spread his right foot, placed his left hand on his left knee, his right hand on his right thigh, and pointed with his finger. It was recorded by Muslim (2/90, whose wording is cited here), Abu Awana (2/221), Abu Dawud (1/156), al-Bayhaqi (2/130), and al-Tabarani in al-Kabir through the chain: Abd al-Wahid b. Ziyad → Uthman b. Hakim → Amir b. Abd Allah b. al-Zubayr → his father. Abu Dawud—and Abu Awana likewise—give the wording “under” instead of “between,” which is probably clearer; the meaning is that he would place his left foot under his right thigh and shin. Know that the jurists have differed concerning the sitting posture in the two tashahhuds: • Some hold that one sits in the iftirash posture in both; this is the school of Abu Hanifah and his colleagues. • Others maintain that one sits in the tawarruk posture in both; this is the position of Malik and his followers. • Others say tawarruk is used in every tashahhud that is followed by the salam, while iftirash is used in every other; this is the view of al-Shafi‘i and his school. • Others argue that in any prayer containing two tashahhuds, tawarruk is adopted in the latter of the two so as to differentiate between the two sittings; this is the opinion of Imam Ahmad, who is the most consistent with the sunnah here, for he relies on the explicit hadith of Abu Humayd and the other Companions. Ibn al-Qayyim says in Zad al-Ma‘ad (1/91): “Imam Ahmad and those who agree with him said: This ruling is specific to prayers that contain two tashahhuds; the tawarruk therein was prescribed to distinguish between the sitting in the first tashahhud—which is recommended to be brief so that the worshipper is ready to stand—and the sitting in the second tashahhud, in which the worshipper…"