his left foot under his thigh and shin, and spread out his right foot. This was narrated by Muslim and Abu Dawud. In some wordings of the hadith of Abu Humayd, he said: The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) sat on his buttocks, placed the sole of his foot near the hollow of his right knee, and set his right foot upright. Al-Athram narrated concerning his manner of sitting, saying: I saw Abu Abd Allah performing tawarruk in the fourth rak'ah during the tashahhud; he would tuck his left leg, extending it from under his right shin, not sitting on any part of it. He would set the right foot upright, splay his toes, move his entire posterior to the side, direct the toes of his right foot toward the qiblah, and his right knee would be pressed against the ground. Abu al-Khattab and the followers of al-Shafi'i mentioned the same. Abu Humayd said in the description of the prayer of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): When he was in the fourth [rak'ah], he rested his left hip on the ground and extended his feet from one side. This was narrated by Abu Dawud. Whichever of these he performs is good.

Section: This tashahhud and sitting for it are among the pillars of the prayer. Among those who said it is obligatory are Umar, his son [Abdullah], Abu Mas'ud al-Badri, al-Hasan, and al-Shafi'i. Malik and Abu Hanifah did not make it obligatory, although Abu Hanifah made the sitting for the duration of the tashahhud obligatory. They argued that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) did not teach it to the Bedouin, which indicates that it is not obligatory. Our position is that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) commanded it, saying: "Say: The greetings are for Allah." His command implies obligation, and he practiced it and continued upon it. It has been narrated from Ibn Mas'ud that he said: We used to say, before the tashahhud was made obligatory upon us: Peace be upon Allah before His servants, peace be upon Gabriel, peace be upon Michael. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "Do not say: Peace be upon Allah. Rather, say: The greetings are for Allah," to the end of the hadith. This indicates that it was made obligatory after it had not been obligatory, and the hadith of the Bedouin may have been before the tashahhud was made obligatory, or it is possible that he omitted teaching it because he did not see him as having performed poorly by omitting it.