WEAKNESS OF AHAADEETH ABOUT 
PLACING THE HANDS BELOW THE NAVEL

^{Question- WOMEN’S SHOULD PLACE IT ON CHEST. AND MEN'S BELOW THE NAVEL WHY?}

^{(The weakness of hadeeth about placing the hands below the navel. From irwaa' al-ghaleel (353) and ahkam al-janaa’iz (p-1180 by Shaykh Al-Albaanee, Abu daawood (756), Daaraqutni (107), Baihaqi (2/310), Ahmed in his son abdullah's masaa'il (62/2) and also in Zawaa'id al-musnad (1/110), and Ibn Abi Shaiba (1/156/1) transmitted: "an' abd ar-rahmaan ibn ishaaq 'an' ziyaad ibn zaid as-sawaai an abu juhaifah an' ali (radi allahu anhu), who said, it is from the sunnah during the prayer to place one palm on the other, below the navel" This is a Da'eef (weak) Isanaad due to Abd Ar-Rahmaan Ibn ishaaq (Al-waasiti al koofi) who is Da'eef (weak)}

^{On the top it has Idrtiraab (shakiness) in it,}

^{For he has narrated it}

^{(1) once 'an ziyad ' an abu juhaifah 'an ali (as above)}

^{(2) once 'an 'numaan ibn sadan'ali (transmitted by daaraqutni and baihaqi) and}

^{(3) once 'an siyas abul hakam'an abu waa'il who said, "abu hurairah said it from the sunnah..."(transmitted by abu daawood (758) and daaraqutni)}

^{The weakness of abd ar-rahmaan ibn ishaaq al- koofi in eyes of}

^{The Imaam of the hadeeth:}

^{(1) Abu daawood - said," i heard ahmed ibn hanbal declaring abd ar-rahmaan ibn ishaaq al- koofi da'eef (weak)." (this is why imaam ahmed did not accept this hadeeth of his, for his son 'abdullah said, "i saw that when praying, my father placed his hands, one on the other, above the navel."}

^{(2) Nawawi- said "in majmoo’ (3/313)'and also in sharh saheeh muslim and else where, "they (scholar of hadeeth) agree in declaring this hadeeth weak, because it is a narration of abd ar-rahmaan ibn ishaaq al-waasiti, who is da'eef (weak) narrator, as agreed upon by the imaams of jarh and ta'deel (authentication and disparagement of reporter)"}

^{(3) Zayla'i -said in nasb ar raayah (1/314)," baihaqi said in al-ma'rifah "its isnaad is not firm, for it is a unique narration of abd ar-rahmaan ibn ishaaq al-waasiti, who is matrook (abandoned)"}

^{(4) Ibn Hajr -said in fath al-baari (2/186),"it is a weak hadeeth" what futher points to its weakness is that contrary to it has been narrated on the authority of ali (radi allahu'anhu) with better isnaad: the hadeeth of ibn jareer al dabbi an' his father, who said, "i saw ali (radi allahu'anhu) holding his left arm with his right on the wrist, above the navel"-this candidate for the rank of hasan; baihaqi (1/301) firmly designated it to be hasan, and bukhari (1/301) designated it with giving it in an abridged, ta'leeq form}

^{What is authentic from the prophet (sallallaahu' alaihi wa sallam) with respect to the position of the hands is that they should be on the chest, there are many hadeeth about this, among them is one on the authority of taawoos, who said " the messenger of Allaah Muhammad (sallallaahu' alaihi wa sallam) used to place his right arm on the left arm, and clasp them firmly on his chest during prayer"-transmitted by abu Daawood (759) with saheeh isnaad. Although this mursal, it is enough as proof for all scholars with all their various opinions regarding the mursal ahaadeeth, since it is saheeh as a mursal isnaad and has been related as mawsool in many narrations, hence, it is valid as proof for all some of the supporting narration are as follows: there are many hadeeth about this, among them is one on the authority of taawoos, who said " the messenger of Allaah Muhammad (sallallaahu' alaihi wa sallam) used to place his right arm on the left arm, and clasp them firmly on his chest during prayer"-Transmitted by abu Daawood (759) with saheeh isnaad. Although this mursal, it is enough as proof for all scholars with all their various opinions regarding the mursal ahaadeeth, since it is saheeh as a mursal isnaad and has been related as mawsool in many narrations, hence, it is valid as proof for all some of the supporting narration are as follows: ahaadeeth, since it is saheeh as a mursal isnaad and has been related as mawsool in many narrations, hence, it is valid as proof for all some of the supporting narration are as follows:}

^{(1) From Waa'il Ibn hujr: "that he saw the prophet (sallallaahu' alaihi wa sallam) put his right hand upon his left and place them on the chest." reported by ibn khuzaimah in his saheeh (nasb ar-raayah, 1/314) and reported by baihaqi in his sunan (2/30) with two chains of narration which support each other.}

^{(2) From Qabeesah Ibn hulb, from his father who said "I saw the Prophet (sallallaahu' alaihi wa sallam), leave (after completing the prayer) from right and his left, and saw him place this upon the chest -Yahya (Ibn sa'eed) described the right (hand) upon the left above the joint.” Reported by Ahmed (5/226) with a chain of narrators who are of the standard set by muslim except for qabeesah, but he is declared reliable by 'ijli and ibn Hibban, how ever, no one narrates from him except simaak Ibn harb about whom Ibn Madeeni and Nasaa'i say: "unknown" and ibn hajar says in taqreeb: "he is maqbool" (acceptable only if supported) the hadeeth of one such as him are Hasan as supporting narrations and therefore tirmidhi said after quoting the part of this ahaadeeth concerning taking the left hand with the right, "it is Hasan ahaadeeth"}

^{(3) "He used to place them on the chest" (Abu Daawood, Ibn Khuzaimah in his saheeh (1/54/2) Ahmed and Abu Shaikh in taareek isbahaan (p-125) so these are many ahaadeeth which shows that the sunnah is to place the hands on the chest, and it is the proved sunnah and all that contrary to it is either da'eef or totally baseless and in fact Imaam Ishaaq Ibn Raahawaih acted on this sunnah as marwazi said in his masaa’il (p-222): "Ishaaq used to pray Witr with us...he would raise his hands in Qunoot, and make Qunoot before bowing, and place his hands on the breast or just under his breast." similar is the saying of Qaadi 'iyaad al maaliki in mustahabbaat as-salaahin his book al-ai-laam (p-15, 3rd edition, rabat): "The right arm is to be placed on the back of the left, on the upper part of the chest." and one who comes across them will not doubt that together they are sufficient to prove this.}