Why are the hands placed on the chest during prayer?

All perfect praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

Placing the right hand on the left while praying is an established Sunnah of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. It was related by Muslim in his Saheeh, from Waa’il ibn Hujr that he saw the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, place his right hand on his left while he was standing in prayer.

The correct way of placing the hands in the prayer is to place the right hand on the left below the chest and above the navel.

The scholars have mentioned that the wisdom behind doing this is to emphasize one’s humility in front of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, and to keep the hands from fiddling around during the prayer.

Allah knows best.