move it,” Ibn Ḥajar remarked, “and the original wording is found in Muslim.”

The Shāfiʿīs, for their part, hold that it is recommended to raise the index finger at the very moment one pronounces the initial hamzah of the phrase “illā Allāh,” for that is precisely where monotheism is affirmed; thus speech and action coincide. They do not move the finger at all, as no such movement is established. Their proof is the ḥadith of Ibn ʿUmar recorded by Muslim (580): “He pointed with the finger that is next to the thumb.”

The Ḥanbalīs consider it commendable to point with the index finger throughout the tashahhud each time the word “Allāh” is uttered—so as to draw attention to divine oneness—but without moving it. Sharḥ al-Iqnāʿ states: “He points with his right index finger during the tashahhud repeatedly, each time he says the word ‘Allāh,’ to signal monotheism, but he does not move it; he also points with that finger when he supplicates, whether in prayer or elsewhere.” The basis for this is the report in al-Nasāʾī (1270) from ʿAbdullāh ibn al-Zubayr: “Whenever the Messenger of Allah ﷺ made supplication, he would point with his finger and move it.”

The jurists likewise differed over the manner of sitting:

• Mālik and his followers deem it preferable to sit in the tawarruk posture—resting one’s buttocks on the ground, the right foot upright, the left leg folded under—in every sitting of the prayer, with no distinction between men and women.

• Abū Ḥanīfa and his disciples recommend setting the right foot upright and sitting on the left foot in every sitting; thus the two views are diametrically opposed.

• Imām Aḥmad holds that one should adopt tawarruk only during the final tashahhud of a prayer that contains two tashahhuds, while in other sittings he should keep the right foot upright and sit on the left.

• Imām al-Shāfiʿī maintains that tawarruk is to be assumed in every final tashahhud, whether