Ahle sunnathwal Jamath, - Placing Hands in Namaz

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There are some who claim that placing the hands below the navel whilst performing the prescribed prayers is either of a weaker opinion than that of placing the hands upon the chest or has no evidence. This chapter will address this issue in the light of the Sunnah and prove that this false claim has absolutely no foundation.
According to Imam Abu Hanifah (Allah be well pleased with him), it is part of the Sunnah for a man performing the ritual prayer, Salaah, to place his hands beneath the navel. Many companions of the Prophet (May Allah bless him and grant him peace), and their students (Tabi’een) performed their Salaah in this manner.
Imam Tirmidhi writes that it is Sunnah to place one hand over the other but there are different opinions amongst the companions and their students regarding the actual positioning of the hands.
(Tirmidhi Chapter Watalya’meen alashimal).
Qadhi Shawkani writes that there existed different opinions amongst the scholars regarding the positioning of the hands during Salaah. The following consider it correct to place the hands beneath the navel; Imam Abu Hanifah, Sufiyan Thawri, Is-haaq-bin Rahwia and Abu Is-haaq.
(Nal-ul-Awatar, Chapter: WazalyAmin alashimal).
The aforementioned scholars were outstanding in the field of Hadith sciences and clearly knew the differences between authentic, acceptable, weak and fabricated narrations. Furthermore, if the Ahadith stating that the hands should be placed beneath the navel were fabricated then why would Imam Ahmed, Yahya bin Mo’een, the teacher of both Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim practice these narrations?
Evidence about the validity of placing the hands below the navel during the prayer
Imam Ahmed bin Hanbal writes:
Ali said that it is a sunnah to place one hand over the other and beneath the navel.
(Musnad Ahmed bin Hanbal also Dar Qutni, Abu Dawud, Chapter: Watul-YAmin Alashimal).
Imam Ibn Abi Shayba writes :
Alqamah reported from his Father that the Prophet (May Allah bless him and grant him peace), would place his right hand over his left and beneath the navel. Imam Ibrahim says that Ali said it is a sunnah to place your hands beneath the navel during the Salaah.
(Musannaf Ibn abi Shaeba, chapter ‘Ashimal bin-YAmin’).
Alama Ibn Hazm writes that the hands should be placed beneath the navel and Anas reported that there are three things which are Sunnah :
1. Not to delay the opening of the fast (during Ramadhan)
2. To close the fast at the very last minute
3. To place the hands beneath the navel during the prayer.
(Muhalla, chapter ‘Wat-ul-YAmin’ Ibn Hazm).
The aforementioned narrations prove that it is an established Sunnah to place the hands beneath the navel. These Ahadith are neither weak nor fabricated as Ibn Hazm would have declared them as being such because Imam Dar Qutni was in strong opposition to the Hanafi School of thought.
Evidence about the validity of placing the hands upon the chest during the prayer
Wyle says I saw that the Prophet (May Allah bless him and grant him peace) was performing his prayers with his hands placed upon his chest.
(Sahih Ibn Khuzaymah, chapter on Salaah).
We respond to the above narration with the observation that it is neither present in Muslim nor Bukhari. It is amazing how people who rigorously promote Bukhari and Muslim, as the only book to follow for Sunnah will quickly use a Hadith that doesn’t appear in either, just as long as they feel it will win them an argument! A close examination of the Hadith in question will show who is following a Sahih Hadith and who is blindly following the mistakes of their scholars - who have the audacity to criticise scholars of the orthodox four schools of fiqh but don’t see their own glaring mistakes.
Secondly, the main narrator of this Hadith; Muammal-bin-Isma’il has been criticised by the scholars of Hadith (muhadtheen).
Imam Dhahabi and Ibn Hajar Asqalani write that Imam Bukhari said that Muammal-bin-Isma’il was amongst the Mukirul Hadith (deniers of Hadith).
Imam Abu Khatim, Imam Abu Zhara, Imam Saje, Imam Ibn Sa’ad, Hafidhh Marwaze and Dar Qutni all consider Muammal-bin-Isma’il as having a weak memory. When informing others of Hadith Muhammad bin Isma’il would make many mistakes . He has known to have burnt his books and hence made errors in transmitting his Hadith from memory. He also made erroneous claims by stating that he heard many of his narrations from the great scholars, whereas he had not done so. Only some scholars, such as Ibn Habban and Ibn Khuzayma claim that he was a knowledgeable scholar.
(Mezan-ul-Itidal Tahzeeb-ul-Tahzeeb, biography of Muammal-bin-Isma’il by Imam Dhahabi and Hafidhh Ibn Hajar Asqalani).
Alama Ghulam Rasool Sa’eedi writes that Imam Bayhaqi wrote another two Ahadith in his book, Sunan, regarding the placement of the hands upon the chest during the Salaah. However, neither of these Ahadith are authentic as their narrators have been criticised by the scholars of Hadith. We will look at each one in turn.
*First Hadith:
One of the narrators of the Hadith is Muhammad bin Hujjar, whom Imam Dhahabi writes as having been criticised. Notably, he did not fit the criterion that Imam Bukhari has for accepting Hadith from someone. Imam Bukhari says that it is impermissible to accept any Hadith narrated by him because he narrates doubtful Ahadith from his uncle.
The other narrator of that Hadith is Umm -Jabbar, she is unknown. Imam Bayhaqi wrote himself that this Hadith is weak.
*Second Hadith:
The second narrator is known as Ibn Abbas while the main narrator is Ruh bin Musayyib. Imam Ibn Addi says that Ruh bin Musayyib has been criticised by the scholars of Hadith. Imam Ibn Habbaan says that Ruh narrates fabricated Hadith and therefore it is impermissible to accept his narrations. Also Imam Fikri considers Ruh as transmitting unknown Hadith which should not be accepted.
(Sharh, Sahih Muslim, Chapter on Wujube Qira’at by Alama Saedi).
We close this chapter by stating that there exists no single authentic Hadith proving the permissibility of placing the hands upon the chest during the Salaah.

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Dought & clear, - (Manners of Seeking Knowledge), - The problem of theone who memorizes Qur’aan and comments on it

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Which books of Tafseer do you advise me to read? And with regard to memorizing Qur’aan – if a person memorizes Qur’aan then forgets it, is there any warning of punishment in this case? How should one retain what one has memorized?
Praise be to Allaah.
Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked this question and he replied as follows:
The sciences of the Qur’aan vary. Every mufassir who comments on the Qur’aan focuses on one aspect of these sciences. It is impossible for one tafseer to encompass all aspects of the Qur’aan.
Among the scholars are those who focus on the theoretical aspects of tafseer, like al-Zammakhshaari and others. But I think that he should think of the meaning of the aayah himself first – i.e., he should think of the meaning of the aayah – then he should check what the scholars said concerning it, because this will help him to be strong in Tafseer and not dependent on others. From the time when the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was sent until the present, the word of Allaah has always been “In the plain Arabic language” (cf. al-Shu’araa 26:195 – interpretation of the meaning).
It is necessary to refer to the tafseer of the Sahaabah, because they had the greatest understanding of its meanings; then to the books of the mufassireen among the Taabi’een. But despite that no one can ever encompass all the meanings of the words of Allaah.
What I think is the best way is for a person to think of what an aayah means, then to refer to the words of the scholars. If he finds that his view is the same, that will help him to become good in tafseer and make it easy for him. If he finds that his view is different, then he should follow that which is correct.
With regard to memorizing the Qur’aan, the way in which it is memorized varies from one person to another. Some people memorize Qur’aan aayah by aayah, i.e., they memorize one aayah, reading it two or three times, then they work at it until they have memorized it, then they memorize the following aayah, and so on until they have completed one-eighth or one-quarter of the juz’ and so on. Other people read the whole one-eighth of a juz’ and repeat it until they have memorized it. In such matters we cannot lay down a general rule, so we tell people, use whatever method suits you to memorize Qur’aan.
But it is important that you should know what you have memorized when you want to go back to it. The best way that I have seen is that if a person memorizes something on one day, he should read it again early the following morning. This is a great help in remembering what he memorized on the previous day. This is something that I have done myself and it was a great help in memorizing properly.
With regard to the warning against one who forgets, Imaam Ahmad said, “How severe the warning is,” i.e., against one who memorizes an aayah then forgets it. What is meant here is the one who neglects it until he forgets it. But if a person forgets it because of some natural reason or because of duties which he got involved in, which kept him away from revising what he mad memorized, in this case he is not guilty of sin.“Allaah burdens not a person beyond his scope” [al-Baqarah 2:286 – interpretation of the meaning].
It was reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) led his companions in prayer, and he forgot an aayah. One of his companions reminded him of it after the prayer. He said, “Why did you not remind me of it sooner?” But the one who is negligent concerning that or who turns away from it is undoubtedly a loser and deserves to be guilty of sin But the one who forgets it because he became involved in duties which Allaah has enjoined upon him, or who forgot it for some natural reason, is not guilty of anything.

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Dought & clear, - (Manners of Seeking Knowledge), - He is asking about the length of Nuh’s ship

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What was the length of the ship of Nuh (peace be upon him), and how many levels were there in it, and what was the material of which it was made?
Praise be to Allaah.
Shaykh al-Shanqeeti said in his commentary on the name of the dog belonging to the people of the Cave:
With regard to what the mufassireen said about the opinions on the name of their dog – some saying that his name was Qitmeer, others saying that his name was Hamraan, etc – we will not discuss this matter at length because there is no benefit in it.
In the Qur’aan there are many things which neither Allaah nor His Messenger have explained to us, and there is proven report to clarify them and nothing to be gained thereby.
Many of the mufassireen discussed in details the opinions on these matters, without knowledge and with no purpose. We always turn away from such discussions – such as the colour or the name of the dog belonging to the people of the Cave, which part of the cow the slain man from among the Children of Israel was struck with, the name of the boy whom al-Khidr killed and Moosa objected to his killing him, what kind of tree the wood from which the ship of Nuh was made came from, how long and wide the ship was, how many levels there were in it, and other issues in which there is nothing to be gained by discussing them and there is no evidence to be studied.

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Dought & clear, - (Manners of Seeking Knowledge), - Mixing of male and female students for a project required for graduation

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I am in the college of engineering and there is a project we must do in order to graduate next year, in sha Allaah. As the number of girls is so little, especially girls who work hard, and I am the top student in my year, praise be to Allaah, is it permissible for me to work with boys, or should I take the risk of working with girls whose level is lower than mine and having to do all the work myself? May Allaah reward you with good.
Praise be to Allaah.
Mixed education brings a lot of bad consequences and many dangers. Hence a number of scholars have issued fatwas stating that it is haraam. We have stated that previously in the answers to questions no. 23407, 31210, 23393.
Undoubtedly working with men on the graduation project will involve more than just being with them in the classroom, because it will require a lot of mixing, meeting, contact and consultation. Hence the ruling on that is more strict. What you have mentioned is not an excuse to allow this work. The interest of protecting religious commitment takes precedence over all other interests.
So fear Allaah and seek His help and the means of steadfastness. Beware of mixing with men, and trust that Allaah is with the pious, the believers and those who do good, as He has told us.
For the rest of your studies, observe hijab, avoid men, persist in lowering your gaze and avoid adornment.
We ask Allaah to make you strong and to guide you to that which He loves and which pleases Him.
And Allaah knows best.

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