144 / Remembrances of the Tashahhud
Among the remembrances connected with prayer are those of the tashahhud. Several hadiths have been authentically reported from the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), containing closely related wordings of the tashahhud, all of which are permissible and prescribed. Among them is the report established in Sahīh Muslim from Abd Allāh ibn Abbās (may Allah be pleased with them both), who said: “The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) used to teach us the tashahhud just as he taught us a surah of the Quran. He would say: ‘All blessed and good greetings belong to Allah. May peace be upon you, O Prophet, and the mercy and blessings of Allah. May peace be upon us and upon Allah’s righteous servants. I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.’”1.
It is also established in the two Sahīh collections from Abd Allāh ibn Masūd (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: “When we prayed behind the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), we would say: ‘May peace be upon Gabriel and Michael. May peace be upon so-and-so and so-and-so.’ The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) then turned toward us and said: ‘Allah Most High is al-Salām (the One free of all imperfection). When any one of you prays, let him say: “All greetings belong to Allah, as do all prayers and all that is good. May peace be upon you, O Prophet, and the mercy and blessings of Allah. May peace be upon us and upon Allah’s righteous servants”—for when you say this, it reaches every righteous servant in heaven and on earth—“I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.”’”2.
Other hadiths concerning this have also been authentically reported.
The most complete of these wordings is the one contained in the foregoing hadith of Ibn Masūd. It is more complete than the wording contained in the hadith of Ibn Abbās and the other hadiths reported on this subject. As Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) explains: “This is because Ibn Masūd’s tashahhud