Hadiths concerning moving the finger during the tashahhud, and a response to those who deny it

3181—“He would point with his index finger during the prayer.”

Ahmad (3/407) and al-Bukhari, in al-Tarikh (2/1/296), narrated it through Sufyan, from Mansur, from Abu Sa‘id al-Khuza‘i, from Abd al-Rahman ibn Abza, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ ... and he cited it.

I say: This is a sound chain of transmission. All its narrators are trustworthy and are among the narrators of the two Shaykhs, except for this Abu Sa‘id.

Jarir said: From Mansur, from Rashid Abu Sa‘d. Ahmad also narrated it through this route. Al-Bukhari cited it in his biographical entry on him, without mentioning any criticism of him. Ibn Hibban included him in al-Thiqat, naming his father Sa‘d. He said (6/303):

“Rashid ibn Sa‘d, Abu Sa‘d: he narrates from Ubayd ibn Umayr, and Mansur and al-A‘mash narrated from him.”

The annotator of the work said:

“Neither al-Bukhari, Ibn Abi Hatim, nor the author of al-Tahdhib named his father ...!”

I say: He is not mentioned in al-Tahdhib at all, so take note.

The hadith has corroborating reports from a number of Companions that confirm its authenticity:

First: Abu Humayd al-Sa‘idi, in his description of the Prophet’s ﷺ tashahhud, said:

“Then he would point with a single finger while supplicating.”

Ibn Hibban narrated it in his Sahih (3/170–171, al-Ihsan), and al-Tahawi