Is there evidence for pointing with the finger during the tashahhud after completing the wudu'? Please mention the possible sources.

The questioner : Is there evidence for pointing with the finger during the tashahhud after completing the wudu'? Please mention the possible sources.

The Shaykh : Answer: There is no sunnah (recommended practice) or hadith reported specifically regarding raising the finger in the tashahhud after wudu'. However, there are authentic hadiths in which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) saw a man performing the tashahhud with his finger raised, and he said to him (peace be upon him): . This hadith does not state that he saw him doing so in the tashahhud after wudu'. If this had been explicitly stated, it would have become a sunnah (recommended practice) like raising the finger in prayer. But since this hadith does not give us the status of being a sunnah (recommended practice) for raising the finger in the tashahhud after wudu', it gives us—at the very least—that it is permissible for a Muslim, when he performs the tashahhud occasionally outside of prayer, to raise his finger. This is because the hadith came in a general form; so you apply it in its general form, you do not restrict it, you do not... you do not place it in a specific location for you; because this is legislation, and legislation belongs to Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) alone.