Sunan an-Nasa'i
Sunan an-Nasa'i 1029
أَخْبَرَنَا إِسْمَاعِيلُ بْنُ مَسْعُودٍ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا خَالِدُ بْنُ الْحَارِثِ، عَنْ شُعْبَةَ، عَنْ سُلَيْمَانَ، قَالَ سَمِعْتُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ، يُحَدِّثُ عَنْ عَلْقَمَةَ، وَالأَسْوَدِ، أَنَّهُمَا كَانَا مَعَ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ فِي بَيْتِهِ فَقَالَ أَصَلَّى هَؤُلاَءِ قُلْنَا نَعَمْ . فَأَمَّهُمَا وَقَامَ بَيْنَهُمَا بِغَيْرِ أَذَانٍ وَلاَ إِقَامَةٍ . قَالَ إِذَا كُنْتُمْ ثَلاَثَةً فَاصْنَعُوا هَكَذَا وَإِذَا كُنْتُمْ أَكْثَرَ مِنْ ذَلِكَ فَلْيَؤُمَّكُمْ أَحَدُكُمْ وَلْيَفْرِشْ كَفَّيْهِ عَلَى فَخِذَيْهِ فَكَأَنَّمَا أَنْظُرُ إِلَى اخْتِلاَفِ أَصَابِعِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم .
Ismaʿil ibn Masʿud informed us: Khalid ibn al-Harith narrated to us, from Shuʿbah, from Sulayman, who said: “I heard Ibrahim relate from ʿAlqamah and al-Aswad that they were with ʿAbdullah in his house. He asked, ‘Have these people prayed?’ We said, ‘Yes.’ He led them in prayer and stood between the two of them, without a call to prayer or an iqamah. He said: ‘When you are three, do as I have done; when you are more than that, let one of you lead you in prayer and let him spread his palms over his thighs.’ It was as though I could see the distinct positioning of the fingers of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).”
Translation notes
The phrase about the Prophet’s fingers is rendered literally as “distinct positioning”; the precise hand gesture is not clear from this wording alone.
أَخْبَرَنَا إِسْمَاعِيلُ بْنُ مَسْعُودٍ،
The English witness is abridged in the transmission chain; the Arabic source preserves it.
Should the English witness include the omitted chain in its separate source record?
قَالَ إِذَا كُنْتُمْ ثَلاَثَةً فَاصْنَعُوا هَكَذَا وَإِذَا كُنْتُمْ أَكْثَرَ مِنْ ذَلِكَ فَلْيَؤُمَّكُمْ أَحَدُكُمْ وَلْيَفْرِشْ كَفَّيْهِ عَلَى فَخِذَيْهِ فَكَأَنَّمَا أَنْظُرُ إِلَى اخْتِلاَفِ أَصَابِعِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم .
The Arabic refers to the differing or distinct positioning of the Prophet’s fingers; it does not explicitly say “interlaced.”
What specific finger position does اختلاف أصابع رسول الله refer to here?