Reciting the tashahud during prayer...

Egypt's Dar Al-Ifta

Reciting the tashahud during prayers

Question

reciting the tashahud after the first two cycles of prayer in a three or four cycle prayer. Must the whole of the tashahud be recited and what are its words?

Answer


'Abdullah ibn 'Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both, said: "The Prophet [peace and blessings be upon him] taught us the tashahud [testification of faith] as follows: 'Blessed greetings and the best of prayers to Allah. Peace be upon you O Prophet and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. Peace be upon us and upon the righteous slaves of Allah. I testify that there is no god save Allah and that Mohammed is the Messenger of Allah" [Muslim].

In another wording of the hadith, 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that the Prophet [peace and blessings be upon him] said: "When you sit after every two cycles [rak'as ] of prayer, say: 'Greetings, prayers and blessings to Allah. Peace be upon you O Prophet and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. Peace be upon us and upon the righteous servants of Allah. I testify that there is no god save Allah and that Mohammed is His slave and Messenger.' Then you should supplicate for anything you wish and then close the prayer with greetings to Allah" [Ahmed and al-Nisa`i].

This and other similar non-Prophetic reports are what is known as tashahud, and this is its complete wording. Anything beyond this is not part of it, but is prayers upon the Prophet [peace and blessings be upon him] and his family. The tashahud ends with 'You are truly the most praiseworthy and glorious'.

What is permissible to say in the first tashahud is what the Prophet [peace and blessings be upon him] taught his Companions, though scholars differed on whether it is obligatory or recommended. One, who observes prayer, is not to recite prayers upon Ibraham, "as You blessed Ibrahim and the folk of Ibrahim," in the first tashahud, but it suffices him to recite what the Prophet taught his Companions.

None from among the scholars who succeeded the Companions maintained that reciting prayers upon Ibraham in the first tashahud is obligatory. On the contrary, it was the manner of the Prophet [peace and blessings be upon him] to make matters easy [upon Muslims]. 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "When the Prophet [peace and blessings be upon him] sat after the first two cycles of prayer to make tashahud, it seemed as if he was [sitting] on hot coals" [Abu Dawud, al-Tirmidhi, and al-Nisa`i]. Due to this facilitation illustrated by the Prophet [peace and blessings be upon him], scholars from the different orthodox schools of jurisprudence did not mention sending prayers upon the Prophet [peace and blessings be upon him] in the first tashahud except for some who maintained its obligatoriness whenever his name is mentioned. Shafi'i scholars contend that it is recommended to send prayers upon the Prophet [peace and blessings be upon him] though not upon his family because the first tashahud necessitates facilitation [cited from al-Bajuri's meta-commentary on Sharh ibn Qasim on the commentary of abu Shuja']. All of this demonstrates the clear difference between the first and second tashahud.

The Ruling
It is not obligatory to send prayers upon Ibraham in the first tashahud, but one is to recite the tashahud mentioned in the hadith of Ibn 'Abbas, Ibn Mas'ud or 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with them) and those who narrated the words of the tashahud from the Prophet [peace and blessings be upon him].

Allah the Almighty knows best

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