Step 10 of 13
The Final Tashahhud and Its Sitting
In the last rak'ah, after the second prostration, the one praying sits and recites the tashahhud. A prayer of three or four rak'ahs also has a first tashahhud after the second rak'ah, after which the one praying stands up for the rest.
'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud said that the companions used to say in this sitting "Peace be upon Jibril and Mika'il", until the Prophet ﷺ taught them instead the words below, saying that when you say "peace be upon us and upon the righteous servants of Allah" it reaches every righteous servant in the heavens and the earth.
Other wordings of the tashahhud are also authentically reported, such as that of Ibn 'Abbas, and the schools each prefer one; any of them is sound.
التَّحِيَّاتُ لِلَّهِ، وَالصَّلَوَاتُ وَالطَّيِّبَاتُ، السَّلاَمُ عَلَيْكَ أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ، السَّلاَمُ عَلَيْنَا وَعَلَى عِبَادِ اللَّهِ الصَّالِحِينَ، أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللَّهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ
At-tahiyyatu lillahi was-salawatu wat-tayyibat. As-salamu 'alayka ayyuhan-nabiyyu wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. As-salamu 'alayna wa 'ala 'ibadillahis-salihin. Ash-hadu an la ilaha illallah, wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan 'abduhu wa rasuluh.
All greetings of honour are for Allah, and all prayers and all 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.
The four schools differ on some details. Show them
Each school's ruling, with the schools that share it named together.
Is reciting the final tashahhud a pillar?
2 of 4 schools agree. Differing: Hanafi, Maliki.
Show each school
- Obligatory (wajib), not a pillarHanafi
- SunnahMaliki
- Pillar (rukn)Shafi'i · Hanbali
- Hanafi
- The pillar is sitting at the end of the prayer for as long as it takes to recite the tashahhud; reciting the words themselves is wajib.
- Maliki
- Reciting the tashahhud is sunnah; what is obligatory is the sitting long enough to say the closing salam.
- Shafi'i
- Both the final tashahhud and the sitting for it are pillars.
- Hanbali
- Both the final tashahhud and the sitting for it are pillars.
Is the first (middle) tashahhud obligatory?
The schools are split two and two.
Show each school
- Obligatory (wajib), not a pillarHanafi · Hanbali
- SunnahMaliki · Shafi'i
- Hanafi
- The first sitting and its tashahhud are wajib; forgetting them is made up with the prostration of forgetfulness.
- Maliki
- It is a sunnah of the prayer; forgetting it is made up with the prostration of forgetfulness.
- Shafi'i
- It is one of the emphasised sunnahs (ab'ad) whose omission is made up with the prostration of forgetfulness.
- Hanbali
- It is wajib: forgetting it is made up with the prostration of forgetfulness, while leaving it on purpose invalidates the prayer.
- Sahih al-Bukhari 831 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih Muslim 498Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih Muslim 403Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih al-Bukhari 828 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
What the hadith grades mean
- Sahih (authentic): an unbroken chain of trustworthy, precise narrators, free of hidden flaws or contradiction. It is acted upon.
- Hasan (good): like sahih, but a narrator's precision is slightly lighter. It is also accepted and acted upon. "Hasan sahih" means it reaches sahih by its routes.
- Da'if (weak): a break in the chain or a narrator who is not reliable enough. It is not used to establish beliefs or rulings.
- Very weak (munkar, matruk): a seriously flawed chain or a narrator accused of lying. It is not relied on at all.
- Mawdu' (fabricated): falsely attributed to the Prophet ﷺ. It may not be narrated as his words except to warn against it.
- The two Sahihs: every hadith with a full chain in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim is accepted as sahih by the scholars of hadith.
- Historical report: biographies and histories (Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabari) record events with chains that are often incomplete. They are used for the story, not for rulings.
- Hadith scholars grade a narration; the four madhhabs do not. Where a hadith carries a ruling, the page shows which schools act on it.
The positions of the four schools are summarised from their standard references and are pending review by a qualified scholar. Follow the school you were taught, and for your own situation, ask a scholar.
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