– ʿAbd al-Wārith ibn Saʿīd narrated to us; Muhammad ibn Jahādah narrated to us; ʿAbd al-Jabbār ibn Wāʾil ibn Ḥujr narrated to me. He said: I was a young boy who did not yet understand my father’s prayer, so ʿAlqamah ibn Wāʾil related to me from my father, Wāʾil ibn Ḥujr (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: I prayed with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and whenever he pronounced the opening takbīr he would raise his hands. Then he wrapped himself in his mantle, took his left hand with his right, and slipped his hand inside his garment. When he wished to bow, he brought out his hands and raised them; when he intended to lift his head from bowing, he raised his hands again, then he prostrated and placed his face between his palms. When he raised his head from prostration he also raised his hands, and he continued in that manner until he completed his prayer.

Muhammad said: I mentioned this to al-Ḥasan ibn Abī l-Ḥasan, and he remarked, “That is the prayer of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ; whoever chooses to do it has followed it, and whoever leaves it has left it.”

Abu Dāwūd added: Hammām transmitted this ḥadith from Ibn Jahādah, but he did not mention raising the hands when rising from prostration.

I (the author) say: Hammām’s version is recorded by Muslim in his Ṣaḥīḥ, through the chain of Zuhayr ibn Harb—ʿAffān—Hammām—Muhammad ibn Jahādah—ʿAbd al-Jabbār ibn Wāʾil—from ʿAlqamah ibn Wāʾil and a servant of theirs who both related it from his father, Wāʾil ibn Ḥujr (may Allah be pleased with him): he saw the Prophet ﷺ raise his hands when he entered the prayer and pronounced the takbīr—Hammām described them as level with his ears—then wrap himself in his garment and place his right hand over his left. When he wished to bow, he drew his hands out from the garment and raised them, then said the takbīr and bowed. When he said, “Allah hears those who praise Him,” he raised his hands, and when he prostrated he placed his face between his palms.

The ḥadith of ʿAlqamah has also been transmitted through another route in which no mention is made of raising the hands.