250 – ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah turned to us and said, “When any one of you performs the prayer, let him say: at-taḥiyyātu lillāh, wa-ṣ-ṣalawātu, wa-ṭ-ṭayyibāt, as-salāmu ʿalayka ayyuhā an-nabiyyu wa raḥmatullāhi wa barakātuh, as-salāmu ʿalaynā wa ʿalā ʿibādillāhi aṣ-ṣāliḥīn, ash-hadu allā ilāha illā Allāh, wa ash-hadu anna Muḥammadan ʿabduhu wa rasūluh. Then let him select whatever supplication he likes best and offer it.” Agreed upon; the wording is that of al-Bukhārī.

Al-Nasāʾī adds: “We used to say this before the tashahhud was made obligatory … .”

Aḥmad records: “The Prophet ﷺ taught him the tashahhud and ordered him to teach it to the people.” (1)

Muslim transmits from Ibn ʿAbbās (may Allah be pleased with them both): “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to teach us the tashahhud: at-taḥiyyātu al-mubārakāt, aṣ-ṣalawātu aṭ-ṭayyibāt lillāh … to the end.” (2)

Vocabulary of the ḥadith
– at-taḥiyyātu lillāh: the plural of taḥiyyah, set in the plural to embrace every form of glorification that is Allah’s due; it denotes unrestricted praise and every manner of exaltation for Him, exalted and majestic. Grammatically, at-taḥiyyātu is the subject and the Divine Name “Allah” is its predicate.
– aṣ-ṣalawāt: the generic term “prayer,” the foremost of which are the five prescribed daily prayers.