had carefully observed the prayer and precisely retained its takbīrs and the raising of the hands at the commencement of the prayer, when bowing, and when rising from it. He affirmed the takbīr and the raising of the hands in three places, and negated the raising of the hands when going down into prostration and when rising from prostration. Accordingly, it is not sunnah to raise one’s hands when prostrating.

It has been narrated from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, that he would raise his hands with every descent and ascent. However, al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn al-Qayyim (1), may Allah have mercy on him, stated that this is an error, and that the correct wording of the hadith is: “He would pronounce the takbīr with every descent and ascent.” (2) The reason this is an error is the hadith of Ibn Umar, for it explicitly states that the hands are not raised when going down into prostration or when rising from prostration. This is not a case of an affirmation and a negation being in conflict, such that we would apply the well-known principle that an affirmative report takes precedence over a negative one. For the negation here carries the force of affirmation: it is a man reporting a single practice which he described in detail. He said: This contains such-and-such, and he affirmed it; and this does not contain such-and-such, and he negated it.

There is a difference between an unrestricted negation and a negation accompanied by detail. A negation accompanied by detail indicates that its narrator had retained the matter precisely, to the point that he knew where the raising of the hands was established and where it was not established. Therefore, we say that Ibn Umar’s hadith, authentically recorded in the two Ṣaḥīḥs, takes precedence over that weak hadith; and the error in it is readily apparent.

If someone were to ask: What is the difference between descending for bowing and descending for prostration? Are they not both movements from above to below?