that are restive?” The term shums (restive horses) is the plural of shamūs (a restive horse), which common people [call] shamūs, pronouncing the final s emphatically. Such a horse [is one that] moves its tail to the right and left, and this is movement devoid of stillness.
As for raising the hands when bowing and when rising from the bow, in the same manner as they are raised at the opening of the prayer, this is religiously sanctioned by consensus among Muslims. How, then, could the hadith prohibit it?
His words, “Remain still during prayer,” encompass this as well. Thus, one of the leading scholars who did not hold to this raising of the hands once prayed beside ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Mubārak. When Ibn al-Mubārak raised his hands, the man said to him, “Are you trying to fly?” He replied, “If I was flying the first time, then I am flying the second time as well; otherwise, I am not.” This was a refutation of the point he had made.
Moreover, the Sunnah reports transmitted from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and his Companions concerning this raising of the hands are mass-transmitted. The hadith therefore cannot prohibit it, nor can that hadith stand in opposition to them. Indeed, even if [they were assumed to conflict], the hadiths concerning this raising are numerous and mass-transmitted, and they would have to be given precedence over a solitary report if it contradicted them.
This raising is itself performed with stillness. Thus, his words, “Remain still during prayer,” are no more incompatible with it than they are with raising the hands at the opening of the prayer or with any other action of prayer. Rather, his command, “Remain still,” requires stillness in every individual part of the prayer. This entails the obligation of stillness while bowing, prostrating, and during both returns to an upright posture. This clarifies that stillness is prescribed in every action of the prayer to the extent possible. Hence stillness is maintained even during its transitions, although they necessarily involve movement, for