(1) In al-Talkhis, 3/503, it is stated: “From this report the obligation of the last tashahhud has been inferred, because the Prophet said, ‘Say …’. Al-Nasa’i even entitled the chapter ‘The Obligation of the Tashahhud’ and narrated it through Sufyan, al-Aʿmash, Mansur, Shaqiq and then Ibn Masud.” Ibn Abd al-Barr adds in al-Istidhkar: “Only Ibn Uyaynah includes the phrase ‘before it was made obligatory’.” I respond: Sufyan ibn Uyaynah is a trustworthy master; his sole transmission therefore does no harm. For that reason both Ibn Hajar and, as will be shown, al-Daraqutni declared the hadith sound. Further support comes from the previously cited prophetic wording: “There is no prayer without a tashahhud.” Al-Tabarani relates a similar version in al-Awsat from Ali: “The prayer of the one who has no tashahhud is invalid,” and al-Haythami (2/140) remarks: “Its chain contains al-Harith, who is weak.” Al-Bayhaqi (2/139) records it as a mawquf report from Umar with a sound chain. Finally, the hadith itself does not confine the tashahhud to the final sitting; therefore limiting its purport to the obligation of only the last tashahhud, as Ibn Hajar has done, is unwarranted.