and al-Tahawi in Sharh Ma‘ani al-Athar (1/153), al-Sarraj in his Musnad (fol. 52/1), and al-Bayhaqi (2/101–102), through a chain containing an unknown narrator, as I explained in Da‘if Abi Dawud (118). Ibn Hibban deemed it preserved.

Second: Khuffaf ibn Ima’ said:

“When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ sat at the end of his prayer, he would point with his index finger. The polytheists would say, ‘He is working magic with it.’ They lied; rather, it signifies tawhid (affirmation of Allah’s oneness).”

Ahmad (4/57), al-Tabarani in al-Mu‘jam al-Kabir (4/257/4176)—whose wording is cited here—and al-Bayhaqi (2/133) narrated it through a chain whose narrators are trustworthy. However, some of them inserted an unnamed man between the Successor narrator and Khuffaf.

Third: In his hadith describing the Prophet’s ﷺ tashahhud, Wa’il ibn Hujr said:

“Then he raised his finger, and I saw him moving it and supplicating with it.”

It was narrated by the compilers of some Sunan collections and others, and was authenticated by Ibn Khuzaymah, Ibn Hibban, Ibn al-Jarud, Ibn al-Mulaqqin, al-Nawawi, Ibn al-Qayyim, and Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani. Its documentation is found in al-Irwa’ (2/68–69) and Sahih Abi Dawud (717). It is a strong corroborating report for the hadith under discussion, for the phrase, “he would point,” in it has the same meaning as Wa’il’s phrase, “he would move it,” as will be explained shortly, Allah Most High willing.

Some later scholars departed from these imams who authenticated the hadith—and from others who accepted it and acted upon it or interpreted it, as I have explained in Tamam al-Minnah (p. 218)—and declared it weak, claiming that Za’idah ibn Qudamah alone narrated from ‘Asim ibn Kulayb the wording, “he would move it,” to the exclusion of all the other companions of ‘Asim. I have refuted these later scholars in