The Meaning of the Tashahhud - Preview of Meaningful Prayer from Bayyinah

The Meaning of the Tashahhud - Preview of Meaningful Prayer

Opening

"[In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah, Lord of all the worlds. And the (best) outcome is for the righteous. And blessings and peace be upon the leader of the messengers, and upon his family and companions, and whoever follows them in goodness until the Day of Judgment.]"

The Central Role of Salah in Islam

Salah is a very focal and important integral part of our religion. We are able to connect with Allah by means of our Salah. We are able to fulfill our needs and ask Allah for whatever we might need or whatever might be troubling us by means of the prayer, by means of the Salah.

Salah is literally a direct channel and a direct access line for us to communicate with Allah. Allah in the Quran, He says:

"[And Allah would never allow your faith to be lost.]" - literally substitutes the word Salah with the word Iman. So as to teach us, to remind us, to emphasize to us that the core of our Iman and the survival of our Iman, the protection of our faith and the continuity of our progress in terms of our own spirituality lies within Salah and our preservation of the Salah and our commitment to the Salah.

So Salah is at the core of being a believer. It's an absolute fundamental value that a believer must embody, that a believer must live by. In the same token, Salah is as the Prophet observed about him:

(Abu Dawud 1319)

"[Whenever anything concerned the Prophet, he at once would hasten towards the prayer.]"

The Divine Response in Salah

The Prophet also teaches us a very basic core elementary fundamental aspect of appreciating the Salah and understanding the importance of it to our deen. And that is in a Hadith Qudsi in which the Prophet says that Allah has said that when we stand for the Salah, when we stand for the Salah and we recite Surah Al-Fatiha within our Salah, Allah directly responds to us in our prayer.

Famous Hadith Qudsi :

"(Muslim 395) - As the slave continues to go on reciting ayah after ayah, Allah responds to him.

Achieving Quality in Prayer (Khushu)

One thing that concerns all of us, all Muslims, all believers is the quality of our Salah. How do we find quality within our prayer? How do I experience what I'm talking about? How does it go from talk, from theory into a practical realization? How do I start to realize this power, this beauty, this transformative power of Salah? And that is the word Khushu. Concentration, focus, humility, submissiveness within the prayer. But I like to just refer to it as quality within our prayer.

The quickest, most efficient, productive and practical way to achieve Khushu within our Salah, to find quality in our prayer, is to start to understand the meaning of the words that we read and recite within the Salah, but not just their meaning, but their beauty, the eloquence, the power. And just the sheer magnificence of these words that we recite within the prayer.

The Strategic Position of Tashahhud

One of the parts of Salah that is very powerful and very beautiful, and it's a very strategic point within the Salah, is the tashahhud, the sitting portion of prayer. The sitting portion of prayer in and of itself is a very strategic thing.

It is the culminating point, the climax and the high point of the Salah. Because if you look at it when you start your Salah from takbeer, opening supplications in which you either ask for forgiveness or you state your commitment and devotion to Allah, you praise and you glorify Allah, you recite surah al-Fatiha, you recite another portion of the Quran, you go into ruku' and you attribute greatness and firmness and stability to Allah, you stand up from the ruku' and you praise Him and you glorify Him, you go into your sujood and lower yourself to the lowest point possible by putting your face on the ground. And while you are at your lowest point possible, you say Allah is the highest, the most exalted.

After doing all of this comes the sitting portion of the prayer. So it's like a climax of the Salah. And so the words that we have been given to recite there by the Prophet are equally as powerful and beautiful.

The Beautiful Chain of Transmission

The tashahhud narrated by Ibn Mas'ud has a very beautiful story, a very beautiful narration to it as well. Where Abdullah Ibn Mas'ud says that the Prophet taught me the tashahhud and my hand was in between his two hands: (وَكَفِّي بَيْنَ كَفَّيْهِ - wa kaffi bayna kaffayhi) - So lovingly he sat down with me, he took my hand in his hand, and he sat there and he taught me the tashahhud.

In a very loving manner. And then he goes on to say that he taught this same tashahhud in the same manner to one of his best students Alqama in the same way. He says I took his hand in between my hands and I taught him the tashahhud.

Alqama says I learned the tashahhud when my hand was in between the hands of Ibn Mas'ud. And then Ibrahim Al-Nakha'i he says I learned the tashahhud and my hand was in between the hands of Alqama. And then Hammad Ibn Salama he says I learned the tashahhud and my hand was in between the two hands of Ibrahim Al-Nakha'i, my teacher.

And then Abu Hanifa he says that I learned the tashahhud and my hand was in between the two hands of my teacher Hammad Ibn Salama. And in this beautiful manner not just the words but the habit and the mannerisms of the Prophet have carried on throughout the traditions and the scholars have maintained this consistency.

The Tashahhud of Ibn Mas'ud - Detailed Analysis

The Complete Text

Understanding "At-Tahiyyat" (التَّحِيَّاتُ)

The first word is التَّحِيَّا. It's a very interesting word. This is a plural word of the word تَحِيَّة. تَحِيَّة means greeting. It means greeting, like to greet someone. التَّحِيَّاتُ is the plural of that word, greetings.

And the word greeting in and of itself tells the story of the origins of this word, the etymology of this word. The word تَحِيّة comes from the root of the word حَيَاة which means life.

So why does the word for greeting come from the word which means life? Well, because pre-Islamically, in the times of Jahiliyyah, the Arabs, when they would greet one another, they would greet each other by saying a supplication. They would say (حَيَّاكُمُ اللَّهُ، حَيَّاكَ اللَّهُ - Hayyakum Allah, Hayyaka Allah) - May Allah give you a long and prosperous life. And this was the way they would greet each other.

The Scholar's Quest for Understanding

A scholar by the name of Abdullah bin Salih Al-ljli tells his story. He says that, I was interested in finding out what this means. Like really understanding the meaning, the significance, the beauty, the power of it. So he says, I went to a scholar by the name of Al-Kisa'i.

Al-Kisa'i, great scholar. And I asked him, what does التَّحِيَّاتُ لِلَّهِ mean? So he said مِثْلُ الْبَرَكَاتِ it's like blessings. So I said okay if التَّحِيّة is something like blessings, then what does الْبَرَكَاتُ mean? What does blessings mean? So he goes, that's all I know. I can't tell you any more than this.

So he says, I went to another great scholar of my time. Muhammad ibn al-Hassan al-Shaybani, rahimahullah. Great scholar. So he says, I went to him and I asked him, what does التَّحِيَّاتُ لِلَّهِ mean? So he said, this is a word that we use to worship Allah. This is a word that we worship Allah using: نَعْبُدُ اللَّهَ به We use it to worship Allah. And that's all I can tell you.

So he says, finally I came across Muhammad ibn Idrees al-Shafi'i, rahimahullah. I came across Imam al-Shafi'i, rahimahullah. Great scholar. And one thing I'll tell you before I tell you what he said, the unique thing about Imam al-Shafi'i, rahimahullah. These were all great scholars. But the unique thing about Imam al-Shafi'i, rahimahullah is while being a scholar of the Arabic language, he was a poet.

So he says, I came to Imam al-Shafi'i, rahimahullah, and I said, what does the word at-tahiyyatulillah mean? And then he says, I told him, look, I went to al-Kisa'i and this is what he told me. I went to Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Shaibani, rahimahullah, and this is what he told me. So Imam al-Shafi'i,

rahimahullah, he said : (لَيْسَ لَهُمْ عِلْمٌ بِشِعْرٍ - laysa lahum 'ilmun bishi'rin). He says, why did you ask them? They don't know poetry. You have to ask a poet. You have to ask the right person.

Royal Compliments for Allah

He says, when you enter into the court of the king, how do you enter into the court of the king? You offer royal compliments. Even in English, we know this. When somebody enters the court of the king, what do they say? Your royal highness, your majesty, your greatness.

In Arabic, in classical Arabic, they would say things like: (أَبَيْتَ اللَّعْنَةَ - abayta al-la'nah) - you removed curse from the lands. (وَسَلِمْتَ وَنِعْمَ - wa salimta wa ni'm) - may you find peace, may you find blessings. They would say (عِشْ أَلْفَ سَنَةٍ - 'ish alfa sanah) - may you live for a thousand years. They would praise the king, and in this manner they enter the court of the king. It's protocol, royal compliments.

So he says that's what the word التَّحِيَّاتُ means. So when we say التَّحِيَّاتُ لِلَّهِ we are saying royal compliments are exclusively for Allah. Royal compliments fit for a king are exclusively for Allah.

"Was-Salawat" and "Wat-Tayyibat"

Moving forward, وَالصَّلوات and صلوات صلوات is the plural of the word صلاة, which means prayer. So our prayers are also for Allah.

وَالطَّيِّبَاتُ this is the plural of the word طَيّب. This means beautiful things, appealing things. So the beautiful and appealing things are also for Allah. And one thing that the scholars explain about this is that because it's being used in this manner in conjunction with the word صَلَوَاتٌ صَلَوَاتٌ is like it's referring to the prayers, but it signifies all the عِبَادَات, the worship that we have to offer is for Allah.

And because the word طَيِّبَاتُ is being used in conjunction with it, the word طَيِّبَاتُ refers to the beautiful character, the beautiful conduct, the way we conduct ourselves, our mannerisms, our dealing with people.

The Comprehensive Dedication

So now look at the comprehensiveness of just the first four words of the تَشَهد. التَّحِيَّاتُ لِلَّهِ royal compliments are for Allah والصلواتprayers, worship, عِبَادَة is for Allah. وَالطَّيِّبَات and the beautiful appealing things, our character, our mannerisms, our conduct is also dedicated and devoted to Allah. It's all done for the sake of Allah.

And there's a very fine point in here. Because even when you conduct yourself appropriately, and you do it for the sake of Allah, that is not only sincerity, but that ensures that you will continue to conduct yourself in such a noble manner. Why? Because if you treat somebody good because of that person, because of what they did to you, because of that position of that person.

What if tomorrow that person doesn't have that position? What if tomorrow that person does something that disappoints you? Then what are you going to do? You're gonna start treating him inappropriately and badly. What if that person treats you badly tomorrow? You'll treat him badly right back. Because your treatment of him was based on your view of him, your perception of him.

So the Prophet in this supplication teaches us, no, even the way we conduct ourselves socially, publicly is based on our commitment to Allah. We treat people good, why? Because it pleases Allah. Because Allah has told us to.

Sending Peace Upon the Prophet

This is the second portion within the Tashahhud.

Understanding "As-Salaam"

السلام - Salaam means peace and safety. It's a very profound and a very comprehensive word. So many things come from this as a derivative. Islam, which means to submit to Allah, also comes from the root of السلام. So Islam means to submit, why? Because by submitting to Allah we achieve peace and safety.

Not only that, I found something really interesting. You know, the Arabs were very fascinating in the way their language was constructed. They had a very, very interesting manner of naming things. So (سُلَّم - sullam) in the Arabic language refers to like stairs or a ladder. (سُلّم - sullam). And that comes from the same root as the word (سلام - salam) peace and safety.

Why? Isn't stairs and ladders, aren't they kind of treacherous, a little bit dangerous? You have to be careful when you climb a ladder. You shake it, you make sure it's stable. You ask somebody to hold the ladder for you. Right? When children, when we have small children in our house, and we have stairs in our house, don't we put that little gate there so they can't access the stairs? Why? Because it's dangerous.

So the Arabs said, look, okay, the stairs, these ladders, they're dangerous things. So what should we name it? They named it safety. They call it safety (سُلّم - sullam). So anytime anybody approaches stairs, the first thing that pops into his mind is what? Be careful. Climbing the safety. So it's very fascinating how they would even give names to things.

Addressing the Prophet Directly

So السلام means peace and safety. عَلَيْكَ . May peace and safety. This is a form of supplication. This is a form of supplication. And the scholars even write that previously when people would supplicate for somebody, they'd make dua for somebody, they would say: (اللَّهُمَّ سَلَّمْ عَلَى فُلَانٍ - Allahumma sallim 'ala fulan). Oh Allah, send peace and safety upon such and such person.

The Prophet taught us, even in our salam that we say to each other, (السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكَ - as-salamu 'alayk). Or (السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ - as-salamu 'alaykum). This is a more emphatic, this is the اسمية form. It's more emphatic, it's more powerful, it's more emotional of a

السَّلامُ عَلَيْكَ tone. So

May peace and safety be upon you. Now who is the you referring to? The supplication tells us أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ Oh Prophet. So this is speaking about the Prophet. السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكَ أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ

The Meaning of "An-Nabi"

The word نبي. Let's understand the word نَبِيّ thoroughly. It means Prophet that we normally translate it. This can come from either one of two roots. Either it comes from the root of the word نبأ. And the word نبأ in the Arabic language means news. That is very very important. And news that is relevant to you. News that is very very important. And news that is relevant to you.

So now think about that for a second. If نبيّ comes from the root of the word which means news that is important and relevant. Then that means نَبِيّ is the one who brings news that is important. And نبي brings information or news that is relevant. Relevant. Now think about that for a second. Reflect on it.

See words they teach us lessons. When you understand what words mean properly. That means nothing the Prophet said is unimportant. And nothing the Prophet said or did is irrelevant. It's very profound.

The second possible meaning or the second possible root of the word نَبِيّ within the Arabic language is that it comes from the root of the word النُّبُو نُبُو نُبُو. .That basically means like an elevation, a protrusion. So when something is all at one level and then something is sticking out, jetting out. Then that's called نبو

It's an elevation. Why? Because the Nabi is an individual, he is a person who is at an elevated status. He's at a higher level, a higher status than the rest of humanity, than the rest of people. He's a messenger of Allah.

Mercy and Blessings

رَحْمَةٌ. وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ means mercy. And the mercy of Allah. Meaning may the mercy of Allah also be upon you.

وَبَرَكَاتُهُ. وَبَرَكَاتُهُ. بَرَكَات. This is a plural of the word بَرَكَة. Which means blessing. But the word بَرَكة in its roots, it means blessings that are long lasting. Blessings that are long lasting.

That's why the Arabs, they would call like a pond of water, a small collection of water that been sitting around for a long time, they call it بركة. If a camel sits down and is being stubborn and refuses to stand back up again, they say بَرَكَ الْبَعِيرُ . The camel, he's sitting now, he's not gonna move. He's gonna sit there for a while.

So it implies longevity. So بركة means long lasting blessings بركات is blessings, the plural. وَبَرَكَاتُهُ refers to Allah. And may His long lasting blessings also be upon you.

The Collective Nature of Prayer

Teaching from the Companions

Now one thing I wanna clarify here before we go forward, is that we are speaking, are we speaking about the Prophet or are we speaking to the Prophet when we say السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكَ. It's to second person. It's you. May peace and blessings be upon you. So what's the understanding of this? What's the implication of this?

In reality, there is no implication of it. Why? Because Ibn Mas'ud, Ibn Abbas رضي الله عنهم all of these companions, they tell us in their narrations in which they tell us the Prophet taught them the tashahhud. They say : كَانَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ يُعَلِّمْنَا التَّشَهُدَ كَمَا يُعَلِّمْنَا السُّورَةَ مِنَ الْقُرْآنِ )Bukhari, Muslim 402(.

The Prophet would teach us the tashahhud just like he would teach us a surah from the Quran. That means two things. Number one, the Prophet emphasize the importance of the tashahhud and the necessity of memorizing the tashahhud. Just like surahs of the Quran are important and we have to memorize them, correct? Absolutely.

The second implication of this is verbatim, word for word. When we're reciting surah al-Fatiha, we say:

- Only you do we enslave ourselves to. Only you do we worship, do we enslave ourselves to. Who is it? We or I? We. It's plural, right? نَعْبُدُ is plural. Only you do we worship.

Unity in Supplication

السَّلَامُ عَلَيْنَا - May peace and safety be upon us. وَعَلَى عِبَادِ اللَّهِ الصَّالِحِينَ عِبَادُ اللَّهِ means slaves. It's the plural of the word عَبْدِ.

And there are two plurals for the word عَبْدِ within the Quran,عِبَاد and عبيد. The difference between them, عباد can only be used when you are talking about the slaves of Allah. عِبّاد can exclusively be used, is exclusively only used when talking about the slaves of Allah. The word عبيد is a general plural. It refers to the slaves of Allah, but generally speaking, if you're just talking about slaves, you can also use the word عبيد

But عباد is only for the slaves of Allah. عِبَادُ الرَّحْمٰنِ وَعِبَادُ اللَّهِ . So it only speaks about the slaves of Allah.

The Quality of Righteousness

السَّلَامُ عَلَيْنَا وَعَلَى عِبَادِ اللَّهِ الصَّالِحِينَ. الصَّالِحِينَ - They embody, they have this quality of being صلاح صالح. The word صلاح means righteousness. To have your affairs in order. صلاح means to have your affairs. It's the opposite of the word فساد.

فستاد means chaos, corruption. صلاح is the opposite of that. صلاح means to have your affairs in order. صالح is one who has his affairs in order. صالح is righteous. صالحين is the plural of that.

The Wisdom of Unity and Priority

Now what are some of the implications of what we just said? Number one, we're making dua for ourselves, but do we make dua in the singular form or in the plural form? Did we say may peace and safety be upon me or are we saying may peace and safety be upon us? It's us, it's plural. Absolutely.

That emphasizes unity. Unity of the Muslims. We need to be united. We never just think of ourselves. We think of the group, the unit, the ummah, the collective. It's very important. Should always be at the forefront of our minds. The collective, we are an ummah. So it emphasizes that unity.

We make dua for ourselves here and for everybody else, but who are we making dua for first? Ourselves or everybody else? Ourselves first. That's sensibility, that's not selfishness. You are making dua for others, but first make dua for yourself.

As an example, when you get on an airplane and they make the security announcements, they give you the briefing on what to do in case of an emergency. And they say that if the cabin loses air pressure then the oxygen masks will fall. And if you're with a child or an elderly person or somebody who's in need of assistance, what should you do first? First put your own mask on, then help somebody else.

That's why in the Quran, nothing is by accident in the Quran. What does Allah say in the Quran? يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا قُوا أَنفُسَكُمْ وَأَهْلِيكُمْ نَارًا Quran 66:6) - Save yourselves and your families. Which one did He say first? Yourself or your family? Yourself. Because if you haven't saved yourself, how are you supposed to save your family?

- Tell your family to pray, but you be very, very particular and regular about prayer. Because if you're not committed to your prayer, why would they ever be?

Motivation for Righteousness

Did we make dua for others, for عِبَادُ اللَّهِ or did we limit it to a certain type of عِبَادُ اللهِ ? Certain type. What is that type everyone? صَالِحِينَ، صَالِحِينَ - Righteous people. What's the significance of that? Why are we limiting the dua? This is a motivational technique.

When I am making the dua, may the peace and safety of Allah be upon all the slaves of Allah who are righteous. Now think about this. Every single person, every single Muslim throughout the world performing salah, anytime they pray, and they read their tashahhud, are they making the same dua? Absolutely.

So if I incorporate the quality of righteousness in myself, am I included in the supplications and the duas of every single person performing salah all over the world? I'm included in their dua. Not just now, but for generations, and the generations that are to come. I will always be in the dua of the believers and the people performing salah. If I have the quality of righteousness.

The Shahada - The Core Declaration

Bearing Witness

The last part of the tashahhud is the core, is the essence, is the juice, it's the climax of the tashahhud:

شهد - It means to witness something. So أَشْهَدُ means I bear witness, I give testimony. And شاهد witness, is called a witness because he was present at the scene of the crime or he presents himself for testimony in court. Another word that comes from this root that we all know about is the word شهید martyr.

How does that come from this root? Well, the scholars, they explain that because he presented himself for the ultimate sacrifice. And some of the lexicons also state the fact that when the شهید falls angels are present around him. The angels present themselves.

The Declaration of Tawheed

أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ - This لا what does لا mean in Arabic? Everybody knows. لا means no. But this is a special لا. Special لا. لا نَافِيَةٌ لِلْجِنْسِ. This is a special J. This لا means absolutely positively no. Absolutely positively no. Emphasis, no possibility.

لا إله - إله means one who is worthy of, one who is worthy of worship or veneration. So there is absolutely no one who is worthy of worship إِلَّا except for Allah. إِلَّا is used to make an exception.

لا إلهَ إِلَّا الله - There is absolutely positively no one worthy of worship except for Allah.

The Equal Emphasis

وَأَشْهَدُ and I bear witness and I give testimony. أَنّ means that most definitely. مُحَمَّدًا is عَبْدُهُ his slave. Who is the his referring to? Allah. His slave, Allah's slave. وَرَسُولُه and his messenger. Allah's messenger.

The first thing is that أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ In the first part of it you hear أَنْ أَشْهَدُ . In the second part about the Prophet you hear أَنَّ. Which one sounds stronger أَنْ or أَنَّ أَنَّ sounds stronger. That's because in meaning it is stronger. It has emphasis.

But the second question is why emphasis here but no emphasis in the first statement? Why? So if you think about it, you look closely, the لا that comes after in the first part of it, what type of I did I tell you it was? Special J. It means absolutely no. No way.

Does it already have emphasis built into it? So is there a need for further emphasis? No. But in the second part of the statement is there emphasis coming from anywhere else? No. So that's why instead of أَنْ the أنّ with emphasis is used.

You see the balance? You see the balance? The first one had emphasis through the J. So the second one got the emphasis through the أَنَّ.

Variant Narrations and Their Wisdom

Next point to observe here. In one of the tashahhud actually is stated in this manner. In another narration of the tashahhud, it also says: أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَأَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ . What's missing in this one? أَشْهَدُ the second وَأَشْهَدُ

So if you look at this narration, isn't there a repetition of the word أشْهَدُ? So somebody could argue, it's unnecessary, it's extra. It's unnecessary, it's extra. But it's there for a reason. It's there to give it equal أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَأَشْهَدُ .importance

It's there to give it equal importance. Why equal importance? If somebody came up here, stood up here, came up right now and said that, you know, I'm ready to become Muslim. And we started giving him the shahada, and he said that he's willing to accept the oneness of Allah, but he's not willing to accept the prophethood of Muhammad. Would his shahada be complete? No, he wouldn't. Obviously, everybody knows.

Allah emphasizes the same point. Giving equal importance to the statement about the messenger of Allah, Muhammad being the messenger of Allah.

The Significance of Calling the Prophet "His Slave"

The next thing I want you to note here is, look how it describes the Prophet: وَأَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ his slave. Calling the Prophet the slave of Allah, is a very powerful statement. Because we just talked about nabi means somebody who is at a higher station than the rest of people. But even he is the slave of Allah. Even he is the slave of Allah.

And the Prophet, he exemplified this quality. He exemplified this quality. The greatest day in the life of the Prophet was the day of Fath Makkah. The conquest of Makkah. The most glorious victorious day in the life of the Prophet was Fath Makkah.

He's returning back to a city after 20 years. A people who had kicked him out of his own town. Who had oppressed him and tortured him. Who had killed his followers and companions. He's coming back, entering into the city victorious. Look throughout human history, anyone else who's ever been in a similar position of victory over his long standing enemies, look out and read how he must have entered into the city.

Entered into that area.

At the head of the army, sitting on a big beautiful white horse. Trumpets blaring, roses being thrown, head held high. Right? Victory. It's mine. But look at the Prophet, how he enters in.

The hadith tells us that the Prophet was at the back of the army. He was at the back of the army. And his head was down so low that literally his beard was touching the back of the animal that he was riding. His head held so low. Back of the army. And he was praying to Allah, praising Allah.

(Bukhari 4825)

He was praising, glorifying Allah, that Allah fulfilled his promise. He helped his slave. Didn't say messenger, didn't say prophet, he said slave.

It's a proud station. In being the slave of Allah, we find our nobility, it's honor and distinction to be a slave of Allah. So saying the messenger of Allah, Muhammad is a slave of Allah, is very powerful and it's a lesson for all of us. We need to pride ourselves on being the slaves of Allah.

Understanding "Rasool"

وَرَسُولُهُ and his messenger. Now, rasool, the word rasool, it comes from the root of the word which means, to send a message from a higher authority. To send in classical Arabic, classical Arabic, it means to send a message from a higher authority. Rasool is one who carries a message, who brings a message from a higher authority, is the one we call rasool.

Now, the Prophet has been described in the tashahhud with two distinct terms, nabi and rasool. What is the difference and what is the significance? Now, the difference between nabi and rasool, this is typically in aqeedah discussion, so I'm not gonna get into it here. Because the point of this lecture, and this class overall, even the meaningful prayer course, the point of it is, to focus on the language of the salah. The beauty of the language of the prayer.

From a linguistic perspective, an interesting observation within the Quran, is that whenever the word nabi is used, because the word nabi means to bring important news, relevant news, or to be at a higher level than the rest of people. Wherever the word nabi is used, it emphasizes the Prophet's dealing and interaction with people. Like :

(Quran 66:1)

(Quran 33:59) - his wives, and to tell his daughters, and to tell the believing women, it uses the word nabi.

But when in the Quran, the point and what is being emphasized is the fact that he speaks on behalf of a higher authority. He has been sent by Allah. What he says is not from himself, but he's bringing it to you from Allah.

- Tell them, O people, humanity, I have been sent, I am the messenger of Allah who has been sent to all of you. It's emphasizing, I've come from Allah, I bring.

- When Allah tells the messenger, to deliver, convey the message that has been revealed to you, the word rasul is used, to emphasize that relationship.

The Name Muhammad - Analysis and Significance

The Etymology of Muhammad

The name of the Prophet himself, Muhammad. The name of the Prophet, Muhammad. Muhammad, it comes from the root of the word hamd, which means to praise. Muhammad means one who is very frequently praised. Somebody who is praised very, very frequently, very often.

Muhammad comes from (صِيغَة مُفَعّل، تَفْعِيل، تَحْمِید). Muhammad means somebody who is very frequently and very commonly praised.

Occurrences in the Quran

And the name of the Prophet, Muhammad, the given name of the Prophet, it occurs within the Quran how many times? Four times. The word Muhammad, the name of the Prophet occurs in the Quran four times.

First time in surah Al-Imran :

The second place is in surah Al-Ahzab:

Third place is in surah Muhammad itself, and the fourth place is in surah Al-Fath:

And one other given name of the Prophet occurs in the Quran once, and that is the name of Ahmad, which also comes from the same root as the word hamd, which means the one who is praised, who is praised a lot more than others. So somebody who is praised frequently, and somebody who is praised in a very, very beautiful and a very elaborate manner.

Divine Etiquette in Addressing the Prophet

So it emphasizes the praiseworthiness of the Prophet. One interesting observation within the Quran though, wherever Allah mentions the name of the Prophet, he's not speaking to him, he's speaking about him. He's not addressing him, he's talking about him. And in three out of those four places, the word Rasul occurs within the same ayah.

Whenever Allah addresses the other messengers and the other prophets within the Quran, Ya Ibrahim, Ya Yahya, Ya Isa, Ya Musa, Ya Adam. But when Allah speaks to the Prophet, he never calls him by his name, Ya ayyuhal Rasul, Ya ayyuhal Nabi. He calls him with titles, calls him with titles.

And so Allah Himself teaches us the adab of speaking about the Prophet within the Quran. Whenever we talk about the Prophet, we shouldn't just say Muhammad said, no, no, the Messenger of Allah said. Rasulullah, Nabi said.

The family members of the Prophet, his own wives, his own children, he was a very casual loving family member. But even they felt compelled to call him Messenger of Allah when they addressed him and spoke to him. Because they knew how Allah speaks to him.

Historical Context of the Name

The last thing I wanted to tell everyone about the name of the Prophet is, has anyone ever read or ever heard the fact that the Prophet was the first one to be given the name Muhammad? Anyone ever read that or heard that before? It's been published in some books. Ibn Kathir, rahimahullah, he actually talks about this.

And he says that this is something that was popularized by the Qussas, by the storytellers, the people who exaggerate when they're telling stories. But he says in reality, this is not true. And there's a record of at least Ibn Kathir himself finds the record of at least seven individuals in Arabia before the birth of the Prophet who also had the name Muhammad.

He says this much is true though, is that the name Muhammad was a very rare name at that time. It was a name, but it was a rare name. It was not a very common name, not like today.

The Tashahhud of Ibn Abbas - Comparative Analysis

The Complete Text

Now just to take a look at maybe one more tashahhud to highlight some of the differences and the beauty of the different variations of the tashahhud. We'll take a look at the narration of the tashahhud of Ibn Abbas رضي الله عنهما.

Ibn Abbas رضي الله عنهما one interesting thing in his narration is what I mentioned previously that he says:

(Bukhari 831)

- That the Messenger of Allah would teach us a tashahhud just like he would teach us a surah from the Quran.

The tashahhud that he narrates from the Prophet is:

Key Differences from Ibn Mas'ud's Version

Addition of "Al-Mubarakaat"

The first difference in this tashahhud is that:

There's a new fourth word here in the beginning and that is the word الْمُبَارَكَاتُ الْمُبَارَكَاتُ comes from the same root of the word تركة. It means blessed things. So this is saying that blessed things are also attributed to Allah. Meaning we thank Allah for them. We give the credit to Allah for all the blessings that we have in our life. All the blessed things that we have.

The Use of Conjunctive "Waw"

The next difference in this tashahhud and the previous one was

You hear the و in there? What does و mean in Arabic everybody? And. It's used to combine multiple items together. Here it's the difference between having a ة and not having a ة from a rhetorical perspective? In eloquence how does it make a difference?

When you put a - So when I say toaster and oven. What does that imply? That they're two distinct separate items. There's a toaster and then the oven. But what happens when I say toaster oven? What is that now? That's one item right? That's one item that serves both functions.

Look at the difference. It still toasts and it still bakes. But what does it do? It does both of those separate functions within the same entity. And that's the difference. So when all these words are combined together without the ة, it's saying as if all of these components together comprise that one individual dedication to Allah.

Or our devotion, dedication to Allah is a combination of all these things. It still has its own distinct features of royal compliments, blessed things, and salawat, prayers, tayyibat, the beautiful things. It still has those individual components. But it is like one cohesive item. One entity that has multiple facets to it.

Positional Changes

The next difference is that the word lillah was in the middle of the first one. At-tahiyyatu lillah. Here it's at the end of it. At-tahiyyatu al-mubarakatu salawat al-tayyibatu lillah. The position of the lillah has been changed. What does the changing of the position of the lillah change?

If I say Khalid is my friend and Zayd and Amr. Khalid is my friend and Zayd and Amr. Didn't I just say Khalid, Zayd and Amr all three are my friends? But which one did I give more importance to? Khalid.

That's exactly how this works. So in the first one it's like Khalid is my friend and Zayd and Amr. At- tahiyyatu lillah. Royal compliments are for Allah and prayers and beautiful things. This one it's like if I were to say Khalid and Zayd and Amr all of them are my friends. Did I just give them all equal importance? Yes. That's what this supplication does. At-tahiyyatu al-mubarakatu salawat al-tayyibatu lillah. All of them combined.

"Salamun" vs "As-Salamun"

The next difference is this supplication says سَلَامٌ. The first one said السلام. This one says سلام. The difference is السَّلام is proper. The peace and blessings. Which means the ultimate peace and blessings. Here it's سلام. Peace and blessings of all type, of all variations. From all angles, in all situations. It creates variety.

When you make something common in classical Arabic, in Quran and prophetic supplications, it creates variety, versatility, diversity. So السَّلَامُ, the ultimate peace and blessings. سَلَامٌ peace and blessings of every type. From all angles, in all situations. May it be upon you, O Messenger.

The Missing Second "Ash-hadu"

And then the final, last difference here. The tashahhud, this one ends with

. The أَشْهَدُ is missing. Didn't we just get done talking about why the أشهدُ the second one was so important? What's missing here?

So I guess this is a lesser tashahhud, right? Don't read this one, read the other one? This one is equally as powerful. What's the point it's conveying here? When we remove the أَشْهَدُ from the middle, do we bring Allah and Muhammad closer together? We say

. Didn't we just bring these two elements closer together? Like toaster oven.

So the first one was emphasizing the equal importance in believing in Muhammad as a messenger of Allah. This emphasizes the fact that believing in Allah and believing in Muhammad as a messenger of Allah goes hand in hand. It's one cohesive thing. Both of them put together is called iman. It's kind of like making the same point. But do you see how the same point is being made in two different ways?

The Power of Using Allah's Name

And lastly it says

. What's missing from the first one? عَبْدُهُ - Didn't we just spend like 10 minutes talking about why عَبْدٌة was so important and it was such a powerful statement? What's missing in this one? So lesser tashahhud, grade B?

The benefit here if you listen. The first one said

. This one says

The first one uses a pronoun. It says his messenger. This one says the name of Allah. Allah's messenger.

Which is more powerful when speaking about someone? Use referring to them as a pronoun or saying their name? Saying the name. Who did it? He did. Who gave that to you? He did. Or saying Khalid. Khalid gave it to me or he gave it to me. Khalid shows more respect saying his name, right? So he's more respectable more impressive to speak with someone's name.

And of course what is the most powerful and the greatest and the most impressive name of all? The name of Allah. So even though this tashahhud doesn't mention that Muhammad is the slave of Allah, so you think it loses some of its power and its beauty. Instead of saying رَسُولُهُ. Instead of saying his messenger. It says رَسُولُ اللهِ Allah's messenger. It mentions the name of Allah which in and of itself is very powerful.

The Transformative Power of Understanding

This is just a brief little comparison of two of the tashahhud that we recite within the prayer. And now just obviously think. If you were to once you hear this and you understand what the tashahhud means. The next time you sit in your prayer to recite the tashahhud.

Will you be going (التَّحِيَّاتُ لِلَّهِ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَيْهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ - at-tahiyyatu lillahi was-salamu alayhi wa barakatuh)? Is that gonna happen? No. Now you're gonna say (التَّحِيَّاتُ لِلَّهِ - at-tahiyyatu lillah) and you're gonna think tahiyyat means royal compliments. I'm offering my compliments to Allah. Entering the court of the king.

(الصلوات - as-salawat) - The salah I'm praying now is for the sake of Allah. (وَالطَّيِّبَاتُ - wat-tayyibat) - All my beautiful conduct. My character. Everything is for Allah. You'll think about it. It's a thought process. And that in and of itself is what we call khushu. That is the quality. That is the focus within prayer.

Conclusion

So this is the point of studying this of learning this. And this is just a comparison of the first two. The tashahhud of Ibn Mas'ud and the tashahhud of Ibn Abbas. There are three more tashahhud that we teach within the course. And likewise you get to see all the variations and all the beauty and all the power of the different tashahhud. And overall the entire prayer study from beginning to end in the meaningful prayer course.

May Allah grant us all the ability to internalize the material. And may Allah grant us the ability to understand this and implement it in our salah. And may Allah grant us all khushu and quality within our prayers and allow us to become closer to Him by means of our prayers.