that is better and leads to the soundest conclusion.’ That was my reply at the time, but the question deserves some further detail: • Concerning the placement of the hands while standing in the prayer, the authentic sunnah on that point has already been set out in its proper place. • As for the problem before us, know that the various modes people cite have no foundation in the sunnah; some are built on vague reports, others on mere personal opinion and ijtihad. • With respect to folding (qabd) or leaving the fingers extended (bast): the explicit texts of Ibn Umar, Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr, and Wail ibn Hujr confirm the first practice. No hadith states the second. Its proponents argue only that some Companions, when narrating, did not mention folding—but their reports are summary, whereas the others are detailed, and, as legal methodology teaches, the detailed text overrides the general. • As for the precise moment of raising the forefinger, no hadith specifies it; any view on that is pure ijtihad without evidence. This assumption usually rests on the claim that the musabbihah is left unmoved from the start of the tashahhud until the phrase of tahlil—yet, as will shortly be shown, that is not the sunnah. • Regarding when the other fingers are to be folded, the apparent wording of the aforementioned hadiths indicates it is from the very beginning of the tashahhud, for they state: ‘When he sat, he placed his right palm on his right thigh and folded all his fingers.’ As no counter-evidence exists, this outward meaning must be adopted.