until, when he came to the prostration after which the taslim is given, he would draw back his left leg and sit in the posture of tawarruk on his left hip. This version has already been cited under “Rukuʿ” (p. 605). This, however, is no proof, because the context of the report shows that the description concerns only the tashahhud that is followed by the salam in a four-rakʿah or three-rakʿah prayer. The narrator first mentions his rising after two rakʿahs and then says: “when he came to the prostration after which the taslim is given, he sat in tawarruk.” Ibn al-Qayyim (1/92) comments: “This wording plainly limits the sitting posture to the second tashahhud.” I add: Even clearer is the wording recorded by al-Bukhari, cited a moment ago: “When he sat after the first two rakʿahs he sat on his left leg and kept the right one upright; when he sat in the last rakʿah he advanced his left leg, kept the right one upright, and sat on his buttocks.” This explicit wording confirms Ibn al-Qayyim’s point and shows that some transmitters gave an abbreviated version of Abu Humayd’s hadith, omitting the description of the first tashahhud posture; those who relied on that abridged text were therefore misled. The established rule is to give precedence to the more detailed narration. As for the fourth view, its sole proof is this hadith of Abu Humayd, which is a clear and decisive text in its favor. It is therefore the strongest and soundest opinion, for it reconciles all the authentic but apparently conflicting reports without setting any of them aside—unlike the other views, which must necessarily discard many of those reports, or at least some of them, as is obvious.