from debt, O Messenger of Allah!” He replied: “When a man incurs debt, he speaks and lies, and makes promises and breaks them.”

The author states in al-Ahkām: “The apparent implication of this is that it was after the tashahhud. This is supported by the hadith of Ibn ‘Abbās, which states that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to say after the tashahhud:

‘O Allah, I seek refuge in You from the punishment of Hell; I seek refuge in You from the punishment of the grave; I seek refuge in You from the trials of life and death; and I seek refuge in You from the trial of the False Messiah.’”

The hadith of Ibn ‘Abbās in the two Sahīh collections has already been mentioned: he used to teach them this supplication just as he would teach them a surah of the Quran. So too has the hadith of Abū Hurayrah, stating that it is said after the tashahhud.

The wording “at the end of the prayer” also occurs in the report related by al-Bukhārī and others from Sa‘d ibn Abī Waqqās. He used to teach his sons these words just as a teacher teaches boys to write, saying that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to seek refuge with these words at the end of the prayer:

“O Allah, I seek refuge in You from miserliness; I seek refuge in You from cowardice; I seek refuge in You from being reduced to the feeblest old age; I seek refuge in You from the trials of this world; and I seek refuge in You from the punishment of the grave.”

Al-Nasā’ī reports from Abū Bakrah that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to say at the end of the prayer:

“O Allah, I seek refuge in You from disbelief, poverty, and the punishment of the grave.”

Al-Nasā’ī also reports from ‘Ā’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, that she said: “I was visited by