Where is the index finger placed in the prayer?
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Question:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Your Eminence, the Shaykh: Peace be upon you, and Allah's mercy and blessings. And after that: I love you for the sake of Allah. The question: Scholars have differed regarding the placement of the index finger during the tashahhud. Is this a difference of variety, or is it a genuine difference? And what is the stronger position? May Allah guide you.
Answer:
First: May Allah love you for the sake of which you loved us; based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):Sahih al-Bukhari 1423 It is agreed upon as authentic.
And Muslim narrated in his Sahih from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said:Sahih Muslim 2566, and it is established in the Sahih of Muslim from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) So, loving one another for the sake of Allah is one of the strongest ties of faith.
As for the index finger: The Sunnah is to raise it during the tashahhud from the time one sits until one says the taslim, and it is raised with a slight bend, as a sign of tawhid (the oneness of Allah). One gathers all the fingers, or one gathers the little finger and the ring finger and forms a circle with the thumb and the middle finger. All of this is permissible in the prayer, and it is from the Sunnah. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did this and that. This is the Sunnah in the first tashahhud and the last tashahhud. Raising the index finger is a sign of tawhid, and one moves it during the supplication, as in the hadith, and when saying: "O Allah, I seek refuge in You from the punishment of the Hellfire..." etc.
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Your Eminence, the Shaykh: Peace be upon you, and Allah's mercy and blessings. And after that: I love you for the sake of Allah. The question: Scholars have differed regarding the placement of the index finger during the tashahhud. Is this a difference of variety, or is it a genuine difference? And what is the stronger position? May Allah guide you.
Answer:
First: May Allah love you for the sake of which you loved us; based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):
Seven people will be shaded by Allah under His shade on the day when there will be no shade except His. They are: (1) a just ruler; (2) a young man who has been brought up in the worship of Allah, (i.e. worship Allah (Alone) sincerely from his childhood), (3) a man whose heart is attached to the mosque (who offers the five compulsory congregational prayers in the mosque); (4) two persons who love each other only for Allah's sake and they meet and part in Allah's cause only; (5) a man who refuses the call of a charming woman of noble birth for an illegal sexual intercourse with her and says: I am afraid of Allah; (6) a person who practices charity so secretly that his left hand does not know what his right hand has given (i.e. nobody knows how much he has given in charity). (7) a person who remembers Allah in seclusion and his eyes get flooded with tears.
سبعة يظلهم الله في ظله يوم لا ظل إلا ظله، إمام عادل، وشاب نشأ في طاعة الله، ورجل قلبه معلق بالمساجد، ورجلان تحابا في الله، اجتمعا عليه وتفرقا عليه، ورجل دعته امرأة ذات منصب وجمال فقال: إني أخاف الله، ورجل تصدق بصدقة فأخفاها حتى لا تعلم شماله ما أنفقت يمينه، ووجل ذكر الله خاليا ففاضت عيناهAnd Muslim narrated in his Sahih from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said:
Allah would say on the Day of Resurrection: Where are those who have mutual love for My Glory's sake? Today I shall shelter them in My shadow when there is no other shadow but the shadow of Mine.
يقول الله يوم القيامة: أين المتحابون بجلالي اليوم أظلهم في ظلي يوم لا ظل إلا ظليThat a man visited a brother of his in a village, so Allah stationed an angel for him on his way in the form of a human being. When he passed by him, he said: "Where are you going?" He said: "I want to visit a brother of mine for the sake of Allah in such-and-such a village." He said: "Do you have any favor that you can do for him?" He said: "No, except that I love him for the sake of Allah." So the angel said to him: "I am a messenger from Allah to you. Indeed, Allah loves you as you loved him."
أن رجلا زار أخًا له في قرية، فأرصد الله له في طريقه ملكا في صورة إنسان، فلما مر عليه قال: أين تريد؟ قال: أريد أن أزور أخًا لي في الله في القرية الفلانية، قال: هل لك من نعمة تربها عليه؟ قال: لا، إلا أني أحبه في الله، فقال له الملك: إني رسول الله إليك، إن الله يحبك كما أحببتهAs for the index finger: The Sunnah is to raise it during the tashahhud from the time one sits until one says the taslim, and it is raised with a slight bend, as a sign of tawhid (the oneness of Allah). One gathers all the fingers, or one gathers the little finger and the ring finger and forms a circle with the thumb and the middle finger. All of this is permissible in the prayer, and it is from the Sunnah. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did this and that. This is the Sunnah in the first tashahhud and the last tashahhud. Raising the index finger is a sign of tawhid, and one moves it during the supplication, as in the hadith, and when saying: "O Allah, I seek refuge in You from the punishment of the Hellfire..." etc.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.