Answered by Shaykh Abu Usamah
What is the ruling of the use of the index finger while making tashahud during prayer. Some books I have read say that we should move the finger up and down, although I’ve always been taught to raise it once. Could you provide me with the daleel as I have continually been questioned about the way I pray. Please shed some light. >
Al-Salam `alaykum
The finger should be raised once and then lowered. It should be raised when the person reaches the words of shahada in his Tashahhud i.e. he should raise it when saying la ilaha and lower it when saying illallahu.
I can ‘provide you with the daleel’ (see below) but I would not advise entering into debates with the kind of people you are encountered with. The evidences on both sides are many and it takes a qualified scholar of an extremely high calibre to weigh them and pass a ruling.
Just remember: The rulings of the Shari`ah cannot be derived by just considering one hadith and ignoring all others.
Hadrat Abdullah ibn Zubayr r.a. narrates that the Prophet would point with his finger when he prayed and would not move it. (Abu Dawud, Nasa’i, Abu Awana, Bayhaqi – Imam Nawawi declared the hadith sahih in al-Majmu` 3.454)
[Taken from the Salah of a Believer p173]
Abu Usamah