Question:
Our Prophet ( SAW) said, “Pray as you see me pray “.
Some people hold their arms against their sides during prayer.
But most people hold the right hand over the left against their chest.
They say even Abu Bakr ( RA) kept his arms on his sides when he prayed.
I would like to know which way the Prophet (SAW) prayed and which way should we pray.
Thank you
Answer:
The Holy Prophet (upon him blessings and peace) and his Companions prayed all those different ways; in turn, these ways or sunnas are all represented in the Four Schools; so whichever way one prays, one is certainly always praying the way the Prophet prayed and we can have that certitude of following the Sunnah whichever way we pray. This is the short answer.
Another important point is that those who uphold hand-grasping (qabd) in Salat agree that it is a sunnah not an integral (rukn) nor a categorical obligation (fard) nor a precondition (shart) for the validity of the Salat, and neither is the exact position of the hands within qabd.
Therefore wherever one holds the hands, or not, the prayer is still valid and that is precisely what the Prophet (upon him blessings and peace) intended and legislated.
Another point to consider is that it is not a coincidence that there is mercy and leeway over one of the basic elements of Salat–the most important pillar of Islam after Shahada. So it is part of the understanding of the Divine Mercy and the Prophetic Mercy to accept that leeway and move on to focus on one’s worship rather than points over which there are legitimate differences on the basis of various evidences.
This is why this issue is a glaring example of “differences being a mercy” as the Companions and Successors said.
The further wisdom of that golden rule of fiqh in this particular case may be also gleaned from the following possibility. In life one goes through periods of bodily pain in which gentle pressure of the hands (or no pressure at all) may help alleviate that pain. The importance of the imposition of the hands for medicinal baraka is huge in the Sunnah; and we already know that the Salat is, from that specific perspective, the
foundation of spiritual, physical, and psychological health. Thus this option of hand-placement was mercifully given to us even during prayer; for example for chest pain, for stomach pain, for side pain, even for groin pain and of course hand, wrist, forearm and arm pain!
The Prophet is a model for humankind and patiently bore, together with us, all sorts of physical tests and crises, hence our Mother Aisha (Allah be well-pleased with her) called him a “rajul misqaam” (oft-ailing man) (Ibn Saad, Tabaqat al-Kubra). Yet he was always in prayer. So the various postures reported from him in that context were
for us to embrace as respite and mercy, not as a source of confusion or divergence. As Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (may Allah sanctify his secret) said in his sohba of July 1, 2003 (http://sufilive.com/Sohba-3039.html), most people think that the Shari`ah is for the Lord of Heavens; but no, it is all for us, for the sake of creation.
And Allah knows best.
Blessings and peace on the Prophet, his Family, and all his Companions, the Mujtahid Imams, our Shaykhs and Awliya, and all those who imitate them to the Day of Judgment.
Hajj Gibril Haddad
