❖ 3 Sharʿi Guidelines on Raising the Index Finger During Tashahhud ❖
Source: Fatāwā ʿIlmiyyah, Volume 1, Kitāb al-Ṣalāh, Page 385
✦ Question:
During Tashahhud in prayer, how should the index finger (Shahādat/Sabbābah) be raised?
Should it be:
- Simply raised and held still,
- Continuously moved,
- Or just left relaxed?
Which of these is the most correct according to Sharīʿah?
(Questioner: Ṭāriq ʿAlī Barohī, Karachi)
✔ Answer:
الحمد لله، والصلاة والسلام علىٰ رسول الله، أما بعد!
◈ Sharʿi Guidelines from Authentic Ahadith
During Tashahhud (al-Taḥiyyāt) in the sitting position of ṣalāh:
① The right hand should be shaped into a circle using the thumb and middle finger.
② The index finger (Shahādat/Sabbābah) should be slightly bent and held upright.
③ During duʿāʾ within the tashahhud, this finger should be moved.
📚 Authentic References:
- Sunan Abī Dāwūd, Kitāb al-Ṣalāh, Bāb al-Ishārah fī al-Tashahhud, Ḥadīth: 991
⤷ Chain: Ḥasan - Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Khuzaymah, Ḥadīths: 715, 716
⤷ Chains graded Ṣaḥīḥ - Ibn Ḥibbān, al-Mawrid, Ḥadīth: 499
➤ The scholars who declared these aḥādīth as weak have erred.
◈ Clarification on a Common Misconception
Some people:
➤ Raise the index finger only at the words “Lā ilāha”,
➤ And lower it at “illā Allāh”.
However, based on all available authentic narrations:
◈ There is no ḥadīth to support this specific movement pattern.
It is not established from the Sunnah.
Reference: Māhnāmah Shahādat, February 2000
❖ Summary: 3 Sharʿi Guidelines on Raising the Index Finger
① Form a circle with the thumb and middle finger of the right hand.
② Keep the index finger slightly bent and upright throughout tashahhud.
③ Move the finger during duʿāʾ (not only raise-and-drop during “Lā ilāha illā Allāh”).
ھذا ما عندي، واللہ أعلم بالصواب
