Raising Hands during ‘Eed Prayer
26-2-2003 | IslamWeb
Question:
As regards raising hands with every Takbeer in Eid prayer, I read from "the book of fasting" of Mohd. Iqbal Kailani the following Hadith: "Waael bin Hujr(R.A) relates that he saw the Messenger of Allah SAWS raising his hands with ever Takbir" (Transmitted by Ahmed).In the above Hadith it is not clear whether Wail bin Hujr(R.A.) saw Prophet Mohammad SAWS raising his hands during Eid prayer or during daily prayers.Shaykh Al-albanee (RT) said in Tamammul Minnah that the Hadith narrated by Umar (R.A) transmitted by al-Baihaqi is weak in chain of narration and he hadn't come across any report from son of Umar (R.A) {Ibn Umar(R.A) } and therefore he came to conclusion that raising of hands in Eid prayer is not Sunnah.If the above Hadith transmitted by Ahmed of Wail bin Hujr(R.A) is authentic and that too Wail bin Hujr(R.A) saw prophet Mohammad SAWS raising his hands in Eid prayer than it can be followed, otherwise the opinion of Shaykh al-Albanee stands most correct.Now my question is the Hadith transmitted by Ahmed of Wail bin Hujr(R.A) is authentic ? Does Wail bin Hujr(R.A) saw prophet Mohammad SAWS raising his hands in Eid prayer as quoted in this Hadith?
Answer:
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
The Hadeeth of Waa-il ibn Hujr is reported by Imam Ahmad with the following wording: “I observed the Prophet raising his hands with the Takbeer.” There is no mention that it was in ‘Eed Prayer. [Shaykh al-Albaani graded it as Hasan (good) in his book al-Irwaa']
However, the majority of Muslim scholars in past and present are of the opinion that raising hands with the extra Takbeers during the ‘Eed Prayers is Sunnah and more proper. Imam al-Firyabi narrated many statements from the pious predecessors proving this practice. One of those narrations is that Waleed ibn Muslim said, 'I asked Anas ibn Maalik, 
about raising hands with the extra Takbeers during ‘Eed Prayer. He said, ‘Raise your hands, I did not hear (from the Prophet) anything in this concern.'
The chain of this narration is sound.
Allah knows best.