Answered by Shaykh Ilyas Patel
When I pray at my local masjid the juma prayer, when the imam reads the khutba, some people sit as if in prayer with their hands crossed on their waist, then when the imam in the middle of the khutba sits down and gets up again saying alhamdulillah, then people place their hands on their legs as in prayer, I just wanted to know is this part of the hanafi fiqh or a practice from the Indian subcontinent or are all Muslims supposed to do this.
In the name of Allah, the inspirer of truth
It is mentioned in Tahtawi ala Maraqi al-Falah as follows:
And it is sunna for the people to face the khatib, like the companions faced the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace)
Shamsul’a’imma says, whoever is in front of the Imam should face him, and whoever is on the right or left of the imam should turn towards the imam.
Imam Sarakhsi says, the custom in our time is that the people face the qibla and they leave facing the imam, as it is difficult to form the rows after the imam completes his khutba, because of the crowd ’
But the sunna is to face the imam as it is clearly stated in a hadith, that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) when gave a khutba, the companions used to face him, and those who were on the left or right used to turn towards him (Tahtawi ala Maraqi al-Falah pg 421)
Imam Zafar Ahmad Utmani mentions in his colossus, I’la al-Sunan as follows:
Chapter about the Facing of the Imam whilst he gives the Khutba
It has been reported by Adi bin Thabit from his father, he said, when the Prophet use to stand on the minbar, the companions use to face Him completely with their faces. It has reported in Ibn Majah
Suyuti has classified this hadith as Hasan in Jami Saghir (1-93)
Imam Zafar says the meaning of the hadith is clear.
It is mentioned in Bahr Ra’iq (2-160) and when they say, its sunna for the listener to face the Imam’ is against the action and custom of the people of facing the qibla. This is why it is mentioned in Tajnis, and the custom in our time is that the people face the qibla, because if they face the imam it will be difficult to form the rows after the imam completes his khutba, because of the crowd ’
And it is mentioned in Khulasa that it is preferable to face the imam if one is in front of the imam, and if one is on the right or left near to the imam, then one should turn towards the imam in preparation to listen to the khutba )
Imam Zafar says, with the above discussion a compromise can be achieved between this hadith (of Adi bin Thabit) and that in Bukhari in the Chapter on the necessity of Salat al-Eidayn’ in it is mentioned, that Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) used to stand in front of the people whilst they sat in their rows
From the gist of both hadiths we have come to know that the row should not be broken, and despite that, one should try to face the imam as much as possible
The correct opinion according to me is one should follow either occasionally, though it is preferable to face the imam.
(Imam Zafar Uthmani, I’la-Al-Sunan, pg 67 Vol.8)
In summary, the hadiths and texts of fiqh show that one should either face the imam or the qibla, the former preferable, and nothing is mentioned of hands crossed on the waist in the first khutba, and placing the hands on the knees, as in prayer in the second. The only thing that the above is done could be, because of respect and to show attentiveness towards listening to the khutba.
And Allah knows best
Ilyas Patel