Does Grabbing the Wrist of the Left Hand with One’s Right Hand Suffice in the Hanafi School?

Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch 

Question

Does grabbing the wrist of the left hand with one’s right hand beneath the navel suffice the Sunna in the Hanafi school?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

Grabbing the left wrist with one’s right hand is one of the two narrated styles from the Prophet (may Allah bless him and give him peace). The other style is to place the right hand on the left hand.

Due to these two narrations, the scholars of the Hanafi school joined between them both in the following method of hand placement in the prayer:

A man places his right hand upon his left hand beneath the navel, using the small finger and thumb of the right hand to wrap around (grab) the left wrist. This is the chosen position. [Haskafi, Al-Durr Al-Mukhtar]

In commenting on the above text, Ibn ‘Abidin (Allah have mercy on him), one of the foremost Hanafi jurists, states:
“That which the scholars have deemed good is to act on both narrations together. This is because there is no doubt that in grabbing (the wrist) there is placing (of the hands) and more. The legal principle that applies here is that whenever combining between two seemingly contradictory narrations is possible, then one does so and does not abandon either one.” [Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]

Hope this helps
Allah knows best
Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani 

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch is a teacher of Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he then completed four years at the Darul Uloom seminary in New York where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences. He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he stayed for three years studying in Dar Al-Mustafa under some of the greatest scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib. In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Qur’an and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Qur’anic exegesis, Islamic history, and a number of texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.

For References see:
(وَوَضَعَ) الرَّجُلُ (يَمِينَهُ عَلَى يَسَارِهِ تَحْتَ سُرَّتِهِ آخِذًا رُسْغَهَا بِخِنْصَرِهِ وَإِبْهَامِهِ) هُوَ الْمُخْتَارُ، وَتَضَعُ الْمَرْأَةُ وَالْخُنْثَى الْكَفَّ عَلَى الْكَفِّ تَحْتَ ثَدْيِهَا (كَمَا فَرَغَ مِنْ التَّكْبِيرِ) بِلَا إرْسَالٍ فِي الْأَصَحِّ (وَهُوَ سُنَّةُ قِيَامٍ) ظَاهِرُهُ أَنَّ الْقَاعِدَ لَا يَضَعُ وَلَمْ أَرَهُ. ثُمَّ رَأَيْت فِي مَجْمَعِ الْأَنْهُرِ: الْمُرَادُ مِنْ الْقِيَامِ مَا هُوَ الْأَعَمُّ لِأَنَّ الْقَاعِدَ يَفْعَلُ كَذَلِكَ
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ص487 – كتاب الدر المختار وحاشية ابن عابدين رد المحتار – فروع قرأ بالفارسية أو التوراة أو الإنجيل – المكتبة الشاملة الحديثة

أَقُولُ: يُرَدُّ عَلَيْهِ أَنَّهُ فِي كُلِّ وَقْتٍ عَمِلَ بِأَحَدِهِمَا يَكُونُ تَارِكًا فِيهِ الْعَمَلَ بِالْآخَرِ وَالْوَارِدُ فِي الْأَحَادِيثِ ذُكِرَ فِي بَعْضِهَا الْوَضْعُ وَفِي بَعْضِهَا الْأَخْذُ بِلَا بَيَانِ الْكَيْفِيَّةِ. وَاَلَّذِي اسْتَحْسَنَهُ الْمَشَايِخُ فِيهِ الْعَمَلَ بِهِمَا جَمِيعًا؛ إذْ لَا شَكَّ أَنَّ فِي الْأَخْذِ وَضْعًا وَزِيَادَةً. وَالْقَاعِدَةُ الْأُصُولِيَّةُ أَنَّهُ مَتَى أَمْكَنَ الْجَمْعُ بَيْنَ الْمُتَعَارِضَيْنِ ظَاهِرًا لَا يُعْدَلُ عَنْ أَحَدِهِمَا فَتَأَمَّلْ