Is My Prayer Valid If My Sleeves Cover My Hands in Ruku and Sujud?

Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Question

Is the prayer valid or invalid for males if sleeves (thin or thick) cover parts of the hands, and the person puts his hands on his knees in rukuʿ and the sleeves prevent parts of his skin from touching his knees, or he puts his hands on the ground in sujud and the sleeves prevent parts of his skin from touching the ground, in the Hanafi school?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Merciful and Compassionate.

I hope you’re doing well, In sha’ Allah.

Your prayer is valid. In the Hanafi school, the Sunna is for a man’s hands to be outside his sleeves. Covering the hands in prayer without an excuse (such as excessive cold) is slightly disliked (makruh tanzihan), but it isn’t sinful and doesn’t affect the validity of the prayer in any way.

Hands and Knees Are a Sunna, Not a Condition

Placing covered hands in bowing (rukuʿ) and prostration (sujud) doesn’t affect them either. The obligation is to “bow” and “prostrate.” The Sunna is to place the hands, and this is fulfilled even if they’re covered. [Marghinani, al-Hidaya; Shurunbulali, Maraqi al-Falah]

Imam Shurunbulali (Allah have mercy on him) counts bringing the hands out of the sleeves among the etiquettes of the prayer, “because it is closer to humility, unless there is a need, such as cold.” [Shurunbulali, Maraqi al-Falah]

Leaving such an act is “contrary to the better,” which comes back to slight dislike. [Haskafi, al-Durr al-Mukhtar]

What Actually Breaks the Prayer

The prayer is only broken by excessive action (al-ʿamal al-kathir), and “a little action is excused.” [Shurunbulali, Maraqi al-Falah]

Learn Your Prayer Well

Allah Most High says, “Nor has He laid on you any hardship in religion.” [Quran 22:78; Keller, The Quran Beheld]

Take Absolute Essentials of Islam (Hanafi): Getting Started With Your Belief and Practice and the other free courses at SeekersGuidance.

And Allah knows best.

Faraz Rabbani

Related Answers

One. Do I Need to Repeat My Prayer If I Prayed With My Sleeves Folded? — Ustadh Tabraze Azam: Folding or gathering up clothes in prayer is disliked, a different matter from simply uncovering the arm.

Two. Is It Valid to Prostrate on a Soft Carpet? — Ustadh Tabraze Azam: Prostration is valid on anything that counts as ground, without pressing down to the point of pain.

Three. Is the Validity of the Prostration Affected If Done on One’s Garment? — Shaykh Yusuf Weltch: Prostrating on one’s garment is disliked but valid, and covered hands pose no problem.

Courses for Further Study

Every course here is free, each has a named teacher, and you can ask your questions to the teacher as you study.

One. Absolute Essentials of Islam — Shaykh Faraz Rabbani: Sound belief, valid purification and prayer, and the sins to avoid and virtues to build, according to the Hanafi school.

Two. Hanafi Fiqh: Shurunbulali’s Nur al-Idah Explained — Shaykh Faraz Rabbani: Hanafi purification and prayer, from the text that Maraqi al-Falah explains.

النصوص · Source-Texts

[المرغيناني، الهداية] «ووضع اليدين والركبتين سنة عندنا لتحقق السجود بدونهما»

[الحصكفي، الدر المختار] «وأخذ ركبتيه بيديه في الركوع»

[الشرنبلالي، مراقي الفلاح] فمنها «إخراج الرجل كفيه من كميه عند التكبير» للإحرام «لقربه من التواضع إلا لضرورة كبرد»

[الحصكفي، الدر المختار] «وتركه خلاف الأولى، وهو مرجع كراهة التنزيه»

[الشرنبلالي، مراقي الفلاح] وهو ثمانية وستون شيئا … «والعمل الكثير» … «والعمل القليل عفو» لعدم الاحتراز منه

[البخاري] «أمرت أن أسجد على سبعة أعظم، على الجبهة، وأشار بيده على أنفه، واليدين، والركبتين، وأطراف القدمين، ولا نكفت الثياب والشعر»