and his left hand on his left thigh, and he gestured with his finger (8).

174 - Issue: He said: "And he performs the tashahhud, so he says: 'The salutations are for Allah, and the prayers, and the pure [good] things. Peace be upon you, O Prophet, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. Peace be upon us and upon the righteous servants of Allah. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His Messenger.' And it is the tashahhud which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) taught to Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him."

This tashahhud is the preferred one according to our Imam, may Allah have mercy on him, and it is the view of the majority of the scholars among the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and those who came after them from the Successors (al-Tabi'in). This was stated by al-Tirmidhi, and it is the opinion held by al-Thawri, Ishaq, Abu Thawr, the People of Opinion (Ashab al-Ra'y), and many from the people of the East. Malik said: "The most excellent tashahhud is the tashahhud of Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him: 'The salutations are for Allah, the pure things are for Allah, the prayers are for Allah,' and the rest of it is like the tashahhud of Ibn Mas'ud; because Umar said it upon the pulpit in the presence of the Companions and others, and they did not disapprove of it, thus it was a consensus (ijma')." Al-Shafi'i said: "The most excellent tashahhud is that which Ibn Abbas narrated, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to teach us the tashahhud just as he would teach us a surah from the Quran, and he would say: 'Say: The salutations, the blessed things, the prayers, the pure things are for Allah. Peace be upon you, O Prophet, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. Peace be upon us and upon the righteous servants of Allah. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.'" Recorded by Muslim and al-Tirmidhi (1), who said: A hasan sahih (good, authentic) hadith, except that in...