Is there a hadith from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) that he sent blessings upon himself and his family in the first tashahhud?

The questioner : Is there a hadith from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) that he sent blessings upon himself and his family in the first tashahhud?

The Shaykh : Yes, that is mentioned in "Sifat al-Salah" (The Description of Prayer) from many routes; that he used to say in his prayer: , but what is the motivation behind this question? Is it strange that the Messenger sends blessings upon himself?

The questioner : I mean in the first tashahhud?

The Shaykh : Ah! This intention came after a delay; it came late; you did not mention it in your question.

The questioner : I read it.

The Shaykh : No, no, come with me, now clarify the question; with that, the answer is the answer; that is: it is reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to send blessings in the tashahhud absolutely, just as he used to make du'a in the tashahhud absolutely, and in some texts even in the two rak'ahs; so what is behind that? What did you read?

The questioner : In "Zad al-Ma'ad" by Ibn al-Qayyim, that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) used to—meaning the hadith, and Allah knows best—that when he sat in the first tashahhud, it was as if he was sitting on a hot coal.

The Shaykh : Yes, is this correct?

The questioner : I said that it is weak, but in...

The Shaykh : Correct, you have spared us the trouble.

The questioner : In "Al-Mughni" by Ibn Qudamah, there is a statement that supports this statement.

The Shaykh : What is the statement?

The questioner : I do not remember it... only...

The Shaykh : We want the benefit—may Allah bless you—from what, yes?

The questioner : We will benefit, if Allah wills.

The Shaykh : May Allah reward you with good. The benefit is that I told you that this hadith, that when he sat in the first tashahhud, it was as if he was sitting on a hot coal; this has—in what I remember—definitely a defect, and perhaps—I am doubtful now—that it was narrated from the narration of Abu 'Ubaydah ibn 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, and he did not hear from his father, as al-Tirmidhi mentioned in several places in his "Sunan" =
-- I want a little water, please --
= in many places in the "Sunan," despite his known leniency. As for what I am doubtful about, that it also contains the 'an'anah of Ibn Ishaq. If it does, it is—as they say—a straw on a camel's back. Otherwise, how does the disconnection weaken the hadith, and you, in any case, were = -- and peace be upon you -- = you were aware of this weakness =
-- In the name of Allah... --
= and I think that what you are pointing to, which may strengthen this hadith narrated with this weak chain, is what Imam Ahmad narrated in his "Musnad" from the route of Ibn Ishaq, certainly... Ibn Ishaq narrated with the form of direct narration, not with 'an'anah, and with his correct chain from above to Ibn Mas'ud, that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) taught him the tashahhud in prayer, and said to him: And Ibn Ishaq, perhaps you, as students of knowledge like me in this hadith science, remember that he was criticized from two sides:
The first side: what you pointed to just now; that he is a tadlis narrator, so if he narrates with 'an'anah, his hadith is not relied upon; unlike when he explicitly states direct narration; then his hadith becomes a proof.
The second criticism of him: that he sometimes brings some denounced narrations in which he contradicts the trustworthy narrators; therefore, the scholars of knowledge from the memorizers and critics do not lower his hadith where he explicitly states direct narration to the level of weak, nor do they raise it to the level of authentic, but rather it is in the middle between this and that. This means that whoever wants to investigate a hadith from the hadiths of Ibn Ishaq, it is not sufficient for him to stop at his explicit statement of direct narration and say: this is a good chain. Rather, he must look to see if he contradicted someone more trustworthy than him or more numerous than him in his chain or in its text. Then his hadith falls into the level of a shadh (anomalous) or munkar (denounced) hadith.
-- And peace be upon you --
And the reality is that this hadith of Ibn Ishaq, in which the addition is mentioned, which is = -- please, brothers, please come forward = has contradicted all the narrators, each of whom is many times more trustworthy than Ibn Ishaq; so how about them all together?! He alone, without them, has this detailed addition that distinguishes between the first tashahhud and the last tashahhud? So nothing is added to the first tashahhud, but it is added in the last tashahhud. This is one thing.
And the second thing that confirms the anomaly or denunciation of Ibn Ishaq is that it came in the "Musnad" and in the "Mu'jam" and in al-Nasa'i also, that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: etc. In the form of the greetings, Ibn Ishaq agreed with the majority of the trustworthy narrators, but look now at this last narration; he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , so this negates and invalidates the previous narration of Ibn Ishaq, in which there was only the restriction to reciting the tashahhud in the first tashahhud.
The point and summary of the speech: that what came from the hadiths that = -- please, please, Shaykh -- = support that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to send blessings upon his self from his words and deeds; they also include the first tashahhud. And what supports and testifies to this is what Abu 'Uwanah extracted in his "Sahih" from the hadith of the Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) that she described the standing of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) for the night prayer that he prayed eight rak'ahs, and sent blessings upon himself, then stood for the ninth, so he prayed nine rak'ahs with one taslim; this is an explicit text that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sent blessings upon his self in the tashahhud before the last. This, even if it is in the voluntary prayer, is first: we cited it as a witness to what we mentioned. And if there were no hadith of Aisha testifying to it, this hadith of Aisha would stand alone for the legitimacy of sending blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the tashahhud where there is no taslim, unless it contradicts something. So if there were a contradiction, we would say then that this is in the voluntary prayer, and the ruling would differ in the obligatory prayer.
And finally: I said in some answers that the hadith of Abu 'Ubaydah from his father Ibn Mas'ud, in which he sat as if he was on a hot coal, this does not negate what is authentic in what we pointed to just now regarding sending blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him); because the issue is relative. No doubt that I personally—for example—when I see the sunnah of sending blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the first tashahhud, my sitting in the first tashahhud compared to my sitting in the last tashahhud, one could say it is as if I am sitting on a hot coal. Why? Because first: when I finish the greetings, I read the shortest of the prayers, and this is of course what we received from the description of his prayer (peace and blessings be upon him), as if I say—for example—: O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad, O Allah, send blessings and peace upon Muhammad as You sent blessings and peace upon Muhammad and upon Ibrahim, indeed You are Praiseworthy and Majestic. Approximately half of the usual Ibrahimi prayers, which have a separation between the sending of blessings upon him and the sending of peace upon him; this is one aspect of the shortening.
The second point is that we are commanded to seek refuge with Allah from four things in the final tashahhud, as stated in "Sahih al-Bukhari": . Therefore, we must perform this seeking of refuge from the four things, and we do not do this in the first tashahhud. Then we mention what is reported in "Sahih Muslim" regarding his statement (peace be upon him) concerning the night prayer (qiyam al-layl), that the last thing he would say in his tashahhud was: . This is from the hadith of Ali, and it has come in some narrations in "Sunan al-Daraqutni" and others that he would say that in the obligatory prayer. So, if we compare the sitting in the first tashahhud with the sitting in the final tashahhud, it does not contradict the statement: "as if he were sitting on a hot coal."
This is all that I have on this...