[Reported by Muslim (174)].

– From ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (may Allah be pleased with him): “When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ looked at the idolaters on the Day of Badr, the Prophet of Allah faced the qiblah, stretched out his hands, and began fervently calling upon his Lord.” [Reported by Muslim (1763)].

– From Ibn ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with them both): “While at the Jamrah he faced the qiblah, supplicated, and raised his hands, then departed saying, ‘This is how I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ do it.’” [Reported by al-Bukhārī (1751)].

– From Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī (may Allah be pleased with him): “The Prophet ﷺ sought forgiveness for Abū ʿĀmir al-Ashʿarī. He performed ablution, then raised his hands and said, ‘O Allah, forgive Your servant Abū ʿĀmir,’ and I could see the whiteness of his armpits.” [Reported by al-Bukhārī (2484) and Muslim (2498)].

Thereafter—may Allah the Exalted have mercy on him—he cited a number of narrations establishing the legitimacy of raising the hands in supplication. The scholars regard the reports on this practice as reaching the level of mass-transmitted meaning (tawātur maʿnawī). Allah knows best.

5 – Some scholars understood from this ḥadith that, when asking Allah to remove harm, one should turn the backs of the palms upward. Al-Nawawī said: “A group of our scholars and others have stated that the sunnah, when imploring the lifting of an affliction—such as drought and the like—is to raise the hands with the backs of the palms toward the sky; whereas, when requesting something to be granted, the palms themselves should face upward.” They used this ḥadith as their proof. End of his statement.

As for Shaykh al-Islām, he preferred that both palms face the sky.