Chapter: The Tashahhud
ʿAbd Allah ibn Masʿūd (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ taught me the tashahhud—while my palm was between his palms—exactly as he would teach me a surah of the Quran:
at-taḥiyyātu lillāh, wa-ṣ-ṣalawātu wa-ṭ-ṭayyibāt; as-salāmu ʿalayka ayyuhā n-nabiyy, wa raḥmatullāhi wa barakātuh; as-salāmu ʿalaynā wa ʿalā ʿibādillāhi ṣ-ṣāliḥīn; ash-hadu an lā ilāha illā Allāh, wa ash-hadu anna Muḥammadan ʿabduhu wa rasūluh.
(All words of veneration belong to Allah, as do all prayers and all good deeds; peace be upon you, O Prophet, together with the mercy of Allah and His blessings; peace be upon us and upon every righteous servant of Allah; I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and messenger).”
In another wording: “When one of you sits for prayer, let him say, ‘at-taḥiyyātu lillāh …’ ”—and he mentioned it to the end.
That narration also states: “For when you say this, you have conveyed the salām to every righteous servant in the heavens and on earth.”
And it concludes: “Then let him choose whatever supplication he wishes.”
General Meaning
ʿAbd Allah ibn Masʿūd (may Allah be pleased with him) recounts that the Prophet ﷺ taught him the tashahhud recited during the first and final sitting in the four- and three-rakʿah prayers, and during the final sitting of the two-rakʿah prayers. The Prophet ﷺ devoted special care to this instruction, placing Ibn Masʿūd’s hand in his own and repeating the words to him just as he would teach a surah of the Quran—underscoring the importance of these glorifications and blessed supplications.
The formula opens with absolute glorification of Allah, affirming that He alone deserves all prayers, acts of worship, and every pure word, deed, and attribute.
After praising Allah, it proceeds to pray for the Prophet ﷺ, asking that he be safeguarded from every flaw and harm and granted mercy, goodness, and their fullest increase.
Next, the worshipper prays for himself and for those present—humans and angels alike—then broadens the invocation to include all of Allah’s righteous servants among mankind, jinn, and angels, inhabitants of the heavens and the earth, past and future. Such breadth exemplifies the Prophet’s concise yet comprehensive speech.
The worshipper then affirms, with decisive testimony, that none is worthy of worship but Allah and that Muhammad ﷺ possesses two honored attributes:
- Servitude to Allah.
- Messengership.
Both are marks of honor and a balanced middle ground between exaggeration and denial.
Benefit
Several valid versions of the tashahhud have been transmitted, yet the most complete and beautiful is the wording of Ibn Masʿūd cited above—a version preferred by Imām Aḥmad and Abū Ḥanīfah.