Nafi said on the authority of Ibn Umar that when he began prayer, he uttered the takbir ( Allah is most great) and raised his hands; and when he bowed ( he raised his hands); and when he said: “Allah listens to him who praises Him, ” (he raised his hands); and when he stood up at the end of two rak’ahs, he raised his hands. He (Ibn Umar) traced that back to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Abu Dawud said: What is correct is that the tradition reported by Ibn Umar does not go back to the Prophet (may peace beupon him). Abu Dawud said: The narrator Baqiyyah reported the first part of this tradition from Ubaid Allah and traced it back to the Prophet ﷺ; and the narrator al-Thaqafi reported it from Ubaid Allah as a statement of Ibn Umar himself (not from the Porphet). In this version he said: When he stood at the end of two rak’ahs he raised them up to his breasts. And this is the correct version. Abu Dawud said: This tradition has been transmitted as a statement of Ibn Umar (and not of the Prophet) by al-Laith bin Saad, Malik, Ayyub, and Ibn Juraij; and this has been narrated as a statement of the Prophet ﷺ by Hammad bin Salamah alone on the authority of Ayyub. Ayyub and Malik did not mention his raising of hands when he stood after two prostrations, but al-Laith mentioned it in his version. Ibn Juraij said in this version: I asked Nafi: Did Ibn Umar raise (his hands) higher for the first time? He said: No, I said: Point out to me. He then pointed to the breasts or lower than that.

Nafi said: When Abdullah bin Umar began his prayer, he raised his hands opposite to his shoulders; and when he raised his head after bowing, he raised them lower than that. Abu Dawud said: So as far as I know, no one narrated the words “he raised them lower that that” except Malik.

Ibn Umar said: When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ stood at the end of two rak’ahs, he uttered the takbir (Allah is most great) and raised his hands.

Narrated Ali ibn Abu Talib: When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ stood for offering the obligatory prayer, he uttered the takbir (Allah is most great) and raised his hands opposite to his shoulders; and he did like that when he finished recitation (of the Quran) and was about to bow; and he did like that when he rose after bowing; and he did not raise his hands in his prayer while he was in his sitting position. When he stood up from his prostrations (at the end of two rak'ahs), he raised his hands likewise and uttered the takbir (Allah is most great) and raised his hands so as to bring them up to his shoulders, as he uttered the takbir in the beginning of the prayer.

Malik bin al-Huwairith said: I saw the Prophet ﷺ raise his hands when he uttered the takbir (Allah is most great), when he bowed and when he raised his head after bowing until he brought them to the lobes of his ears.

Narrated Abu Hurairah: If I were in front of the Prophet ﷺ, I would see his armpits. Ibn Muadh added that Lahiq said: Do you not see, Abu Hurairah could not stand in front of the Prophet ﷺ while he was praying. Musa added: When he uttered the takbir, he raised his hands.

Narrated Abdullah ibn Masud: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ taught us how to pray. He then uttered the takbir (Allah is most great) and raised his hands; when he bowed, he joined his hands and placed them between his knees. When this (report) reached Saad, he said: My brother said truly. We used to do this; then we were later on commanded to do this, that is, to place the hands on the knees.

Narrated Abdullah ibn Masud: Alqamah said: Abdullah ibn Masud said: Should I pray in the way the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had performed it? He said: He prayed, raising his hands only once.

This tradition has also been transmitted by Sufyan through a different chain of narrators. This version has: He raised his hands once in the beginning. Some narrated: (raised his hands) once only.

Narrated Al-Bara ibn Azib: When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ began prayer, he raised his hands up to his ears, then he did not repeat.