What is the method of moving the finger during the tashahhud?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Also, a similar question: we want to know the method of moving the finger in the tashahhud. Is it with gentleness or with vigorous movement?
The Shaykh : We have not found in the Sunnah, to the extent of our knowledge, anything specifying how the finger is moved other than the movement itself. We have only the movement. Therefore, we cannot impose a specific type of movement on people. Rather, we state it as the narrator, Wa'il ibn Hujr (may Allah be pleased with him), stated it. However, it is possible to look into the matter, and this consideration has merit when a Muslim reflects on the method by which the Salaf, and the earliest Salaf, transmitted the hadiths concerning the general worship of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and specifically his worship in prayer. I see, and this is my opinion, which is not binding but which I personally adopt, that this rapid movement which attracts attention—if it had been intended by the movement mentioned by Wa'il—the narrator would have drawn the listeners' attention to this manner that attracts attention. Therefore, what I see is that it should be a gentle, soft movement that does not attract much attention. I also believe that if there had been a rapid movement that drew attention, reports would have come from the other Companions transmitting it, whereas we do not find anyone who joined Wa'il in narrating this hadith in his narration of the movement at all, let alone joining him in narrating a movement with that speed that attracts attention.
The questioner : This is the first time I have heard this from you.
The Shaykh : Ah, an opening, an opening.
The questioner : I mean, it is very wonderful, and may Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh: And you too
The questioner : What Allah willed.
The Shaykh : This is one of the virtues of the scholarly session.
The questioner : Allahu Akbar.
The Shaykh : Yes, exactly.
The questioner : All right, Shaykh, in my movement, I move it like this.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner: This
The Shaykh : This is not pure movement; this is lowering and raising, and this is an addition to the movement. Therefore, we say: move it in its place, and do not raise and lower it.
The questioner : Like this, my Shaykh?
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : Excuse me, my Shaykh, in your book you mentioned that Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal was asked, and the movement is vigorous.
The Shaykh : Not vigorous; the movement is vigorous.
The questioner : Vigorous, yes.
The Shaykh : This does not mean like this. Rather, it is what you do when you move it like this. The word "vigorous" does not mean what we have denied by deduction.
The questioner : Then, my Shaykh, the text of Imam Ahmad in the Masail of Abdullah is that he was asked about a man pointing with his finger, and he said, "Vigorously." And if it appears in the index of the book, meaning in the chapter on movement, but in the text of Abdullah that you quoted in the body, it is about a man's pointing with his finger, and he said, "Vigorously." So it aligns exactly with what you mentioned, and Allah knows best.
The Shaykh : Yes, may Allah reward you with good.
The questioner : May Allah reward you.
The Shaykh : We have not found in the Sunnah, to the extent of our knowledge, anything specifying how the finger is moved other than the movement itself. We have only the movement. Therefore, we cannot impose a specific type of movement on people. Rather, we state it as the narrator, Wa'il ibn Hujr (may Allah be pleased with him), stated it. However, it is possible to look into the matter, and this consideration has merit when a Muslim reflects on the method by which the Salaf, and the earliest Salaf, transmitted the hadiths concerning the general worship of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and specifically his worship in prayer. I see, and this is my opinion, which is not binding but which I personally adopt, that this rapid movement which attracts attention—if it had been intended by the movement mentioned by Wa'il—the narrator would have drawn the listeners' attention to this manner that attracts attention. Therefore, what I see is that it should be a gentle, soft movement that does not attract much attention. I also believe that if there had been a rapid movement that drew attention, reports would have come from the other Companions transmitting it, whereas we do not find anyone who joined Wa'il in narrating this hadith in his narration of the movement at all, let alone joining him in narrating a movement with that speed that attracts attention.
The questioner : This is the first time I have heard this from you.
The Shaykh : Ah, an opening, an opening.
The questioner : I mean, it is very wonderful, and may Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh: And you too
The questioner : What Allah willed.
The Shaykh : This is one of the virtues of the scholarly session.
The questioner : Allahu Akbar.
The Shaykh : Yes, exactly.
The questioner : All right, Shaykh, in my movement, I move it like this.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner: This
The Shaykh : This is not pure movement; this is lowering and raising, and this is an addition to the movement. Therefore, we say: move it in its place, and do not raise and lower it.
The questioner : Like this, my Shaykh?
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : Excuse me, my Shaykh, in your book you mentioned that Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal was asked, and the movement is vigorous.
The Shaykh : Not vigorous; the movement is vigorous.
The questioner : Vigorous, yes.
The Shaykh : This does not mean like this. Rather, it is what you do when you move it like this. The word "vigorous" does not mean what we have denied by deduction.
The questioner : Then, my Shaykh, the text of Imam Ahmad in the Masail of Abdullah is that he was asked about a man pointing with his finger, and he said, "Vigorously." And if it appears in the index of the book, meaning in the chapter on movement, but in the text of Abdullah that you quoted in the body, it is about a man's pointing with his finger, and he said, "Vigorously." So it aligns exactly with what you mentioned, and Allah knows best.
The Shaykh : Yes, may Allah reward you with good.
The questioner : May Allah reward you.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.