—the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, whenever he pronounced the opening takbīr, would raise his hands until they were close to his ears; he would do the same when he bowed, and the same again when he lifted his head from bowing.

This narration is carried by Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ—one of the foremost ḥuffāẓ—yet he made no mention of what Muʿādh reports from his father about raising the hands when rising from prostration.

Yazīd and Muʿādh are not on the same level in the estimation of the experts in transmitter criticism. Concerning Yazīd, Ibn Maʿīn said: “Trustworthy, reliable.” Abū Ḥātim said: “Trustworthy, an imām.” Imām Aḥmad exclaimed: “How precise he is! How excellent his memory!” As for Muʿādh, Ibn Maʿīn remarked: “Truthful, but not an authoritative proof,” and Ibn ʿAdī said: “He has many ḥadiths; he may err, yet I hope he is truthful.”

From what we have presented it becomes clear that the report of Ibn Abī ʿAdī from Shuʿbah, the report of ʿAbd al-Aʿlā from Saʿīd ibn Abī ʿArūbah, and the report of Muʿādh ibn Hishām from his father are all anomalous. Additional evidence for their anomaly is found in the narrations transmitted by Ḥammād ibn Salamah and Abū ʿAwānah from Qatādah.

As for the narration of Ḥammād ibn Salamah, al-Bukhārī—may Allah have mercy on him—records in his treatise on raising the hands: “Mūsā ibn Ismāʿīl related to us; Ḥammād ibn Salamah narrated to us; he informed us from Qatādah, from Naṣr ibn ʿĀṣim, from Mālik ibn al-Huwayrith (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet ﷺ, when he began the prayer, would raise his hands until they were level with the tops of his ears, and when he lifted his head from bowing he did the same.”

Regarding the narration of Abū ʿAwānah, Muslim says in his Ṣaḥīḥ: “Abū Kāmil al-Jaḥdarī related to us; Abū ʿAwānah narrated to us, from Qatādah, from Naṣr ibn ʿĀṣim, from Mālik…"