Sitting
Tashahhud
The greeting the Prophet ﷺ taught word for word, like teaching a surah.
التَّحِيَّاتُ لِلَّهِ وَالصَّلَوَاتُ وَالطَّيِّبَاتُ، السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكَ أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ، السَّلَامُ عَلَيْنَا وَعَلَى عِبَادِ اللهِ الصَّالِحِينَ، أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ
At-taḥiyyātu lillāhi waṣ-ṣalawātu waṭ-ṭayyibāt. As-salāmu ʿalayka ayyuhan-Nabiyyu wa raḥmatullāhi wa barakātuh. As-salāmu ʿalaynā wa ʿalā ʿibādillāhiṣ-ṣāliḥīn. Ash-hadu an lā ilāha illa-llāh, wa ash-hadu anna Muḥammadan ʿabduhu wa rasūluh.
All greetings of honour belong to Allah, and all prayers, and all good things. Peace be upon you, 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 god but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His Messenger.
Why it is said here
Ibn Masʿūd رضي الله عنه said the Prophet ﷺ taught them the tashahhud the way he taught them a surah of the Qur'an — hand in hand, word by word. Read the order: greetings to Allah first, then peace on the Prophet ﷺ, then peace on ourselves and every righteous servant, then the testimony. And notice that he is called 'His servant' before 'His Messenger', so that love for him never turns into worship of him.
at-taḥiyyātroot ح ي ي
التَّحِيَّاتُ
every greeting of honour and reverence
aṭ-ṭayyibātroot ط ي ب
الطَّيِّبَاتُ
all that is pure and good
as-salāmroot س ل م
السَّلَامُ
peace, safety from harm
barakātuhroot ب ر ك
بَرَكَاتُهُ
His blessings, good that keeps growing
ash-haduroot ش ه د
أَشْهَدُ
I bear witness, I testify to what I have seen to be true
ʿabduhuroot ع ب د
عَبْدُهُ
His servant — said before 'His Messenger'
The final tashahhud, and sitting for it, is required. The first tashahhud is a lesser obligation, made up by the forgetfulness prostration if missed.
Where the schools differ: The Ḥanafīs and Ḥanbalīs treat the final tashahhud as required (wājib/rukn) with slightly different consequences for leaving it; the Shāfiʿīs and Ḥanbalīs make it a pillar. Several authentic wordings exist — Ibn Masʿūd's, Ibn ʿAbbās's and Abū Mūsā's — and any of them may be used.
al-Bukhārī 831; Muslim 402 (ṣaḥīḥ)
Every statement of context, tafsīr and takeaway on this page traces back to one of these. Āyah references open here in AyaSeerah with the canonical text, translation and abridged tafsīr; ḥadīth numbers open on sunnah.com. Nothing here has to be taken on trust.