Wa'il bin Hujr (RA)

Wa'il ibn Hujr al-Hadrami, may Allah be pleased with him, was a companion of the Prophet ﷺ and a nobleman from the Hadhramaut region of Yemen who came to the Prophet ﷺ to accept Islam. The Prophet ﷺ honored him and prayed for blessings upon him and his descendants, saying: 'O Allah, bless Wa'il and his children and his children's children.' He is primarily known for his detailed descriptions of the physical manner of the Prophet's ﷺ prayer — particularly the placement of the right hand over the left on the chest, the raising of the hands to the earlobes at the opening takbir, and the manner of reciting in prayer. These descriptions are foundational references in all four madhabs for the physical form of salah, and different madhabs cite his narrations to support different rulings on hand placement. His reports on prayer are preserved in the Sunan of Abu Dawud, al-Nasai, al-Tirmidhi, and Ibn Majah, and are among the most debated and cited narrations in Islamic legal discussions of prayer posture. He settled in Kufa and transmitted prophetic knowledge there. He passed away around 50 AH.