Imam Abu dawood said after the hadith of Abdullah bin Masud: Hannâd narrated to us; Wakî‘ narrated to us; from Sufyân; from ‘Asim bin Kulayb; from ‘Abur-Rahmân ibn al-Aswad; from ‘Alqama who said, ‘ibn Mas‘ûd said, “Shall I not pray with you the prayer of the Messenger of Allâh (SAW)” so he prayed and he did not raise his hands except the first time.’
“this hadith is a summary of a long hadith and it is not sahih with this wording.”
what did he ment whith this? whith which words is it saheeh and if it is a summary what’s the whole hadeeth?
1. These extra wordings are not found in the Egyptian nor Indian prints of Sunan Abi Dawud. It is only found on the print of the Mujtabaa-iee publishers. Therefore, the scholars of Hadith doubt whether this statement is actually the statement of Abu Dawud or not. Even if it assumed to be the words of Imaam Abu Dawud, it does not necessitate the Hadith being weak. It could be Hasan (soundly authentic), Jayyid (good), Qawiy (strong) and it could also be weak (Dha’eef). The statement quoted above only rejects the Hadith being Sahih (rigorously authentic). In the light of the opinions of other masters and experts in Hadith like Imaam al-Tirmidhiy, Imaam ibn Hazam, etc. We conclude this Hadith to be no lesser than Hasan (soundly authentic). (Badhlul Majhood vol.2 pg.21)
2. The long Hadith is recorded by Imaam al-Bukhariy in Juz Raf’al yadayn. Abdullah ibn Mas’ood [radhiallaahu anhu] said, ‘Rasulullah [sallallaahu alayhi wasallam] taught us how to perform Salaat, he stood up, said Takbeer, lifted his hands, thereafter he went into Ruku and (whilst in Rukoo) he placed his hands in between his knees. This Hadith reach Sa’’ad [radhiallaahu anhu] who responded thus, ‘My brother has spoken the truth, but this was our practice in the early stages of Islam. Thereafter, he [sallallaahu alayhi wasallam] commanded us to do this (raise our hands in other postures as well). However, the shorter Hadith will be given preference over the lengthy Hadith (that is to lift ones hands only in the first Takbeer) according to the rules laid down by the Muhadditheen since it is more explanatory. (Ibid)
and Allah Ta’ala Knows Best
Mufti Ebrahim Desai