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Problem With Tashahud Prayer In Salah
Assalam Alaikum,
When we debate with Christians, saying that they should pray the way Jesus (as) prayed, to One God.. and also, Prophet Muhammad (saw) said pray the same way I pray… then how/why do we have this statement in our daily Salaat:
“As salamu alaika ayuhan Nabi wa rahmatullahi wabarakatuhu”
= “Peace be on you, O Messenger, and Allah’s mercy and blessings”
(Note: I am not objecting sending salawat to the Prophet (saw) – this is done correctly in the durood later) But my objections are:
1) Why are we addressing Prophet in a prayer to God alone? i.e. “Peace be on You??” while addressing God doesn’t make sense. Are we not making the same mistake as Christians who address Jesus in their prayers?
2) Certainly Prophet (saw) never used these words in his own prayers to God, shouldn’t we pray exactly how he prayed to Allah (swt)? by not including any of such extras?
Please address both points separately. jazakAllah khair!
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5 Replies
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Problem With Tashahud Prayer In Salah
updated 1 year, 7 months ago
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5
Replies
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In Salah, Except for the following rituals and utterances of the Salah, everything else is optional:
Discussion 59404 • Reply 59446
Since utterances in Qada are not obligatory, but are optional therefore, there is no restriction if one wants to offer this prayer or opts to offer any other prayer while sitting in Tashahud. The qadah of the prayer is reserved for supplications, and a person can say whatever supplication he wants to. The guidance provided by the practice of the Prophet (sws) in this regard related to this particular supplication is as follows:
Abdullah ibn Masud (rta) says that when we would pray with the Prophet (sws), we would say: “Peace be to God from His servants and peace be to such and such persons.” When the Prophet (sws) heard this, he said:“Don’t say: ‘Peace be to God,’ for God Himself is entirely peace. Say this instead: التَّحِيَّاتُ لِلَّهِ وَالصَّلَوَاتُ وَالطَّيِّبَاتُ السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكَ أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ السَّلَامُ عَلَيْنَا وَعَلَى عِبَادِ اللَّهِ الصَّالِحِينَ (all salutations, supplications and good deeds are for God; O Messenger of God! Peace be to you, and blessings and mercy. Peace be to us also and to all pious people too). If you say these words, your supplication will reach every person who is in the sky or is found somewhere between the sky and the earth. [He further said:] أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ (I bear witness that there is no god except Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad (sws) is His servant and Messenger). After this, a person can say any supplication he wants to for himself.” (Source: https://sunnah.com/bukhari:835)
With slight variations, the above supplication is also reported by Umar (rta), Aishah (rta), Abdullah ibn Umar (rta), Abdullah ibn Abbas (rta) and Abu Musa al-Ashari (rta) (Source: https://sunnah.com/bukhari:831, https://sunnah.com/abudawud:971 etc.). It is evident from the narratives that after this, the Prophet (sws) would diligently teach this supplication to his Companions (rta) (Source: https://sunnah.com/muslim:403a, https://sunnah.com/muslim:403b)
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Thank you Umer, but my concern is still the same. I understand it is optional, but it’s something that’s been suggested (in the authentic hadith) and 99.999% of Muslims utter it at least 5 times a day.
My concern is: Imagine praying to Allah (swt) and in a Dua you say “Peace be on You, O Messenger” …how different is this from Christians praying to God and saying “O Jesus”
I hope you understand my objection? Do you agree that the hadith could have been transmitted slightly differently than what Prophet saw actually said? Why didn’t the Scholars object it in 1200 years?
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To this point, please see my response in the following link:
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@Irfan76 Irfan bhai, can you please share your input as well? Doesn’t this way of addressing “Peace be upon You. O Prophet” in Salaat (i.e. a ritual dedicated to worshiping Allah alone) a form of shirk? and quite relatable to how Christians address Jesus when praying/worshiping?
jazakAllah khair
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For comments of Dr. Irfan Shahzad Sahab to a similar question, please refer to the following thread:
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