Is there an authentic hadith regarding moving the index finger between the two prostrations?

The questioner : Is there an authentic hadith regarding moving the index finger between the two prostrations in the prayer?

The Shaykh : Yes, an authentic hadith has been reported. The hadith of Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) with his finger, and in one wording, when he sat in the tashahhud. The first wording is general and the second is specific.
So do you think we should apply the general to the specific and say that the intended meaning of his statement "when he sat in the prayer" is "when he sat in the tashahhud," or do we say that mentioning the specific with a ruling that agrees with the general does not necessitate specification? The second, the second, my brothers. I do not know if the one who said the second understood the meaning well or said it just to go along. Let me explain to you. Take it and do not withdraw. With your permission, if Allah wills. Here we go. It is a general hadith. I mean, a hadith or other speech is general and speech is specific, but the specific is mentioned with a ruling that does not contradict the general. Does this specific specify the general or not? It does not specify. It may be on the basis of preference, meaning. I do not specify it. Why?

The questioner : Is your lecture on the basis of preference?

The Shaykh : No, if preference is safer, it means he specified it. Okay, a quick example. A man.
He told you, "Honor the students of knowledge." Is this general or specific? General? General? Specific? Is it general regarding the students or general regarding the students? He told you, "Honor the students of knowledge." It is general regarding the students. Every student of knowledge is deserving of honor by virtue of this command directed at this man, correct? Okay, I told you, "Honor Muhammad." Muhammad is from the students of knowledge. Is this specific or not? Does this necessitate that I honor only the second one or honor everyone? Oh, glory to Allah. I gave this man. I gave this man honors and said, "Take this and honor the students with it." Honor the students with it. Then I told you a second time, also at the same time, "Honor Muhammad," and he is among them. Is it specific or not? Is the honor specific to Muhammad or not? No, it is never specific. The scholars of usul al-fiqh have stated this explicitly, and among those who mentioned it is al-Shanqiti in his book *Adwa' al-Bayan* and others, that mentioning some individuals of the general with a ruling that does not contradict the general does not intend specification, and it is clear that he does not intend specification. I told you, "Honor the students," then I said, "Honor Muhammad." It does not mean that I abrogated the first statement. If I said, "The angels descend on the Night of Decree," then I said, "Jibril descends on the Night of Decree," does that mean the latter specified the former and the angels do not descend, only Jibril descends? No, they all descend. But if I said to the brother, "You honor the students," then I said, "Honor the one who dozes off in the lesson," do not honor the one who dozes off in the lesson. He says, is this specification or not? Why? Because it deviated from the path of the Imam al-Askari. Because it was mentioned with a ruling that contradicts the general ruling, right or not?
Good. The hadith of Ibn 'Umar has two narrations: one saying "when he sat in the tashahhud" and one saying "when he sat in the prayer." It contains a general and a specific. If it says "in the tashahhud," this is specific in the prayer, and the ruling does not differ. Therefore, mentioning some individuals of the general, which is some of the sitting for the tashahhud, with a ruling that agrees with the general sitting, agrees with the ruling in the general sitting, does not necessitate specification. Thus, the hadith of Ibn 'Umar established in Sahih Muslim indicates that. Then, there is a specific hadith narrated by Imam Ahmad in his Musnad with a chain in which the author of *Al-Fath al-Rabbani* said that its chain is good. He said its chain is good. And some of the commentators on *Zad al-Ma'ad* said that its chain is authentic. That the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) Then we say, if we say he does not do that, what does he do with the one who has a wet dream? If I said he spreads it on the thigh, we say, bring the evidence. Where is the evidence that he spreads it? There is no hadith in which the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) was spreading his right hand on his thigh. If he had been spreading it, the Companions would have clarified it, just as they clarified that he spreads the left hand on the left thigh. These are three pieces of evidence: the generality of the hadith of Ibn 'Umar, the specificity of the hadith of Wa'il ibn Hujr, and the third is the absence of evidence indicating that the right hand is spread on the right thigh.