Is the addition of moving the finger in the tashahhud in the hadith anomalous, as some say? And what is the way to reconcile this with the hadith that mentions (holding up his finger)?

The questioner : The third question: Regarding moving the finger, it was reported from some students of knowledge that the addition of the word "he moves it" in the hadith of Wa'il ibn Hujr is anomalous because it is unique to him, contradicting the majority who said "he pointed with it." What is the reconciliation between this and his saying in some narrations "he held up his finger"?

The Shaykh : We heard this statement during our last 'Umrah in Jeddah, in Makkah, and in al-Madinah, and our answer was as follows:
First: The word "moving" does not contradict "pointing"; because pointing, from the Arabic linguistic perspective, is often accompanied by movement. If an Arab man says that so-and-so pointed to his brother to advance him, it is not necessary to understand that he pointed like this, as is the case with pointing in the greeting. In prayer, if a man greets him, he raises his hand, indicating by that that he accepts the greeting, or he moves his head like this. But this does not mean that pointing always means the absence of movement; rather, it can be accompanied by movement and can be separate from it. It can be accompanied by movement and can be separate from it. So, the one who wants to say that the word "he moves it" is anomalous on the claim that the other hadiths or narrations with the more correct phrase did not mention movement but only mentioned pointing, the answer is what we mentioned earlier: that pointing does not negate movement. Therefore, it cannot be said that there is a contradiction between these narrations and the narration of the one I think is named Zaydah ibn Qudamah. Yes, this is from one aspect. From another aspect, the word "holding up" also does not contradict movement, just as it does not contradict pointing; because movement necessarily involves holding up. So here, the phrase contains an addition to holding up; without doubt, movement contains an addition to holding up. But it does not contain an addition to pointing; because we mentioned that pointing is often accompanied by movement. This is if the word "holding up" is established without any opposing evidence. Did our brother students, as you said, study the hadith of "holding up" as they studied the hadith of "moving" and find that this specific word is preserved?
Al-Halabi : According to their methodology, it must be subsequent to the word "moving," but it appears that they have established it. Some of my brothers wrote to me that this is established.

The Shaykh : But is it according to their method of establishing pointing in the hadith of Wa'il without movement?
Al-Halabi: No.

The Shaykh : This is the intended meaning, I mean, yes.