Touching the earlobes at the takbir al-tahrima

Question

Question: a certain man objected to me that if one starts the prayer (lit. “ties the niyya”) without touching the earlobes, the prayer is not valid. What I wish to know is: in starting the prayer, is raising the palms up to the ears or up to the earlobes fard? Or sunna? Or wajib — what is it? If someone raised his hands up to his chest, said “Allahu akbar” and started the prayer, is the prayer valid or not, or has it become makruh?

Answer

Touching the earlobes at the opening takbir (takbir al-iftitah) is neither fard, nor wajib, nor haram; the prayer will not become fasid (invalid) either by touching or by not touching. From this it is clear what the status of touching is: if one does it, there is nothing objectionable, and if one does not, there is no harm either.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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