SOLAT : 
RAISING OF HANDS

The spiritual significance of the bodily movements in prayer is meant to awaken the consciousness of man’s being present before the Lord. 

Prayer is the highest act of devotion to Allah. It should, therefore, be performed not in haste but with perfect tranquillity of mind.

Among the first bodily movement is the desirability of raising the hands above the shoulders at the time of the beginning of a prayer along with the recitation of the takbir (Allah-o-Akbar). 

Certain scholars indicate up to opposite the lobes of ears. The raising of hands signifies some sort of total surrender to our Lord.

Another occasion regarding raising of hands occurs at the time of bowing (rukuk) and at the time of returning to the erect position after bowing.

There is a difference of opinion with regard to the raising of hands in prayer. 

However the fundamental form of prayer is the same, i.e. standing upright for those ably man, direction facing Mecca, bowing and prostrations etc.

On many occasions, our Prophet Muhammad (saw) allowed minor differences to happen. 

He did this so that the devotional life of the Muslims may not become absolutely rigid. He wanted to maintain the natural flexibility of religious life to suit different environmental occasions.

Yes, he wanted to inculcate a spirit of tolerance for minor issues and in the minds of Muslims to differentiate between the fundamentals and details of religious acts.