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Fatwa CenterPosition of hands in prayer according to Imaam Ahmad
Question
Assalaamu alaykum, Shaykh. What is the position of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal on the following matter? Where should women put their hands in during the prayer, on their chest, like the Hanafis, or elsewhere? May Allaah reward you.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
We have not found any statement in the Hanbali books indicating that there is a difference between men and women regarding the position of the hands in the prayer. According to the Hanbalis, the preponderant view is that the hands should be placed below the navel. Al-Muqni’ reads, “Then the praying person puts his right hand on his left elbow and places them both below the navel...”
Other views have been narrated on the authority of Imaam Ahmad ibn Hanbal 
cited in Al-Insaaf, “It was narrated from Imaam Ahmad that he would place them (the hands) below the chest, and it was also narrated from him that the praying person has the choice to place the hands either below or above the navel, and this view was chosen by the author of Al-Irshaad and Al-Muharrar (books). It was narrated from Imaam Ahmad as well that the praying person should let the hands hang by the sides and that he should let the hands hang by the side in the voluntary prayers but not the obligatory prayers. In the Hanbali book of Fiqh Ar-Ri'aayah, the author (Ibn Hamdaan) mentioned the funeral prayer along with the voluntary prayer. It has been narrated from Al-Khallaal that he (Imaam Ahmad) let his hands hang by the sides in the funeral prayer...”
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