tashahhud

The Tashahhud ({{langx|ar|تَشَهُّد}}, meaning "testimony [of faith]"), also known as at-Tahiyyat ({{langx|ar|ٱلتَّحِيَّات}}), is the portion of the Muslim prayer where the person kneels or sits on the ground facing the qibla (direction of Mecca), glorifies God, and greets Muhammad and the "righteous servants of God" followed by the two testimonials. The recitation is usually followed by an invocation of the blessings and peace upon Muhammad known as Salawat.

Origins

There is an authentic and reliable hadith that states:{{Cite web |url=https://sunnah.com/urn/153690 |title=Hadith – Asking Permission – Sahih al-Bukhari – Sunnah.com – Sayings and Teachings of Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه و سلم) |website=sunnah.com |access-date=2017-11-14 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20171115015608/https://sunnah.com/urn/153690 |archivedate=2017-11-15 }}

{{quote|Ibn Mas'ud is reported to have said that the Messenger of God (peace be upon him) taught me tashahhud taking my hand within his palms, in the same way as he taught me the chapter of the Quran, and we also read it after his passing away.}}

Sunni tradition

= Hanafi and Hanbali =

A version attributed to Abdullah ibn Masud is used by Sunni Muslims from both the Hanafi and the Hanbali schools, as well as the non-Sunni Ibadi Muslims:

{{quote|{{lang|ar|ٱلتَّحِيَّاتُ لِلَّٰهِ وَٱلصَّلَوَاتُ وَٱلطَّيِّبَاتُ، ٱلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكَ أَيُّهَا ٱلنَّبِيُّ وَرَحْمَةُ ٱللَّٰهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ، ٱلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْنَا وَعَلَىٰ عِبَادِ ٱللَّٰهِ ٱلصَّالِحِينَ، أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا ٱللَّٰهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ.}}

{{transl|ar|at-taḥiyyātu li-llāhi, wa-ṣ-ṣalawātu wa-ṭ-ṭayyibāt{{smallsup|u}}. as-salāmu ʿalayka ʾayyuhā n-nabiyyu wa raḥmatu -llāhi wa barakātuh{{smallsup|u}}. as-salāmu ʿalaynā wa ʿalā ʿibādi -llāhi ṣ-ṣāliḥīn{{smallsup|a}}. ʾashhadu ʾan lā ʾilāha ʾillā -llāhu wa ʾashhadu ʾanna muḥammadan ʿabduhu wa rasūluh{{smallsup|ū}}.}}

"Salutations to God and prayers and good deeds. Peace be upon you, O Prophet, as well as God's mercy and His blessings. Peace be upon us and upon the righteous servants of God. I bear witness that there is no deity but God, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His messenger."Bukhārī, nos 831, 835, 1202, 6230, 6265, 7381.}}

= Maliki =

A version attributed to Umar is used by the Maliki school:

{{quote|{{lang|ar|ٱلتَّحِيَّاتُ لِلَّٰهِ ٱلزَّاكِيَاتُ لِلَّٰهِ ٱلطَّيِّبَاتُ وَٱلصَّلَوَاتُ لِلَّٰهِ ٱلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكَ أَيُّهَا ٱلنَّبِيُّ وَرَحْمَةُ ٱللَّٰهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ، ٱلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْنَا وَعَلَىٰ عِبَادِ ٱللَّٰهُ ٱلصَّالِحِينَ، أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا ٱللَّٰهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ.}}

{{transl|ar|at-taḥīyātu li-llāhi, az-zākiyātu li-llāhi aṭ-ṭayyibātu wa-ṣ-ṣalawātu li-llāh{{smallsup|i}}. as-salāmu ʿalayka ayyuhā n-nabīyu wa-raḥmatu -llāhi wa-barakātuh{{smallsup|u}}. as-salāmu ʿalaynā wa-ʿalā ʿibādi -llāhi ṣ-ṣāliḥīn{{smallsup|a}}. ʾashhadu an lā ʾilāha ʾillā -llāhu wa-ʾashhadu ʾanna muḥammadan ʿabduhū wa-rasūluh{{smallsup|ū}}.}}

"Salutations to God. Pureness to God. Good deeds and prayers to God. Peace be upon you, O Prophet, as well as God's mercy and His blessings. Peace be upon us and upon the righteous servants of God. I bear witness that there is no deity but God, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His messenger."Muwaṭṭa’, recension of Yaḥyā, no 240; recension of Abū Muṣ`ab, no 499; recension of Suwayd al-Hadathānī, no 161; recension of al-Shaybānī, no 146.}}

= Shafi'i =

A version attributed to Ibn Abbas is used by the Shafi'i school:

{{quote|{{lang|ar|ٱلتَّحِيَّاتُ ٱلْمُبَارَكَاتُ ٱلصَّلَوَاتُ ٱلطَّيِّبَاتُ لِلَّٰهِ، ٱلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكَ أَيُّهَا ٱلنَّبِيُّ وَرَحْمَةُ ٱللَّٰهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ، ٱلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْنَا وَعَلَىٰ عِبَادِ ٱللَّٰهُ ٱلصَّالِحِينَ، أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا ٱللَّٰهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا رَسُولُ ٱللَّٰهِ.}}

{{transl|ar|at-taḥīyātu l-mubārakātu ṣ-ṣalawātu ṭ-ṭayyibātu li-llāh{{smallsup|i}}. as-salāmu ʿalayka ʾayyuhā n-nabīyu wa-raḥmatu -llāhi wa-barakātuhu. as-salāmu ʿalaynā wa-ʿala ʿibādi llāhi ṣ-ṣāliḥīn{{smallsup|a}}. ʾashhadu ʾan lā ʾilāha ʾillā -llāhu wa-ʾashhadu ʾanna muḥammadan rasūlu -llāh{{smallsup|i}}.}}

"Blessed salutations, prayers, good deeds to God. Peace be upon you, O Prophet, as well as God's mercy and His blessings. Peace be upon us and upon the righteous servants of God. I bear witness that there is no deity but God, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His messenger."Muslim, no 403.|author=|title=|source=}}

Shia tradition

File:Meeting of the 7th Cabinet members with Leader Ali Khamenei - Praying - August 28, 2000 (Cropped on Khatami).jpg, who is a Shia cleric, in Tashahhud during a Salat.]]

= Jafari =

The Twelver Shias of the Ja'fari school recite the Tashahhud as:

{{quote|{{lang|ar|أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا ٱللَّٰهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ، وأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ.‌ ٱللَّٰهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَىٰ مُحَمَّدٍ وَآلِ مُحَمَّدٍ.}}

{{transl|ar|ʾashhadu ʾan lā ilāha ʾillā -llāhu waḥdahū lā sharīka lahū wa-ʾashhadu ʾanna muḥhammadan ʿabduhū wa-rasūluh{{smallsup|ū}}. ʾallāhumma ṣalli ʿalā muḥammadin wa-ʾāli muḥammad{{smallsup|in}}.}}{{cite web|url=http://www.sistani.org/english/book/49/2406/|title=Dialogue on prayer (1) – Jurisprudence Made Easy – The Official Website of the Office of His Eminence Al-Sayyid Ali Al-Husseini Al-Sistani|website=sistani.org|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160424235226/http://www.sistani.org/english/book/49/2406/|archivedate=2016-04-24}}

"I bear witness that there is no deity but God, the One, there is no partner to Him, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His messenger. O God, send blessings upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad."{{Cite web |url=https://www.al-islam.org/commentary-prayer-professor-muhsin-qaraati/tashahhud-and-salam |title=Tashahhud and Salam |date=2013-01-30 |website=Al-Islam.org |language=en |access-date=2019-05-22}}}}

The Tashahhud is followed by the Salam. The bare minimum is to say

"{{transl|ar|as-salamu ʿalaykum}}" ({{langx|ar|ٱلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ|lit=peace be upon you|link=no}}).

It is highly recommended, though, to add "{{transl|ar|wa-raḥmatu -llāhi wa-barakātuh}}" ({{langx|ar|وَرَحْمَةُ ٱللَّٰهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ|lit=and God's mercy and blessings|link=no}}) .

It is highly recommended, though, to recite in the Salam of the prayer:

{{quote|{{lang|ar|ٱلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكَ أَيُّهَا ٱلنَّبِيُّ وَرَحْمَةُ ٱللَّٰهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ، ٱلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْنَا وَعَلَىٰ عِبَادِ ٱللَّٰهِ ٱلصَّالِحِينَ، ٱلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ ٱللَّٰهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ}}

{{transl|ar|as-salāmu ʿalayka ʿayyuhā n-nabīyu wa-raḥmatu -llāhi wa-barakātuh{{smallsup|u}}, as-salāmu ʿalaynā wa-ʿalā ʿibādi -llāhi ṣ-ṣaliḥīn{{smallsup|a}}, as-salāmu ʿalaykum wa-raḥmatu -llāhi wa-barakātuh{{smallsup|ū}}.}}

"Peace be upon you, O Prophet, as well as God's mercy and His blessings. Peace be upon us and upon the righteous servants of God. Peace be upon you all, as well as God's mercy and His blessings."}}

= Zaidi =

For the Zaidi, the middle Tashahhud after the second rakʿah is recited as:

{{quote|Bismillahi wa Billahi wa alhamdulillahi wal-asmā`ul-husna kulluhā lillahi. Ashhadu an lā ilāha ila Allāhu wahdahu lā sharīka lahu wa ashhadu anna Muhammadan abduhu wa rasūluhu

After the last rakʿah, the Zaidi recite the Tashahhud in its full formula:

{{quote|Bismillahi wa Billahi wa alhamdulillahi wal-asmā`ul-husna kulluhā lillahi. This aforementioned wording ("Bismillah wa Billahi...") appears in Zaydi books of hadith such as the Musnad of Imam Zayd (as), Amaali of Ahmed bin Isa bin Zayd (as), Sharh at-Tajreed and others, with complete chains of narrators. Its legitimacy and authenticity does not depend on the reports of Sunni narrators. Within the Sunni books of hadith, one will find variant wordings for the tashahhud. As for the Sunni reports that narrate some of the wording of the Zaidi tashahhud, the wording "Bismillah wa Billahi", on the authority of Jabir (ra), appears in Sunan an-Nisa`i and Al-Mustadrak; Imam Hakim authenticated this report. There is another wording, "Bismillahi wa khayr al-Asmaa," narrated from Umar in Al-Mustadrak; Al-Hakim determined that this version is authentic based on the criteria of Muslim. It also appears in the Sunan of al-Bayhaqi. There is also, "Bismillah wa Billahi wa khayr al-Asmaa" narrated from Ibn Zubayr in the Mu'jam al-Kabeer and al-Mu'jam al-Aswat of at-Tabaraani.(Or alternatively: At-tahiyyātu lillāhi was-šalawāt waŧ-ŧayyibātu.) Ashhadu an lā ilāha ila Allāhu wahdahu lā sharīka lahu wa ashhadu anna Muhammadan abduhu wa rasūluhu. Allāhumma salli ‘ala Muhammad wa āli Muhammad. Wa bārik ‘ala Muhammad wa āli Muhammad. Ka mā salayta wa bārakta ‘ala Ibrāhīm wa ‘ala āli Ibrāhīm. Innaka Hamīdun Majīd

"In the name of God, and upon God [is reliance]. Praise be to God, and the Beautiful names are all for the Lord. I bear witness that there is no god, but God alone, and without partners. And I bear witness that Muḥammad is His servant and Messenger. O God send Your blessings upon Muḥammad, and the family of Muḥammad. And bless Muḥammad and the family of Muḥammad as You have blessed and sanctified Abraham, and the family of Abraham. You are truly worthy of praise, Full of glory."}}