Placing right hand over left hand in prayer not obligatory

17-9-2016 | IslamWeb

Question:

Assalaamu alaykum. Please do not cite other fatwas as I do not understand! In Fatwa no. 324355, you say, "Placing the right hand over the left hand in prayer is a Sunnah and is not obligatory." Is that true? Do you have any hadith(s) regarding the matter? Can we pray while our left hand is over the right hand?
Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) is His slave and Messenger.

What we mentioned in that fatwa is correct without a doubt. None of the early scholars held that placing the right hand over the left hand in the prayer is obligatory.

Al-Qaadhi ʻIyaadh may Allaah have mercy upon him wrote, "The reports indicating that the Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) placed his right hand over the left in the prayer and urged Muslims to do so are authentic, and scholars unanimously agreed that it is not obligatory."

If the praying person did not conform to that and let his arms down his sides or placed his left hand over his right hand, then his prayer is still valid, but he did not follow the Sunnah and missed the reward for that.

From the ahaadeeth about this act of the Sunnah are the following:

- Waa'il ibn Hujr may Allaah be pleased with him reported that he saw the Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) raise his hands when he started the prayer and that he recited Takbeer, then wrapped his garment around him, and placed his right hand over his left hand... [Muslim no. 674]

- Abu Haazim reported that Sahl ibn Saʻd may Allaah be pleased with him said, "The people were ordered to place their right hand on their left forearm in the prayer." Abu Haazim may Allaah have mercy upon him added, "I know for sure that Sahl traces that back to the Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention )." [Ahmad and Al-Bukhari]

- It has been reported that when ʻAbdullaah ibn Masʻood may Allaah be pleased with him was once praying, he placed his left hand on the right. The Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) saw him and placed his right hand on his left one. [Abu Daawood, An-Nasaa'i, and Ibn Maajah]

The fact that placing the right hand over the left hand is an act of the Sunnah and not obligatory in the prayer is proven by the hadeeth about the man who did not perform the prayer properly, after which the Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) kept correcting him, saying, "Go back and pray, for you have not prayed." He sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) did not order him to place his right hand over the left in the prayer while he sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) was teaching him the obligations of the prayer.

Allaah knows best.

www.islamweb.net