In how many places are the hands raised (raf' al-yadayn)?

Question

Question: there is a group of Ahl-e Hadith whose prayers differ [from ours]. This group raises the hands (raf' al-yadayn) three times in a single rak'a. They also do not acknowledge any difference between the prayer of women and that of men: their men too raise the hands to the shoulders and fold them on the chest, and the women prostrate just as the men do. Please state, with reference to authentic hadiths, whether there is any difference between the prayer of women and men or not.

Answer

At first the hands were raised several times in one rak'a; after that only the raising of the hands at the start of the prayer remained. This is established by the narration of Hazrat 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud ﵁: [thereafter] the Prophet ﷺ raised his hands at the opening takbir (takbir al-iftitah), and it is this that Hazrat Imam Abu Hanifa ﵀ adopted.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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