ten of the Companions, and in that description he mentioned the raising of the hands. When he finished, they said to him, “You have spoken the truth; that is exactly how the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to pray.” Al-Bukhari recorded this report.

As for Abu Hanifah (may Allah be pleased with him), when he was asked why he did not adopt the raising of the hands, he replied, “Because no sound hadith from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ has reached us on this matter.” This well-known exchange, which the Hanafis themselves cite in their books, occurred between him and one of the hadith scholars. Such a statement could never have been made by Imam Abu Hanifah—may Allah have mercy on him—had those chains of transmission we have just mentioned reached him. This is the clearest proof that the disagreement over this issue was not caused by the absence or non-authenticity of a textual proof; rather, it was due to the evidence not reaching the imam through a reliable route, exactly as Imam Abu Hanifah himself explained. ⦗32⦘