The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "Whoever performs ablution and then sets out intending to pray is considered to be in prayer until he returns to his home, so do not do like this," and he interlaced his fingers.
قال رسول الله ﷺ: من توضأ ثم خرج يريد الصلاة فهو في صلاة حتى يرجع إلى بيته فلا تقولوا هكذا وشبك بين أصابعه.
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Darimi (1412), Ibn Khuzayma (439), and Hakim (1/206) all narrated it through various chains from Ismail bin Umaya, from Saeed Maqburi, from Abu Hurairah, who mentioned it. Hakim said, "Sahih according to the standard of the two Sheikhs, though they did not include it, and Muhammad bin Ajlan corroborated it from Maqburi, and it is sahih according to the standard of Muslim."I say, as for the hadith of Muhammad bin Ajlan, Ibn Khuzayma and Hakim both narrated it through the route of Yahya bin Saeed, from him, from Saeed (Maqburi), from Abu Hurairah, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to Kaab bin Ujra, "When you perform wudu and then enter the masjid, do not interlace your fingers." This is the sahih version in this chapter. Sharik bin Abdullah narrated it from Muhammad bin Ajlan but erred in its chain, as Hakim said.This hadith has also been narrated from the musnad of Kaab bin Ujra, and it contains severe inconsistency. It was narrated by Abu Dawud (562), Tirmidhi (386), Ibn Majah (967), Imam Ahmad (18103), Bayhaqi (3/230), and Tahawi in his Mushkil (5567). Ibn Khuzayma spoke about it harshly, and it is apparent from his approach that he was satisfied only with what he narrated from Ismail and Abdul-Warith, both from Saeed Maqburi from Abu Hurairah alone. This is because of the inconsistency of Ibn Ajlan in it.Likewise, the hadith of Abu Saeed Khudri, as a raised report, "When one of you is in the masjid, let him not interlace his fingers, for interlacing is from Shaytan, and one of you remains in prayer as long as he stays in the masjid, until he leaves it." This was narrated by Imam Ahmad (11385), and it contains Ubaydullah bin Abdullah bin Mawhab, about whom Imam Ahmad and Shafii said, "He is not known," and his uncle Ubaydullah bin Abdul-Rahman bin Mawhab is not strong, and it also contains a freedman of Abu Saeed Khudri who is not known. Hafiz said in Fath al-Bari (1/566), "Its chain contains a daif and unknown narrator." As for Haythami, he said in Al-Majmu (2/25), "Its chain is hasan."There is no contradiction between these hadiths, since the hadiths permitting it are sahih, and the hadiths of prohibition do not conflict with them, except that some scholars have interpreted the prohibition as applying only when done idly, whereas if it serves a purpose, such as for illustration or comparison, there is no disagreement over its permissibility.