['Aalim Network QR] Salaat - Placement of Hands

[Mustafa Rawji <mrawji@sciborg.uwaterloo.ca>]

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|       In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the All-Merciful       |\
|  Greeting of Allah be upon Muhammad and the pure members of his House |\
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Salaamun alaykum,

	The following question on Namaaz was kindly answered by Moulana Rizvi.

Wasalaam,

Mustafa Rawji
Moderator, ABDG-A
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Question:

Salaam 'Alaykum,

	I was asked the following question but I don't know the answer. 
Please help. 

  >Is there a mention of the way you place your hands in salat. For example 
  >Takteef(right palm on top of left) or Isbaal(no takteef).
  >I have heard that Umar introduced this? Can you tell me the resources?

It appears to me that the questioner is a Sunni so if you could quote Sunni
sources, that may be more preferable.


Answer:

1. First let us clarify the terms:
        AT-TAKATTUF: means to fold the forearms in such a way that you place
                the right palm on the left hand.
                The term "al-qabz" in Sunni fiqhi literature and the term
                "at-takfir" in Shi`a fiqhi literature are used in the same
                meaning as at-takattuf.
      
       IRSAAL (or IRSAALU 'L-YADAYN): means to keep the hands straight
                downwards as opposed to at-takattuf.

2. The rule of at-takattuf in salat:

        1. According to the three Sunni madhahib (Hanafi, Shafi`i and
Hanbali), it is sunnat (recommended) to do at-takattuf in salat.
        2. According to the fourth Sunni madhahab (Maliki), it is ja'iz
(permissible) to do at-takattuf in salat BUT it is sunnat (recommended) to
do irsaal in wajib salat.
        3. According to the great majority of Shi`a mujtahids, at-takattuf
makes the salat invalid (batil).
        It should be noted that none of the four Sunni madhahib say that it
is wajib to do takattuf in salat!!
     
       For reference on these views, see Muhammad Jawad al-Mughniyya,
al-Fiqh `ala 'l-Madhahib al-Khamsah (p. 109-110) in which his main Sunni
source is a very famous reference book of Sunni fiqh known as "al-Fiqh `ala
'l-Madhahib al-Arba`ah".

3. Who Started at-Takattuf?

        There is no clear indication in history when and who stated the
practice of at-takattuf. There is, however, a very good historical review of
this issue done by my respected father `Allamah Sayyid Saeed Akhtar Rizvi in
an article published in mid-sixties. Insha Allah, in near future, I will try
to post the summary of that section of the article for information of the
members of ABDG.

Yours in Islam,

Sayyid Muhammad Rizvi