the Prophet ﷺ, in all their variant wordings and chains, he—may Allah have mercy on him—remarked: Some later scholars, when dealing with certain supplications and remembrances the Prophet ﷺ used to recite in more than one form, adopted a novel practice: they gathered all those forms together, recommended reciting them as a single composite, and considered that the best manner of articulation.

If one follows this line consistently, he would have to combine every transmitted wording of the tashahhud in a single sitting, and likewise include every reported wording of the opening invocation (istiftāḥ). Yet this runs contrary to the practice of the Muslim community; none of the recognized imams approved it—indeed, their own practice was the opposite. Hence it is a religious innovation and, from a rational standpoint, unsound.

The variety found in the phrases of remembrance and supplication is analogous to the variety in the Qurʾanic readings. It is unanimously agreed among Muslims that a reciter is not advised to merge different canonical readings of the Qurʾan within one act of prayer or devotional recitation. Rather, if he recites according to one reading on one occasion and another reading on a different occasion, that is praiseworthy.

The same principle applies to invocations and prayers. Thus, if during the tashahhud one sometimes uses the wording reported from Ibn Masʿūd, at other times that of Ibn ʿAbbās, and at other times that of ʿUmar, this is commendable. Likewise with the opening invocation: if he begins his prayer on one occasion with the wording transmitted from ʿUmar, on another with that from ʿAlī, and on another with that from Abū Hurayrah, and so forth, it is altogether praiseworthy.