As salamu alaykum,

In the Hanafi madhab a woman is to bend slightly in ruku putting her hands above the knees.

Do they have any proof for this ?

The first person who mentioned this in the Hanafi books is az-Zaahidi (d.658/1260) in al Mujtaba as mentioned by al-Lukhnowi in as-Siaya 2/206.

He narrated also ''ilsaq al kabayn'' as mentioned in this PDF: http://www.themajlis.co.za/books/Ilsaaq.pdf

It is mentioned there:

According to Allaamah Abdul Hay Lukhnowi (rahmatullah alayh), the first person among the Ahnaaf who claimed that ilsaaq is Sunnah was Zaahidi. Zaahidi was mash-hoor for narrating dhaeef riwaayaat. Whilst he was Hanafi in furoo’i masaa-il, by I’tiqaad he was a Mu’tazili.
I have seen also on a shia narration website the following report:

http://www.tashayyu.org/hadiths/sala...alat/chapter-1


[7080] 4 ـ وبهده الأسانيد عن حماد بن عيسى ، عن حريز ، عن زرارة قال : إذا قامت المرأة في الصلاة جمعت بين قدميها ، ولا تفرج بينهما ، وتضم يديها إلى صدرها لمكان ثدييها ، فإذا ركعت وضعت يديها فوق ركبتيها على فخذيها لئلا تطأطأ كثيراً فترتفع عجيزتها ، فإذا جلست فعلى أليتيها ، ليس (1) كما يجلس (2) الرجل ، وإذا سقطت للسجود بدأت بالقعود وبالركبتين قبل اليدين ثم تسجد لاطئة (3) بالأرض ، فإذا كانت في جلوسها ضمت فخذيها ورفعت ركبتيها من الأرض ، وإذا نهضت انسلت انسلالاً لا ترفع عجيزتها أولاً.

ورواه الشيخ بإسناده عن محمد بن يعقوب بالإسناد الأول عن حماد ، مثله ، إلا أنه أسقط لفظ ليس من قوله : ليس كما يقعد الرجل (4).

ورواه الصدوق في ( العلل ) عن أبيه ، عن سعد بن عبدالله ، عن محمد ابن إسماعيل ، عن عيسى بن محمد ، عن محمد بن أبي عمير ، عن حماد بن عيسى ، عن حريز ، عن زرارة بن أعين ، عن أبي جعفر ( عليه السلام ) ، مثله (5).



4 – And with these chains from Hammad b. `Isa from Hariz from Zurarah. He said: When a woman stands for prayer, she gathers the feet together and does not leave any space between them and she draws her hands towards her chest, positioning them at her breasts. Then when she bows, she places her hands above her knees upon her thighs lest she bend down too much that it elevate her posterior. And when she sits, it is upon her buttocks – unlike (the word ليس is not found in al Tahdheeb – in the margin of the manuscript) how a man sits (in the Masdar: يقعد) – and when she goes into prostration, she commences by sitting and upon her knees prior to (placing) the hands; then she prostrates, cleaving to the ground (in Majma` al Bahrayn: meaning, clinging to it). Then when she is in her sitting, she joins her thighs together and she elevates her knees above the ground. And when she rises, she slips into it discreetly (i.e., without drawing attention by way of rising like the men), not raising her posterior first.



And the Shaykh (al Tusi in al Tahdheeb) has narrated it with his chains from Muhammad b. Ya`qub with the first chain from Hammad, likewise, save that he dropped the word ليس from his saying: ليس كما يقعد الرجل.



And al Saduq has narrated it in al `llal (al Shara’i`) from his father from Sa`d b. `Abdullah from Muhammad b. Isma`il from `Isa b. Muhammad from Muhammad b. Abi `Umayr from Hammad b. `Isa from Hariz from Zurarah b. A`yan from Abu Ja`far (as), likewise.
I asked a mufti for a Hanafi proof for the women's ruku in Hanafi madhab and they gave me this:

Concerning Ruku, a report of Musannaf Abdur Razzaq shows that women should keep themselves constricted and their limbs contracted i.e. close to one another.

عبد الرزاق عن ابن جريج عن عطاء قال تجتمع المرأة إذا ركعت رقم ٥٠٦۹

In order for this to happen, Ruku for them will be complete upon bending- which is what Ruku means/demands- to a lesser degree compared to men and then letting their hands just touch the knees. Similarly the following text also corroborates the above:

عن ابن عباس أنه سئل عن صلاة المرأة فقال تجتمع و تحتفز مصنف ابن أبى شيبه رقم ٢٧٩٤
Was salaam.