Fifth: raising the hands beneath one’s cloak when moving from one posture to another.
I say: It is clearly mistaken to reject the reported finger-movement simply because only Zāʾidah ibn Qudāmah related it, to the exclusion of the other students of ʿĀṣim ibn Kulayb, for two reasons:
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They all transmitted the pointing itself, and—as shown earlier—pointing in no way conflicts with moving the finger.
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Zāʾidah’s proven reliability and his scrupulous care in narrating from his teachers. The leading ḥadith critics unanimously classed him as trustworthy, and both al-Bukhārī and Muslim relied on his reports. Ibn Ḥibbān said of him in al-Thiqāt 6/340: “He was among the precise, consummate memorisers. He would not deem a ḥadith truly heard until he had listened to it three times, and he would not transmit to anyone until a just witness testified that the recipient was a Sunni.”
Al-Dāraqutnī likewise remarked, “He is one of the reliable, authoritative imams.”
Allah—exalted is He—is the grantor of success.
As for the statement: “From Namir al-Khuzāʿī who said, ‘I saw the Messenger of Allah while he was sitting in prayer … raising his index finger, bending it slightly, and supplicating.’ It was narrated by Aḥmad, Abū Dāwūd, al-Nasaʾī, Ibn Mājah, and Ibn Khuzaymah with a good chain”—
I reply: No; its chain is weak, because it contains Mālik ibn Namir al-Khuzāʿī. Ibn al-Qaṭṭān and al-Dhahabī said: “Mālik’s status is unknown, and no one narrated from his father except him.” Al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar likewise indicated in al-Taqrīb that his ḥadith is weak.