his hand bent over, causing his palm to face the sky because it had been raised so high—not because he intended this—as it is also reported that he raised both hands level with his face.”

Shaykh Muhammad ibn Sālih al-Uthaymīn (may Allah preserve him) said: “Raising the hands in supplication falls into three categories:

“The first category comprises occasions for which the sunnah prescribes it. In such cases, it is clearly recommended to raise the hands, as when supplicating for rain, supplicating on al-Safā and al-Marwa, and at Arafah.

“The second category comprises occasions on which it is reported that the hands were not raised, such as supplication within the prayer and during the final tashahhud.

“The third category comprises occasions concerning which neither raising nor refraining from raising the hands has been reported. The basic principle in such cases is that raising one’s hands is among the proper manners of supplication.”1

Furthermore, raising the hands in supplication embodies such humility, submission, contrition, neediness, and acknowledgment of one’s need and utter dependence upon the Generous Lord that it may become a cause for the supplication to be accepted and answered. Al-Saffārīnī (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “The scholars said: Raising the hands in supplication was prescribed to deepen humility, so that all the manifestations of earnest entreaty are brought together in the station of servitude. Moreover, a servant may be unable to rouse his heart from heedlessness, though he is able to move his hands and tongue in supplication; this may therefore become a means of bringing humility to the heart. They have said, ‘Outward movements bring blessings to inward states.’ This is analogous to raising the index finger during the tashahhud in prayer: the heart affirms Allah’s oneness, the tongue gives voice to it, and the limbs bear witness to it.”2