al-Zuhrī, from Abū Bakr ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Ḥārith ibn Hishām, from Abū Hurayrah—may Allah be pleased with him—who said: “When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ pronounced the takbīr to begin the prayer he would raise his hands level with his shoulders; when he bowed he did the same, when he lifted his head for prostration he did the same, and when he rose after the two rakʿahs he did the same.” Its chain of transmission is sound according to Muslim’s criteria.

The third report attributed to Imām Aḥmad—may Allah have mercy on him—states that the hands are to be raised at every lowering and rising. This version is cited by al-Qāḍī and others, yet it runs counter to what is widely known from him; indeed, it is the weakest of the reports. Aḥmad’s own practice, and that of the vast majority of Hanbalīs—indeed all of them—is opposed to it. Anyone who regards it as Aḥmad’s settled view is ignorant of his school.

His explicit statement to the contrary has already been quoted from the narration of Ḥanbal. Abū Dāwūd relates that he was asked—meaning Aḥmad—“Between the two prostrations, do I raise my hands?” He replied, “No.” It is therefore possible that when Aḥmad—may Allah have mercy on him—said “at every lowering and rising” he intended only the bowing and the standing up from it. This understanding is supported by what the author of al-Mughnī reports from Imām Aḥmad—may Allah have mercy on him—that when he was asked about raising the hands in prayer he said, “At every lowering and rising,” adding that there are sound ḥadiths on the matter from Ibn ʿUmar and Abū Humayd. End quote.

The very fact that he cited the ḥadiths of Ibn ʿUmar and Abū Humayd—may Allah be pleased with them—shows that by “lowering and rising” he meant the bowing and the rising from it, for the authentic reports from those two Companions mention only that and make no reference to raising the hands in prostration or in rising from it. Allah knows best.