابن عمر قال: ((أرأيتم قيامكم عند فراغ الامام من السورة هذا القنوت؟ والله إنه لبدعة، ما فعله رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم غير شهر ثم تركه، أرأيتم رفعكم فى الصلاى؟ والله إنه لبدعة, ما زاد رسول الله على هذا قط فرفع يديه حيال منكبيه)) رواه الطبرانى فى “الكبير”، وفيه بشر بن حرب ضعفه أحمد وأبن معين وأبو زرعة وأبو حاتم والنسائى، ووثقه أيوب وابن عدى “مجمع الزوائد” (1/197). قلت: فالحديث حسن

قال العلامة الشيخ ظفر أحمد العثماى التهانوى: قوله: “عن ابن عمر إلخ” قلت: فيه دلالة على ما قلنا أولا: إن القنوت فى الفجر لم يكن إلا شهرا واحدا، ثم تركه النبى صلى الله عليه وسلم و لم يقنت فيه، وأما قوله: (أرأيتم رفعكم أيديكم فى الصلاة؟ والله إنه لبدعة))، ففيه دليل على كراهة إطالة رفع اليدين فى القنوت كما ترفعان فى الدعاء خارج الصلاة، وليس معناه أن مطلق رفع اليدين للقنوت بدعة، لأن قوله: “مازاد رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم على هذا قط، فرفع يديه حيال منكبيه)) يفيد سنية رفعهما له فى الجملة، ولا بد من التغاير والرفع الذى جعله بدعة، والذى أثبته،فالظاهر أنه كره إطالة رفعهما كما ترفعان فى الدعاء خارج الصلاة، وأثبت رفعهما حيال المنكبين سنة، ليس هو إلا الرفع القصير الذى يكون قبل القنوت، فإن الرفع الطويل فى الدعاء لا يكون بحيال المنكبيه، بل إنما هو بحذاء الوجه أو الصدر كما مر فى بابه، هذا. وقد تقدم أن نفس رفع اليدين للقنوت ثابت عن عمر فى الفجر، وعن ابن مسعود فى الوتر، فيبعد عن ابن عمر جعله بدعة، فالظاهر أنه أراد ما قلنا: إن إطالة الرفع بدعة، والحديث يفيد بمفهومه ثبوت رفع اليدين للقنوت عن النبى صلى الله عليه وسلم مرفوعا، والله أعلم (إعلاء السنن ادارة القران وعلوم الاسلامية 6/91)

As for Shaykh Mu’in al-Sindhi (ra) and his book “Dirasah al-Labib fi Uswa al-Hasana bi al-Habib”, Shaykh Abd al-Latif al-Sindhi (ra) has written a refutation on it called “Dhab al-Dhubabat al-Dirasat ‘An al-Madhhab al-Arba’ al-Mutanasibat”.  Please refer to it for your doubts.

Regarding the Hadith where the hands should be raised in seven places, Imam Abd al-Hayy al-Luckhnowi (ra) writes in Iqamah al-Hujjah that Imam al-Tahawi (ra) narrates this hadith in Sharh Ma’ani al-Aathar up to Ibrahim al-Naka’i.

Shaikh Abdul Fattah Abu Ghuddah (ra) writes on the footnotes of Iqamah al-Hujjah: Al-Darmi narrates in his Sunan with sanad till A’mash that he said, “I have never heard Ebrahim al-Nakha’i mention anything from his opinion.”  Therefore, what he says here and in the following has to be established from Sunnah.

Besides this, one of our Institute’s graduate (known by the name Soofi Sahib) on Sunniforum had already answered this query of yours regarding how the hands should be in Qunoot.  For your benefit we will reproduce the text he presented.

عبد الرزاق عن الزهري عن حماد عن إبراهيم أن ابن مسعود كان يرفع يديه في الوتر ثم يرسلهما بعد.

مصنف عبد الرزاق – ج 4 / ص 325

Abd al-Razzaq narrates that Zuhri narrates that Hammad narrates that  Ibrahim narrates that Ibn Masood used to raise his hands in Witr then drop them after words.

عن أبيه عن أبي حنيفة ، عن طلحة ، عن إبراهيم ، أنه قال : ترفع الأيدي في سبعة مواطن : في افتتاح الصلاة ، وافتتاح القنوت في الوتر ، وفي العيدين ، وعند استلام الحجر ، وعلى الصفا والمروة ، وعرفات ، وجمع ، وعند الجمرتين

الآثار لأبي يوسف – ج 1 / ص 105

Abu Yusuf narrates that Abu Hanifa narrates that Talha narrates that Ebrahim al-Nakha’i said, “The hands will be raised in seven places.  At the beginning of Salah, at the beginning of Qunoof of witr, in the two Eids, when maing Istilam of Hajr al-Aswad, at Safa and Marwah, at Arafat, and Muzdalifa, and the Jamarah.

محمد ، قال : أخبرنا أبو حنيفة ، عن حماد ، عن إبراهيم ، أن  القنوت في الوتر واجب في شهر رمضان وغيره قبل الركوع ، فإذا أردت أن تقنت فكبر وإذا أردت أن تركع فكبر أيضا قال محمد : وبه نأخذ . ويرفع يديه في التكبيرة الأولى قبل القنوت كما يرفع يديه في افتتاح الصلاة ثم يضعهما ، ويدعو . وهو قول أبي حنيفة رضي الله عنه

الآثار لمحمد ابن الحسن – ج 1 / ص 274

Muhammad narrates that Abu Hanifa narrates that Hammad narrates that Ibrahim said Qunoot in Witr is Wajib in Ramadan and out of Ramadan before Ruku’.  When you intend to say Qunoot, say takbeer.  When you intend to go into ruku say Takbeer again.  Imam Muhammad says, “We hold this view and hands should be raise before Qunoot just as how they are raised at the beginning of Salah and then fold them and make dua.  This is the view of Imam Abu Hanafi (ra).

Before concluding, I would like to bring the words of Ibn Taymiya (ra) as mentioned by Shaykh Muhammad Awammah in his Athar al-Hadith al-Shareef:

قال ابن تيمية رحمه الله تعالى فى (رفع الملام) : ((لو فرض انحصار حديث رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم فيها – أى فى الدواوين – :فليس كل ما فى الكبت يعلمه العالم، ولا يكاد ذلك لأحد ، بل قد يكون عند الرجل الدواوين الكثيرة وهو لا يحيط بما فيها ، بل الذين كانوا قبل جمع هذه الدواوين كانوا أعلم بالسنة من المتأخرين بكثير  مما بلغهم وصح عندهم قد لا يبلغنا إلا عن مجهول أو باسناد منقطع، أو لا يبلغنا باكلية…فكانت دواوينهم صدورهم التى تحوى اضعاف ما فى الدواوين، و هذا امر لا يشك فيه من علم القضية

Imam Ibn Taymiya (ra) in Raf’ al-Malam says, “If we were believe that the all the Ahadith of Rasulullah (Sallalahu Alaihi Wasallam) were confined to books, then no Alim knows all that is written in books and nor is it possible for anyone to know all.  Instead, at times a person has many books with him but does not know all which it contains.  In fact, those who came before the compilation of these books were much more knowledgeable than those that came afterwards.  This is due to many Ahadith were authentic in there time but reached to us through an unknown narrator, or with a broken chain, or did not reach us at all…Their books were their hearts which contained many folds more than what is contained in these [present] books.  And this is something that a person with some understanding of the matter has not the slightest doubt. (Ahtar al-Hadith al-Shareef p. 173& 186Dar al-Basha’ir al-Islamiya)

And Allah knows best

Wassalam

Ml. Ehzaz Ajmeri,
Student Darul Iftaa

Checked and Approved by:

Mufti Ebrahim Desai
Darul Iftaa, Madrassah In’aamiyyah

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