This excerpt is taken from the book “Mas’alah Raf‘ al-Sabbabah” (i.e., pointing with the index finger in Tashahhud) by Shaykh Abdul Rauf Haanji al-Salafi.
Raising the Index Finger in Tashahhud — 25 Authentic Hadiths
Abdullah ibn az-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both)
(1)
Abdullah ibn az-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) said:
“When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) sat in prayer, he would place his left hand on his left knee, and his right hand on his right thigh, and he would point with his finger.”
(2)
Abdullah ibn az-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) reported:
“When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) sat to make the supplication (of Tashahhud), he placed his right hand on his right thigh, and his left hand on his left thigh. He pointed with his index finger, placed his thumb upon his middle finger, and made his left palm grasp his left knee.”
Note:
Some narrations mention placing the hands on the knees, while others mention placing them on the thighs. This indicates that the Prophet (ﷺ) placed his hands at the junction of the thigh and knee. Other narrations explicitly combine both positions, confirming there is no contradiction.
(3)
Abdullah ibn az-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) said:
“When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) sat after two rak‘ahs or four rak‘ahs, he would place his hands on his knees and then point with his finger.”
(4)
Abdullah ibn az-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrated:
“When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) sat in Tashahhud, he placed his left palm on his left thigh, pointed with the index finger, and his gaze did not go beyond his pointing.”
(5)
Ibn Jurayj said:
“Ziyād informed me from Muhammad ibn ‘Ajlān, from ‘Āmir ibn Abdullah ibn az-Zubayr, that he mentioned that the Prophet (ﷺ) used to point with his finger during supplication and he would not move it.”
(6)
Ibn Jurayj added:
“‘Amr ibn Dīnār informed me from ‘Āmir ibn Abdullah ibn az-Zubayr from his father that he saw the Prophet (ﷺ) supplicating in this manner, leaning with his left hand upon his left leg.”
Clarification (from en.tohed.com)
The phrase “and he would not move it” is shaadh (irregular, unreliable).
Authentic hadith establish that the Prophet (ﷺ) did move his finger while supplicating. He said that the index finger is more severe against Shayṭān than iron.
Scholarly assessments:
- Shaykh al-Albani: The wording “and he would not move it” is shaadh.
- Shaykh Zubair Ali Zai: Weak.
- Its chain is weak because Muhammad ibn ‘Ajlān is mudallis and narrates with ‘an‘anah.
Even an-Nasa’i graded it weak
.
Authentic Evidence for Moving the Finger
A strong hadith:
Wā’il ibn Ḥujr (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
“I said: I will observe the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). He described the prayer and said:
When he sat, he spread his left foot, placed his left hand on his left thigh and knee. He placed the edge of his right elbow on his right thigh, folded two fingers, formed a ring, then raised his index finger.
I saw him moving it while making supplication.”
On the narration “He pointed and did not move it”
This narration:
is weak due to:
- Muhammad ibn ‘Ajlān being a mudallis narrator using ‘an‘anah.
- Ibn Hajar listed him among third-level mudallisin
Reference: al-Fatḥ al-Mubīn, p. 60
.
- At-Tahawi also declared him a mudallis
Reference: Mushkil al-Athar, vol. 1, pp. 100–101 (old print)
.
Thus calling this narration “authentic” is incorrect.
A weak narration is rejected; reconciliation applies only when both narrations are authentic.
Narrations from Abdullah ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both)
(7)
Abdullah ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrated:
“When the Prophet (ﷺ) sat in prayer, he placed his hands on his knees, raised the index finger of his right hand – the one next to the thumb – and supplicated with it. His left hand remained open on his left knee.”
(8)
Abdullah ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrated:
“When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) sat in Tashahhud, he placed his left hand on his left knee and his right hand on his right knee. He formed the gesture of ‘53’ and pointed with the index finger.”
(9)
Abdullah ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) said:
“When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) sat in prayer, he placed his right hand on his right thigh, folded all his fingers, and pointed with the finger next to the thumb (the index finger). He placed his left palm on his left thigh.”
(10)
Abdullah ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) reported:
“When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) sat in prayer, he placed both hands on his knees, raised the finger next to the thumb of the right hand (the index finger), and supplicated with it. He kept his left hand open on his left knee.”
(11)
Abdullah ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) said:
“Do as the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to do.”
He then placed his right hand on his right thigh and pointed toward the qiblah with the finger next to the thumb (the index finger), fixing his gaze upon it.
Then he said: “This is how I saw the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) doing.”
Narrations from Wā’il ibn Ḥujr (may Allah be pleased with him)
(12)
Wā’il ibn Ḥujr (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
“I came to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and saw that when he sat after two rak‘ahs, he spread his left foot, kept his right foot upright, placed his right hand on his right thigh, raised his index finger for supplication, and placed his left hand on his left thigh.”
(13)
Wā’il ibn Ḥujr (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
“I said: I will observe how the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) performs the prayer.
When he sat in Tashahhud, he spread his left foot, placed his left hand on his left thigh, placed the edge of his right elbow on his right thigh, folded two fingers, formed a circle with his thumb and middle finger, and pointed with the index finger.”
(14)
Wā’il ibn Ḥujr (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated:
“I saw the Prophet (ﷺ) sitting in prayer for Tashahhud. He spread his left foot, placed his arms on his thighs, and pointed with his index finger while supplicating.”
(15)
Wā’il ibn Ḥujr (may Allah be pleased with him) reported:
“I saw the Prophet (ﷺ) form a circle with the thumb and middle finger and raise the finger next to them (the index finger) while supplicating in Tashahhud.”
(16)
Wā’il ibn Ḥujr (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
“I said: I will observe how the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) prays.
When he sat in Tashahhud, he spread his left foot, placed his left palm on his left thigh and knee, placed the edge of his right elbow on his right thigh, folded two fingers, made a circle with another two, then raised his index finger.
I saw him moving it while supplicating.”
Narrations from Abu Humayd as-Sa‘idi (may Allah be pleased with him)
(17)
Abu Humayd as-Sa‘idi, Abu Usayd, Sahl ibn Sa‘d, and Muhammad ibn Maslamah (may Allah be pleased with them) gathered together and discussed the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ).
Abu Humayd said:
“I am the one among you who knows best the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ).
When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) sat for Tashahhud, he spread his left foot, directed the toes of his right foot toward the qiblah, placed his right palm on his right knee, placed his left palm on his left knee, and pointed with his finger – meaning the index finger.”
Narrations from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him)
(18)
Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported:
A man was making supplication using two fingers, so the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:
“One finger, one finger.”
Narrations from Sa‘d ibn Abi Waqqas (may Allah be pleased with him)
(19)
Sa‘d (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) passed by me while I was supplicating with my fingers (more than one), so he said:
‘One finger, one finger.’”
Narrations from Numayr al-Khuza‘i (may Allah be pleased with him)
(20)
Numayr al-Khuza‘i (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
“I saw the Prophet (ﷺ) placing his right forearm on his right thigh, raising his index finger and slightly bending it while supplicating.”
The phrase “and slightly bending it” is not authentically established, though the rest of the hadith is sound.
(21)
Numayr al-Khuza‘i (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated:
“I saw the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) placing his right hand on his right thigh during prayer and pointing with his index finger.”
Narrations from Khafāf ibn Imaa’ al-Ghifari (may Allah be pleased with him)
(22)
Khafaf ibn Imaa’ (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
“When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) sat in the final sitting of prayer, he would point with his index finger.
The polytheists used to say: ‘He performs magic with it.’
They lied. Rather, he used it to declare the Oneness of Allah.”
(23)
Another narration from him:
“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) only did this to proclaim the Oneness of his Lord, the Almighty and Majestic.”
Narration from Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both)
(24)
Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrated:
“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:
‘This is sincerity’ – and he pointed with the finger next to the thumb (the index finger).”
Narration from ‘Abdur-Rahman ibn Abza (may Allah be pleased with him)
(25)
‘Abdur-Rahman ibn Abza (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
“The Prophet (ﷺ) would do this in his prayer” – and he pointed with his index finger.
al-Haythami said:
No one narrated this from ‘Abdur-Rahman except Mansur ibn al-Mu‘tamir – and he is reliable.
Scholarly Note
Imam ‘Abid Sindhi (rahimahullah), in Tawāli‘ al-Anwār, wrote that up to 27–28 Companions narrated reports regarding raising the index finger in Tashahhud.
Mulla Ali al-Qari (rahimahullah) wrote the same in his treatise Tazyeen al-‘Ibārah bi-Tahseen al-Ishārah.
