18 – He said: Abū Ḥanīfah and al-Awzāʿī met in the Grain-dealers’ Quarter of Mecca. Al-Awzāʿī asked Abū Ḥanīfah, “Why is it that you do not raise your hands in the prayer when bowing and when rising from the bowing?”

Abū Ḥanīfah replied, “Because nothing authentically traced back to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ has reached us on that matter.”

Al-Awzāʿī objected, “How can you say it is not authentic when al-Zuhrī narrated to me—through Sālim, from his father—from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ that ‘he would raise his hands when he began the prayer, on bowing, and when rising from it’?”