Question:
“Raising your hands up to the level of your shoulders is the proper manner of supplication.”
She says that on the Online PJ website this narration is presented as a statement of the Prophetﷺ and attributed to Sunan Abu Dawud.
But on an English website, the same narration is presented as a statement of Ibn Abbas himself, not as a saying of the Prophetﷺ.
So, she asks: Which is correct?
Answer:
On our Online PJ website, we answered a question about how high the hands should be raised during du‘ā (supplication). In that answer we cited this hadith — that one should raise the hands up to the level of the shoulders when making supplication.
This narration appears in Sunan Abi Dawud, Hadith number 1274.
Now the confusion arises because this hadith is actually a combined narration. It is essentially two narrations merged together into one report.
At the beginning of the narration, it starts by saying:
“Ibn Abbas said…” If someone reads only this first portion, it appears to be the statement of Ibn Abbas.
But when the narration continues, another chain of transmission (sanad) is added, in which Ibn Abbas reports the same statement from the Prophetﷺ.
Thus, the narration ends with the wording: “The Messengerﷺ of Allahﷻ said…”
And Ibn Abbas reports it. So, what has happened here is that Abu Dawud combined two related narrations into single hadith. One form is a companion’s statement, and another form is a Prophetﷺic narration reported through Ibn Abbas.
Because of this, both descriptions are technically correct.
The English website may have mentioned only the first part, which appears as the statement of Ibn Abbas. But if the second chain in the narration is examined, it clearly shows that Ibn Abbas also narrated the same statement from the Prophetﷺ.
Therefore, there is no contradiction. The narration exists in both forms, and Abu Dawud compiled them together.
If the English website had translated the entire narration, or if they had listed the second chain as another hadith, you would see clearly that the statement is also reported from the Prophetﷺ.