In which book was the story mentioned of Imam Malik's trial with the governor of Medina that compelled him to pray with his hands by his sides, and which of his students narrated this story, and has the practice of praying with hands by the sides remained one of the relied-upon opinions in describing the prayer for Malikis?
The story indicates that Imam Malik was beaten during the time of Ja'far ibn Sulaiman because of his fatwa that a forced divorce is not valid. Imam Ahmad affirmed that the reason for the beating was this fatwa. It is narrated that after the beating, Malik declared: "Behold, whoever knows me, knows me, and whoever does not know me, I am Malik ibn Anas ibn Abi Amir al-Asbahi, and I say: the divorce of one under duress is nothing." The Malikis did not rely on this story for their view on letting the hands hang loose in prayer; rather, they relied on Ibn al-Qasim's statement from Malik that he disliked placing the right hand over the left in obligatory prayers. It is not possible to rely on the story of the beating for the issue of letting the hands hang loose, because letting his hands hang loose in that situation was due to the necessity of illness, and that does not nullify the Sunnah.
Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026
Read the full answer on Ftawyhttps://ftawy.com/en/questions/97137