[001] – Is it wrong to raise the index finger in tashahhud?

Question:

Should the index finger be raised in tashahhud? Some people here are stopping others from doing so saying that Mujaddid e Alf Thani said that the index finger should not be raised, although this has been the practice of our scholars. Please inform us of the correct Hanafi position to follow. Jazak-Allah

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Answer:

According to the relied upon position in the Hanafi school, raising the index finger in tashahhud is certainly correct and is proven from numerous hadith. 

It is narrated from Abdullah ibn ‘Umar by Imam Muslim (§580):

When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ sat in Salah [i.e. for tashahhud], he placed his hands on his knees and raised his right finger next to the thumb, making supplication with it, and he stretched his left hand on his left knee.^[1]عَنِ ابْنِ عُمَرَ، أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم كَانَ إِذَا جَلَسَ فِي الصَّلاَةِ وَضَعَ يَدَيْهِ … Continue reading

It is also narrated from Wa’il bin Hujr by Ibn Majah (§912):

I saw the Prophet ﷺ making a circle with his thumb and middle finger, and raising the one next to it (the index finger), supplicating with it during tashahhud.^[2]عَنْ وَائِلِ بْنِ حُجْرٍ، قَالَ رَأَيْتُ النَّبِيَّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ قَدْ حَلَّقَ الإِبْهَامَ … Continue reading

Similar narrations have also been reported in Jami’ al-Tirmidhi (§293) and Sunan Abi Dawud (§1105).

Some Hanafi jurists have stated that indicating with the index finger falls under actions that are sunnah in salah, while others have included it in the actions that are desirable (mustahab) in salah. The reconciliation between the two, as stated by Allamah ibn Abidin al-Shami, is that: ‘It is a sunnah that is not emphasised (ghayr mu’akkadah).’ ^[3]يمكن التوفيق بأنها غير مؤكدة.[Radd al-Muhtar 2:218]

The correctness of raising the index finger in tahshahud has been transmitted from all three of our Imams: al-Imam al-A’zam Abu Hanifah, Imam Abu Yusuf and Imam Muhammad, and is the favoured position according to the Hanafi research scholars. 

Allamah Haskafi mentions in al-Durr al-Mukhtar:

The reliable [position] is what the commentators authenticated, particularly the latter-day scholars (muta’akhhirin) like al-Kamal, al-Halabi, al-Bahnasi, al-Baqani, Shaykh al-Islam and others who said to indicate [with the index finger] is correct because it is the action of the Messenger of Allah, and they attributed it to Imam Muhammad and al-Imam al-A’zam.

In fact, it is in the text of Durar al-Bihar and its commentary Ghurar al-Adhkar that: ‘To indicate with the index finger is the preferred position (mufta bihi) according to us.’ And it is in al-Shurunbulaliyyah from al-Burhan that: ‘The correct [stance] is to indicate with one index finger: To raise it when saying ‘la-ilaha’ and return it when saying ‘il-Allah.’ And by using the word ‘correct’ (sahih), he has alerted us that the stance which mentions not to indicate with the index finger is contrary to the principles (dirayah) and reports (riwayah).

Allamah al-Ayni transmits from al-Tuhfah that the most accurate position is that indicating is mustahab whilst al-Muhit mentions that it is sunnah^[4]المعتمد ما صححه الشراح ولا سيما المتأخرون كالكمال والحلبي والبهنسي والباقاني وشيخ الإسلام الجد وغيرهم أنه … Continue reading [al-Durr al-Mukhtar p.70]

Allamah ibn Abidin al-Shami comments on this in Radd al-Muhtar:

{And they attributed it to Imam Muhammad and al-Imam al-A’zam} Likewise, they have reported it from Imam Abu Yusuf in al-Amali as will be mentioned. Therefore, it is reported from all three of our Imams. [Radd al-Muhtar 2:217]^[5]قوله (ونسبوه لمحمد والإمام) وكذا نقلوه عن أبي يوسف في الأمالي كما يأتي، فهو منقول عن أئمتنا الثلاثة

He further writes:

This [indicating with the index finger] is what the latter-day scholars relied on due to it being proven from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in authentic narrations; and due to the authenticity of transmission from our three Imams. This is why he [i.e. ibn al-Humam] said in Fath al-Qadir: ‘The first position [of not indicating] is contrary to the principles and reports.’ [Radd al-Muhtar 2:218]^[6]وهذا ما اعتمده المتأخرون لثبوته عن النبي – صلى الله عليه وسلم – بالأحاديث الصحيحة ولصحة نقله عن أئمتنا … Continue reading

Allamah Kasani writes in Badayi’ al-Sanayi’: 

Imam Muhammad said in Kitab al-Musabbiha: ‘It has been narrated to us from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ that he would indicate with his finger. Therefore, we shall do what the Messenger of Allah did and we act upon what he acted upon; and this is the position of Abu Hanifah and ours.’ [Badayi’ al-Sanayi’ 2:71]^[7]فإن محمدا قال في كتاب المسبحة حدثنا عن النبي – صلى الله عليه وسلم – أنه كان يشير بأصبعه فيفعل مثل ما فعل … Continue reading

Imam Ahmad Rida writes in al-Fatawa al-Ridawiyyah:

To raise the index finger in tashahhud is the preferred and relied upon position of the research scholars (muhaqqiqin). Saghiri has mentioned its correctness from al-Multaqat and the commentaries of al-Hidayah, which Muhaqqiq ala al-Itlaq Allamah Kamal al-Din ibn al-Humam, Allamah ibn Amir al-Haj al-Halabi, Allamah Shurunbulali and others relied on, and whom Allamah Ala’ al-Din al-Haskafi, Allamah Sayyid Tahtawi, Allamah ibn ‘Abidin al-Shami and others followed. Allamah Badr al-Din al-Ayni mentioned from al-Tuhfah that it is mustahab while the author of al-Muhit and Mulla Qahastani mentioned it is sunnah. [al-Fatawa al-Ridawiyyah 6:150]

Some Hanafi books have mentioned that a person should not indicate with the index finger in tashahhud. Mujaddid Alf Thani in his Maktubat has considered this position of not raising the index finger in tashahhud as the stronger position by relying upon what is mentioned in certain Hanafi books. He takes the opinion that all the reports from our three Hanafi Imams are not found in the books of Usul: The 6 books of Imam Muhammad that report the well-known key positions of Imam Abu Hanifah – the zahir al-riwayah. Instead, he states that all the reports attributed to the three main Imams are found in the other works of Imam Muhammad which are referred to as ‘the nawadir sources’ and should not form the basis of the Hanafi position. [Maktubat Mujaddid Alf Thani, Maktub 312]

However, the Hanafi research scholars have given preference to the position of indicating with the index finger and this is what is to be acted upon by Hanafis. The preference given to the position that the index finger should not be raised within certain Hanafi books is not worthy of being relied on as the research scholars have not favoured this position at all and considered such a position to be contrary to logic and transmitted reports. 

Imam Ahmad Rida summarises the matter in the following manner:

‘In summary, there is no doubt regarding the soundness of lifting the finger. The narrations of the Prophet and the statements of our Mujtahid Imams also support this. If the books of the latter-day scholars, such as Tanwir al-Absar, Walwaljiyyah, Tajnis, Khulasah, Bazzaziyah, Waqiat, Umdat al-Mufti, Munyah al-Mufti, Tabyin Kubra, Mudmarat, al-Hindiyyah and others have preferred (tarjih) and verified (tashih) the position of not raising the finger – this preference of theirs is not worthy of being relied on since the research scholars have not favoured this position at all and considered such a position to be contrary to logic and transmitted reports. [Fatawa Ridawiyyah 6:153]

Therefore, the most accurate and relied upon position in the Hanafi school is that it is desirable and sunnah to indicate with the index finger during tashahhud. Since it is the relied upon position and desirable according to the Hanafi research scholars, a person should not stop others from doing so, and indeed Allah knows best. 

Written by Mawlana Muhammad Kalim 

The answer is correct
Mufti Sayyid Shahbaz
25 Ramadan 1442

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