89 — Raising the Hands in Supplication

One of the great etiquettes of supplication is to raise one’s hands when supplicating Allah, Glorious and Exalted. This practice is established from the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—in numerous hadiths, and some scholars have counted it among what has been transmitted from the noble Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—by mass transmission. Al-Suyūtī, in his commentary on Imam al-Nawawī’s al-Taqrīb—may Allah have mercy on them both—gave the following example of what is mass-transmitted in meaning from the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him:

“Approximately one hundred hadiths have been narrated from him—peace and blessings be upon him—in which he raised his hands in supplication. I have collected them in a separate volume. However, they concern different circumstances, so no individual circumstance is itself mass-transmitted. The common element among them—raising the hands during supplication—is mass-transmitted when the reports are considered collectively.”1

In his Sahīh, Imam al-Bukhārī—may Allah have mercy on him—devoted a chapter in the Book of Supplications entitled “Raising the Hands in Supplication.” Under it, he cited the report of Abū Mūsā al-Asharī, who said: “The Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—supplicated and then raised his hands, and I saw the whiteness of his armpits.”2 He also cited Ibn Umar—may Allah be pleased with him and his father—who said: “The Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—raised his hands and said, ‘O Allah, I disavow before You what Khālid has done.’”3 He further cited Anas, who reported that the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—“raised his hands until I saw the whiteness of his armpits.”4

The commentator on the Sahīh, the hadith master Ibn Hajar—may Allah have mercy on him—also noted the abundance of hadiths narrated from the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—on this subject, and cited a number of