In the Name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Mercy-Giving

All praise is due to Allah. Peace and blessings be upon His Messenger Muhammad.

Scholars agree that it is recommended for us while praying to raise our hands while starting the prayer  with opening takbir  (i.e. takbirat al-ihram). This is a consensus of the four schools: Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi and Hanbali.

They base their position on the report which states that the Prophet used to raise hands up to his shoulders when starting the prayer with the takbir…”

There is difference of opinion as to whether we should raise the hands while going to ruku and raising from it, The Shafi and Hanbali schools consider it as Sunnah while both the Hanafis and Malikis do not consider it as a Sunnah.

With regard to raising hands while rising up from the sitting position following the first tashahhud (sitting after two rakahs to resume the prayer as we do in Maghrib, Zhur, Asr and Isha), the Shafi`i as well as most of the Hanbalis consider it as a Sunnah. However, the Hanafi and Malik schools do not reckon it as such.

In cases like these, we are allowed to continue the practice we learned from our own inherited schools; whether Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi or Hanbali.

We are not allowed to insist on one of the above views as being the right view and thus criticizing those who follow a different position as contradicting the Sunnah.

The imams themselves, in so far as they were advocating such positions, were mostly following the precedents of the companions of the Prophet. So, Imam Abu Hanifa inherited the fiqh legacy of the Prophet’s companion Abdullah ibn Mas`ud and his disciples; Imam Malik inherited the living practice of the people of Madinah and the companions who lived and died there.

Imam Shafi followed the Fiqh legacy of the people of Makkah where Ibn Abbas and other companions imparted their knowledge of the Sunnah.

Therefore, we ought to learn the wisdom of Imam Malik: when he compiled his Muwatta (having spent years on it) one of the Abbassid Caliphs told him: I want to enforce its teachings on all of the people throughout the Islamic state and ordering them to leave all other teachings!” Imam Malik replied: “Never do that as the Prophet’s companions dispersed into various cities, each one of them carrying with him or her an aspect of Sunnah. So leave the people free to follow that which they have  received (from their teachers) for they are all part of the Sunna!”

Almighty Allah knows best.