Islamic Fiqh > Prayer > Tashahhud and the prayer upon the Prophet
What one recites sitting in prayer: the tashahhud text, the prayer upon the Prophet, the final invocation and form divergences.
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Updated on 31 August 2026 at 3:55 AM
The tashahhud is the formula of greeting and testimony recited sitting within the prayer. The jurists agree: every form that reached us from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) through three Companions, 'Umar, Ibn Mas'ud and Ibn 'Abbas, is valid. Abu Hanifa and Ahmad prefer Ibn Mas'ud's form, of ten words:
Greetings belong to Allah, and the prayers and the good things. Peace be upon you, O Prophet, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. Peace be upon us and upon the righteous servants of Allah. I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His messenger.al-Bukhari 797, Muslim 402
The schools differ. The Maliki qadi Abd al-Wahhab teaches that both tashahhuds are sunnas, not obligations, against the Shafi'i view that makes the last one obligatory and others that make both obligatory. The Hanafis make the final tashahhud an obligation. One of the Maliki arguments is the Prophet's word to the Bedouin: "then sit until you are calm sitting; when you have done that, your prayer is complete": the prayer is complete without prolonging further.
After the tashahhud comes the prayer upon the Prophet (ibrahimi salat). Its legitimacy in the tashahhud is by consensus; its status divides: a recommended sunna according to the Hanafis, Malikis and Ahmad in one transmission, an obligation (wajib) according to other schools.
Learn one form of tashahhud by heart and stay with it. In the final tashahhud, add the prayer upon the Prophet, then a brief supplication before the salam: this trio forms the closing of every prayer.