and the very principle he relied on actually turns against him. For once it is established by the sunnah that the finger is to be raised, while no report establishes that it should later be lowered, the default rule is to leave a thing as it is and to carry that state through to the end of the act. That rule therefore demands that the finger remain raised until the end of the tashahhud, as is obvious. This would hold even if no separate hadith spelled it out—so what, then, when both principle and textual proof concur? I have also located another hadith on the matter—its authenticity is debatable, yet as corroboration it has weight. Al-Tirmidhi (2/278, Bulaq ed.) transmits it through Abd Allah b. Maadan, who said: “Asim b. Kulayb al-Jarmi related to me from his father from his grandfather, who said: ‘I entered upon the Prophet while he was praying. He had placed his left hand on his left thigh and his right hand on his right thigh, clenched his fingers and extended the forefinger while saying: “O Turner of hearts, keep my heart firm upon Your religion.”’” The same narration is reported by Abu Ya‘la, al-Baghawi, Mutayyin, al-Bawardi and al-Tabari from Ibn Maadan, as noted in al-Isaba (2/159). Al-Tirmidhi, and after him al-Baghawi, remarked: “It is gharib.” Al-Hafiz added: “Its transmitters are deemed reliable, except that Abu Dawud said: ‘Asim b. Kulayb, from his father, from his grandfather: worthless.’” Like the report of Waʾil, this hadith affirms that the finger remains raised until the supplication, but it is even more specific, for it also indicates continuous movement of the finger—exactly as Malik and others held—and thus constitutes proof against the Shafiʿis. Al-Bayhaqi (2/132) says: