744 - "... and in it, and he raises his head and his mouth slightly when he begins, and when he raises his head" (1).

Chapter: Raising the Hands

• I saw Abu 'Abd Allah ibn Hanbal raising his hands in prayer when he began the prayer, when he bowed, and when he said: "Sami'a Allahu liman hamidah" (Allah hears those who praise Him). Sometimes I saw him raising his hands to the lobes of his ears, sometimes he would raise them to his shoulders, and sometimes he would raise them to his chest; I saw that he considered the matter to be flexible.

• I said to Ishaq: "What if he leaves the raising [of the hands] intentionally?" He said: "In the bowing, it is a valid prayer; he has left a Sunnah." I said: "Is his prayer deficient?" He said: "Is it permissible for me to say that Sufyan al-Thawri had a deficient prayer?!"

745 - Ahmad ibn Hanbal narrated to us, saying: Hashim ibn al-Qasim narrated to us, saying: al-Rabi' ibn Sabih informed us, saying: "I saw al-Hasan, Ibn Sirin, 'Ata', Tawus, Mujahid, Nafi', Qatadah, [371] Ibn Abi Najih, and al-Hasan ibn Muslim; when they entered into the prayer, they said the Takbir and raised their hands, and when they said the Takbir for the bowing, they raised their hands, except that the people of the Hijaz used to raise their hands when they stood up from the two rak'ahs of the obligatory prayer, and they would sit back on their heels."