Al-Tirmidhi remarked, “Most scholars—among the Companions as well as the Successors—have put this narration into practice.”

Al-Bazzar said, “The soundest report on the tashahhud is the ḥadīth of Ibn Masʿūd. It has been transmitted through more than twenty separate chains, and no other narration on the tashahhud is known to be more firmly established, more authentic in its chains, more widely attested by its transmitters, or more abundantly corroborated.”

Ibn Ḥajar added, “The ḥadīth specialists are unanimously agreed on that point.” Al-Baghawī is among those who stated this categorically, and one factor tipping the scale in its favor is that it is agreed upon, unlike the other versions; the trustworthy narrators who transmitted it differed in none of its wording, whereas differences do appear in the others.

Scholars disagree over whether both tashahhuds are obligatory. Discussion of the middle tashahhud has already appeared under the narration of ʿĀʾishah, no. ⦗80⦘.

Second Benefit:
Al-Subkī observed, “The prayer contains a right owed to Allah’s servants alongside the right owed to Allah Himself. Whoever omits it has failed to uphold the right of every believer—those who have passed away and those yet to come until the Day of Resurrection—because of the statement: ‘Peace be upon us and upon Allah’s righteous servants.’”