Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Assalamu alaikum,
Wa’il ibn Hujr (Allah be pleased with him) reports that, “He saw the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him) raising his hands when starting his prayer and then give the opening takbir… Then he placed his right hand on his left… [Muslim]
Qubaysa ibn Hulb reports from his father (Allah be pleased with them) that, "The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him) used to lead us in prayer, and would clasp his left hand with his right.” [Tirmidhi, who deemed it sound (hasan)]
Two ways have been reported in the sunna of the Beloved of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), as indicated in the above hadiths (and many others):
a) placing the right hand on the left, which would seem to indicate the fingers going straight down the arm; and
b) clasping the left hand with the right, which would seem to indicate doing so with all the fingers.
Ibn Abidin quoted Umar ibn Nujaym’s al-Nahr al-Fa’iq in his Minhat al-Khaliq Hashiyat al-Bahr al-Ra’iq [1.326] explaining that,
“Sarakhsi said that many scholars chose to clap the [left] wrist with the [right] thumb and little finger, while place the other three fingers [straight on the left arm], in order to act on both the clasping and the placing that have been transmitted in the Prophetic sunna…”
In Radd al-Muhtar, Ibn Abidin explained that when there are two evidences, it is superior to act on both than on just one…
This opinion was chosen by most of the great later Hanafis, such as Kamal ibn al-Humam in Fath al-Qadir [1.286], Zayn al-Din Ibn Nujaym in al-Bahr al-Ra’iq, and his brother Umar Ibn Nujaym in al-Nahr al-Fa’iq,
And Allah alone gives success.
Note: This applies to men only. As for women, they place their right hand on their left hand, on their chest. [Radd al-Muhtar]
Wassalam,
Faraz Rabbani
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