As for the left hand, it should be laid flat, with the fingers held together and directed towards the qiblah. The tip of the elbow should be beside the edge of the thigh; that is, he should not hold it away from the thigh, but keep it close to it.

As for the right hand, the sunnah indicates that he should fold the little finger and ring finger, form a circle with the thumb and middle finger, raise the index finger, and move it when supplicating. This is how it is reported in the hadith of Wā’il ibn Ḥujr (1), narrated by Imam Ahmad, with a chain regarding which the author of al-Fatḥ al-Rabbānī said: “It is sound.” (2) The annotator on Zād al-Maʿād said that it is authentic, and this was also the view of Ibn al-Qayyim, may Allah have mercy on him. (3)

The jurists, however, hold that during the sitting between the two prostrations, the right hand should be laid flat like the left hand. (4) Yet following the sunnah is more deserving. Nothing has been reported in the sunnah—whether in an authentic, weak, or fair hadith—to indicate that the right hand should be laid flat upon the right leg. Rather, it is reported that it should be folded: the little finger and ring finger are folded, and the thumb is joined with the middle finger to form a circle; (5) or that the middle finger too is folded, with the thumb placed over it, when he sits in prayer. (6) This was reported in general terms, while some wordings state: “When he sits for the tashahhud.” (7)