and in which the person sitting (1) is ready to rise, and sitting for the second tashahhud, in which he is settled. Moreover, the two sitting postures distinguish the two tashahhuds and remind the worshipper which one he is performing. Furthermore, Abū Humayd described this posture of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, only when he sat for the second tashahhud. He first described his sitting for the first tashahhud, saying that he sat on his left foot laid flat beneath him, then said: “And when he sat in the final rak‘ah (2).” In another wording (3): “Then, when (4) he sat in the fourth rak‘ah.”

As for the statement in some versions (5), “Until, when he reached the prostration followed by the closing salutation, he extended his legs (6) and sat to one side, resting on his hip,” this has been cited as evidence (7) by those who hold that sitting on the hip is prescribed in every tashahhud followed by the closing salutation, including in a two-rak‘ah prayer (8). This is al-Shāfi‘ī’s view. Yet the wording does not establish this explicitly. Rather, the context of the hadith indicates that this occurred only in the tashahhud adjoining the closing salutation in four- and three-rak‘ah prayers, for he described how he sat during