Moving the Finger in Tashahhud

26-3-2018 | IslamWeb

Question:

As-Salamu Alaykum wa Rahmatullah,We read that Shu'ayb Arna'ut described the Prophet's movement of the finger in Tashahhud as "trembling unintentionally" due to the cold (as in the Hadith of Wa'il who visited in the winter), the old age of Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) and the return of the poison which weakened him. An indication of this is that no one who reported the pointing, recorded the movement except Wa'il and they were stong companions like Ibn Umar who remained with Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) for many years and up until his death. Our question is: Has anyone preceded Arna'ut in such a claim and does it entail defamation of the Prophet (peace be upon him)?Jazak Allah Khayran.
Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) is His slave and Messenger.{C}

We are not aware of any scholar who justified the movement of the finger in the Tashahhud, in the narration you stated, to be due to the reasons you mentioned in the question.

Shaykh Shu'ayb Al-Arna’oot may Allaah have mercy upon him himself only classified the narration of moving the finger as inauthentic, as he said: “the phrase ‘I saw him moving his finger’ is inauthentic, because it was only narrated by Zaa’idah Ibn Qudaamah, contrary to what was narrated by other trustworthy narrators, who were a group of more than ten, who narrated it with a different wording than the above.” [End of quote]

He (Shaykh Shu'ayb) did not explain –according to the resources that we have explored – the meaning of the narration to mean what you mentioned in the question.

Shaykh Shu'ayb may Allaah have mercy upon him was one of the most prominent scholars, and he is far above from defaming the Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ).

Even if we presume that what you mentioned about him is true (the explanation of the narration), then it does not include any defamation to the status of the Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ).

The Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) was a human being and he is subject to what all other human beings are subject to, such as illness, feeling cold and hungry, and other matters that do not degrade his position.

We advise you, dear brother, to fear Allah and not to ask so many questions that do not entail action, as this is not your first question regarding the finger movement in Tashahhud.

We also perceive from your previous questions that you are affected by whispers in relation to the subject of Kufr (disbelief), so you should beware of this.

Also, you should give a chance for others to ask questions, as we have a number of important questions whose questioners are waiting for answers; we are not only answering your questions.

Allah knows best.

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