Obligation and Superiority of the Final Tashahhud in Salah

Obligation and Superiority of the Final Tashahhud in Salah
✍ Written by: Imran Ayub Lahori

✿ Evidence for the Obligation of the Final Tashahhud​

❶ It is narrated from Hazrat Ibn Mas‘ud (رضی اللہ عنہ):
كنا نقول قبل أن يفرض علينا التشهد ، السلام على الله ، السلام على جبرئيل و ميكائيل
[Ṣaḥīḥ: Tammām al-Minnah, p. 171; Irwā’ al-Ghalīl: 319; Daraqutni: 1/350; Bayhaqi: 2/138]
"Before the Tashahhud was made obligatory upon us, we used to say: 'Peace be upon Allah, peace be upon Jibreel and Mikaeel.' Then the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) forbade us from this and commanded us to say: التحيات لله…. etc."


❷ It is narrated from Hazrat Ibn Mas‘ud (رضی اللہ عنہ) that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:
إذا قعدتم فى كل ركعتين فقولوا: التحيات لله…الخ
[Ṣaḥīḥ: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Nasā’ī: 1114; Kitāb al-Taṭbīq: Bāb Kayf al-Tashahhud al-Awwal; Nasā’ī: 1164; Ahmad: 1/437; Ibn Khuzaymah: 720]
"When you sit after every two Rak‘ahs, then say: التحيات لله…. etc."


❸ It is narrated from Hazrat Ibn Mas‘ud (رضی اللہ عنہ) that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) taught him the Tashahhud:
وأمره أن يعلمه الناس
[Ahmad: 1/382]
"And he commanded him to teach it to the people."


These evidences prove that the final Tashahhud is Wājib (obligatory).


For further detail, see:
➤ Nayl al-Awṭār: 2/115
➤ al-Sayl al-Jarrār: 21931
➤ al-Rawḍah al-Nadiyyah: 1/248
➤ al-Muḥallā bi’l-Āthār: 2/300
➤ Sabil al-Salām: 1/443

✿ Scholarly Opinions on the Ruling​

• Imam Ahmad (رحمه الله) and Imam Shafi‘i (رحمه الله): Final Tashahhud is obligatory (Wājib).
• Imam Malik (رحمه الله): Sitting until Salam and engaging in the remembrance of Allah in the final Tashahhud is Fard, but the Tashahhud text itself is not Fard.
• Rajih (Most Preferred View): Both sitting for the Tashahhud and the Tashahhud itself are Fard (obligatory).

Sources:
Bidāyat al-Mujtahid: 1/125, al-Mughnī: 1/532, Kashshāf al-Qinā‘: 45331, Fatḥ al-Qadīr ma‘a al-‘Ināyah: 1/113, Badā’i‘ al-Ṣanā’i‘: 1/113, Tabiyīn al-Ḥaqā’iq: 1/104, al-Sharḥ al-Kabīr: 1/240, al-Qawānīn al-Fiqhiyyah: p. 64, al-Fiqh al-Islāmī wa Adillatuh: 2/580
al-Muḥallā bi’l-Āthār: 2/300

✿ Wordings of the Tashahhud​

❶ From Ibn Mas‘ud (رضی اللہ عنہ):
التحيات الله والصلوات والطيبات السلام عليك أيها النبى و رحمة الله وبركاته السلام علينا وعلى عباد الله الصلحين أشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وأشهد أن محمدا عبده ورسوله
[Bukhari: 831; Muslim: 402; Abu Dawud: 968; Tirmidhi: 289; Nasā’ī: 2/239; Ibn Majah: 899; Ahmad: 1/382; Dārimī: 1/308; Bayhaqi: 2/138; Daraqutni: 1/350; Abu ‘Awanah: 2/299]


❷ From Ibn Abbas (رضی اللہ عنہما):
التحيات المباركات الصلوات الطيبات لله السلام عليك أيها النبى ورحمة الله و بركاته السلام علينا وعلى عباد الله الصالحين أشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وأشهد أن محمد رسول الله
[Muslim: 403; Abu Dawud: 974; Tirmidhi: 290; Nasā’ī: 2/242; Ibn Majah: 900; Ahmad: 1/292; Daraqutni: 1/350; Bayhaqi: 2/140]


❸ From Umar ibn al-Khattab (رضی اللہ عنہ):
التحيات لله الزاكيات لله الطيبات الصلوات لله السلام عليك أيها النبى ورحمة الله وبركاته السلام علينا وعلى عباد الله الصالحين أشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وأشهد أن محمدا عبده ورسوله
[Ṣaḥīḥ: Naṣb al-Rāyah: 1/422; Muwaṭṭa: 1/90; Kitāb al-Nidā’ li’l-Ṣalāh: Bāb al-Tashahhud fi al-Ṣalāh; al-Ḥākim: 1/266; Bayhaqi: 2/142]


❹ From Abu Musa al-Ash‘ari (رضی اللہ عنہ):
التحيات الطيبات الصلوات الله ……
[Muslim: 404, Kitāb al-Ṣalāh: Bāb al-Tashahhud fi al-Ṣalāh]
(The remainder of the wording is similar to the Tashahhud of Ibn Mas‘ud.)

✿ Which Tashahhud is Superior?​

There is scholarly disagreement regarding which Tashahhud is most virtuous (afḍal):

• Imam Ahmad (رحمه الله), Imam Abu Hanifah (رحمه الله), and the majority: Ibn Mas‘ud’s Tashahhud is the most virtuous.
• Imam Shafi‘i (رحمه الله): Ibn Abbas’s Tashahhud is afḍal.
• Imam Malik (رحمه الله): Umar ibn al-Khattab’s Tashahhud is afḍal.

References:
Sharḥ al-Muhadhdhab: 3/343, al-Umm: 1/228, Ḥilyat al-‘Ulamā’: 2/126, al-Mabsūṭ: 1/27, Kashshāf al-Qinā‘: 1/357, Sabil al-Salām: 1/267

• Imam Nawawi (رحمه الله): There is consensus among scholars on the permissibility of all the narrated versions of Tashahhud.
  [Sharḥ Muslim: 2/354]
• Rajih View: The Tashahhud of Ibn Mas‘ud (رضی اللہ عنہ) is most virtuous, because it is narrated in both Ṣaḥīḥayn, and the narrators have no differences in its wording.
• Tirmidhi (رحمه الله): The most authentic narration regarding the Tashahhud is that of Ibn Mas‘ud.
  [Sunan Tirmidhi: 289]
• Imam Muslim (رحمه الله): There is ijma‘ (consensus) of people on the Tashahhud of Ibn Mas‘ud.
  [Sabil al-Salām: 1/443]
• Imam Bazzar (رحمه الله): The most authentic narration about the Tashahhud is that of Ibn Mas‘ud.
  [Tuḥfat al-Aḥwadhī: 2/185]
• Ibn Hajar (رحمه الله): He has explained various reasons for the superiority of Ibn Mas‘ud’s Tashahhud.
  [Fatḥ al-Bārī: 2/368]
• Siddiq Hasan Khan (رحمه الله): Ibn Mas‘ud’s Tashahhud is the most authentic.
  [al-Rawḍah al-Nadiyyah: 1/249]
• Abdul Rahman Mubarakpuri (رحمه الله): Ibn Mas‘ud’s narration is stronger than all others.
  [Tuḥfat al-Aḥwadhī: 2/186]