'I went to Kufah and I met Yazeed bin Abu Ziyaad and he narrated to me this hadeeth but he did not mention "then he did not do that", so I said to him, "verily ibn Abu Layla narrates to me from you this hadeeth and in it is "then he did not repeat that", and he said, "I have not preserved this'"' [End]

His saying, 'THE HADEETH OF IBN MAS'UD IS A HASAN HADEETH'

It is related by Ahmad and Abu Dawood. And at-Tirmidhee declared it hasan and ibn Hazm declared it saheeh.

And ibn al-Mubaarak declared it da'eef and said, 'the hadeeth of ibn Mas'ud is not established.' as mentioned by at-Tirmidhee. And Abu Dawood said in his {sunan} pg.272 after relating this hadeeth, 'this hadeeth is a summary of a long hadeeth, it is not saheeh with this wording.' And Imaam Bukhaaree said in {juz rafa' al-yadain} after mentioning the hadeeth,

'Imaam Ahmad said, narrating from Yahya bin Adam who said, "I saw the hadeeth of Abdullaah bin Idrees from Aasim bin Kulaib, and there was not in it, 'then he did not repeat that', and this is more authentic as the book is more preserved according to the People Knowledge, because a man narrates something, then he consults the book and it is as it is in the book. al-Hasan bin Rabee' narrated to us from Idrees bin Aasim from Abdurrahmaan bin al-Aswad from 'Alqama that 'Abdullaah (ie ibn Mas'ud) said, "the Messenger of Allaah taught us the prayer" so he stood and made takbeer and raised his hands, the he made ruku' and put his hands together between his knees. And this reached Sa'd who said, 'my brother has spoken truthfully. But we used to do that in the beginning of Islaam, then we were commanded with this. (ie placing the hands on the knees in ruku')'" Imaam Bukhaaree said, and this is what is preserved according to the People of research into the hadeeth of ibn Mas'ud' [End]

al-Haafidh ibn Abdul Barr said in {at-Tamheed},

'as for the hadeeth of ibn Mas'ud, "shall I not pray with you the prayer of the Messenger " So he prayed and did not raise his hands except once. Then indeed Abu Dawood said, "this is a summary of a long hadeeth and it is not saheeh with this meaning". And al-Bazzar said also "that it is not established, and the likes of this is not depended upon." As for the hadeeth of ibn Umar mentioned in this chapter, then the hadeeth was said in Madeenah and is saheeh, having no narrators accused of anything. And the likes of this has been narrated from more than 12 companions.' [End]

al-Haafidh az-Zaylai said in {Nasb ar-Raayah},

'ibn Abee Haatim said in {kitaabul ilal}, "I asked my father about the hadeeth related from Sufyaan ath-Thawri from Aasim bin Kulaib from Abd ar-Rahmaan bin al-Aswad from Alqama from Abdullaah that the Prophet stood and made takbeer and raised his hands and then did not repeat that, and my father said, 'this is a mistake, and it is said the mistake is from ath-Thawri, for a group of people have narrated from Aasim and all of them have said, "that the Prophet stood in prayer, and he raised his hands, then he made ruku' and placed his hands together between his knees." And not one of them narrate what ath-Thawri relates.'' [End]

al-Haafidh ibn Hajr said in {at-Talkhees}, 'and this hadeeth is declared hasan by at-Tirmidhee and saheeh by ibn Hazm. And ibn al-Mubaarak said, "it is not established with me" and ibn Abee Haatim said from his father that "this hadeeth is a mistake". And Ahmad bin Hanbal and his shaikh Yahya bin Aadam said, "it is Da'eef", and al-Bukhaaree transmitted this from them and followed them in their verdict. And Abu Daowod said that "it is not authentic." And ad-Daaruqutnee said, "it is not established". And ibn Hibaan said in {as-Salaah}, "this is the best narration that the People of Kufah narrate with regards to negating raising the hands in prayer at the ruku' and at rising from it, and it is in reality the weakest thing to depend on, because it has defects that invalidate it"' [End]

So with all of this it is established that the hadeeth of ibn Mas'ud is not saheeh or hasan, rather it is da'eef and the likes of it is not used as proof. As for the declaring of it to be hasan by at-Tirmidhee then it is not to be depended upon when there is leniency (in his verdict). As for ibn Hazm declaring it saheeh, then what is obvious is that it is from the point of view of sanad, and from what is known is that the authenticity of the sanad does not necessitate the authenticity of the matn,(text) despite the fact the the declaring saheeh of ibn Hazm is not to be depended upon in the light of the weakening of it by these precise Huffaadh. So depending upon this weak hadeeth for leaving the raising of hands and it's abrogation except when starting (prayer) is not correct.

And if we concede and accept that the hadeeth of ibn Mas'ud is Saheeh or Hasan, then what is obvious is that ibn Mas'ud forgot about it, as he forgot about many matters.