takbir (3). Ahmad said: As for me, I believe that this hadith encompasses all of this. It was narrated from 'Umar that he used to raise his hands with every takbir in the funeral prayer and in the Eid prayer. Narrated by al-Athram (4). No one is known among the Companions to have opposed him in this, and this does not resemble the takbir (5) of prostration, because both ends of this [action] occur in the standing position, so it is in the same position as the opening takbir.

307 - Issue; he said: (And he performs the opening supplication (istiftah) at the beginning of it, and he praises Allah and lauds Him, and invokes blessings upon the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, between every two takbirs. And if he wishes, he says: "Allah is the Greatest, in abundance; praise be to Allah, in abundance; and glory be to Allah, at dawn and in the evening, and may Allah bless Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet, and upon his family and companions, and grant them peace." And if he wishes, he may say something else. He performs five takbirs in the second [rak'ah], excluding the takbir with which he rises from prostration, and he raises his hands with every takbir.)

His statement: "He performs the opening supplication (istiftah)." This means he recites the opening supplication after the first takbir, then performs the Eid takbirs, then seeks refuge in Allah (isti'adhah), then recites. This is the school of al-Shafi'i. From Ahmad, there is another narration that the opening supplication is after the takbirs; it was chosen by al-Khallal and his companion. It is also the view of al-Awza'i, because the opening supplication is followed (1) by the seeking of refuge, which is before (2) the recitation. Abu Yusuf said: He seeks refuge before the takbir, so as not to separate between the opening supplication and the seeking of refuge. As for us, the opening supplication was legislated to open the prayer with, so it is at its beginning like all other prayers, while the seeking of refuge was legislated for the recitation, so it is a subordinate to it and should be at its commencement, based on the saying of Allah...