Chapter: How to rise from prostration to stand?

• I asked Ahmad: "Regarding a man rising from prostration to stand, should he place his hands upon his knees?" He said: "Yes."

• I heard Ahmad describe the act of rising from prostration to stand on another occasion, and he said the same.

• I asked Ishaq ibn Ibrahim: "How should a man rise from prostration to stand when he lifts his head from the second prostration?" He said: "If he is able to rely on his hands and rise upon the balls of his feet, he should do so. If he is not able to rise upon the balls of his feet, then when he lifts his head from prostration, he should sit briefly, then rely on the ground with his hands, then stand up."

• I heard Ishaq say on another occasion: "The Sunnah from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) has been established that when he lifted his head in the first rak'ah from the second prostration, he would sit up straight, then rely on his hands and stand up, whether he was an old man or a young man. This is the Sunnah of prayer: relying on the hands when rising."

Ishaq said: "A man might be rising upon the balls of his feet while relying on his hands; when he lifts from the prostration, he returns to the sitting posture—as if he were in a swing—then he relies on the ground with his hands, and then he stands up, having balanced himself on the ground with the balls of his feet."