and made an error through forgetfulness, so he prostrated twice, then recited the tashahhud, then gave the salām.” Abū Dāwūd and al-Tirmidhī narrated it, and al-Tirmidhī said: “A good, singular hadith.”

I say:

Its being singular implies that its narrator has no corroborating transmitter; rather, he alone narrated it. This weakens the hadith in a matter such as this. It is established that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, prostrated after the salām on more than one occasion: in the hadith of Ibn Masʿūd, when he prayed five units, and in the reports of Abū Hurayrah—the account of Dhū al-Yadayn—and Imrān ibn Husayn concerning his giving the salām, whether these concerned two incidents or one. It is also established that he said:

“When one of you is in doubt about his prayer, let him seek what is correct and complete his prayer on that basis, then give the salām, then prostrate twice.”

In the authentic hadith of Abū Hurayrah, he said:

“When one of you experiences that, let him prostrate twice.”

None of his statements contains a command to recite the tashahhud after the prostrations, nor do the authentic hadiths accepted by the scholars state that he recited it after the prostrations. Moreover, this tashahhud after the two prostrations is a lengthy act, taking as long as the two prostrations or longer. Something like this would be remembered and accurately recorded, and there would be ample interest and reason to transmit it. Had he recited the tashahhud, those who mentioned his prostrating would have mentioned it. Indeed, there would have been greater reason to mention it than to mention the salām and the takbīr when lowering and rising. These are brief utterances, whereas the tashahhud is a lengthy act. How, then, could they transmit the former but not the latter?

According to those who hold that it should be recited, this tashahhud is like the final tashahhud, since it is followed by the salām.