so it is recommended to accompany it with blessings upon the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and supplication, just as when one prays the two units of Fajr or a single unit of Witr and recites the tashahhud. Moreover, the authentic version of Imrān’s hadith contains no mention of the tashahhud. That a single narrator alone transmits such an addition, despite the ample interest and reasons for transmitting it, weakens its standing. Furthermore, this sole transmitter must be assessed: if he alone transmitted a hadith, would that establish it as something prescribed for Muslims?
Furthermore, the tashahhud was prescribed only in a complete prayer comprising bowing and prostration. It was not prescribed in the funeral prayer, even though al-Fātihah is recited in it. The two prostrations for forgetfulness involve no recitation. Thus, if the tashahhud is not prescribed in a prayer that includes recitation but no bowing or prostration, the same applies to a prayer containing neither standing, recitation, nor bowing.
It may also be said that this is more appropriate and beneficial. The tashahhud is not prescribed after the two prostrations of the prayer itself; rather, it is recited after two units, not after every pair of prostrations. Thus, if no tashahhud is recited after the two prostrations of the prayer itself, even though they complete a full unit, there is all the more reason not to recite it after the two prostrations for forgetfulness. This is because the two prostrations for forgetfulness generally stand in place of one unit. As the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:
“If he has prayed five units, the two prostrations make his prayer even; but if he has prayed the complete number, they will be a humiliation for Satan.”
He thus treated them as one unit, not two. Moreover, this is a unit connected to the rest of the prayer, unlike the single unit of Witr that stands on its own. For this reason, continuity with the prayer is obligatory: the two prostrations must be performed immediately after the salām