Final Tashahhud Supplications: A Comparative Analysis of Hanafi View and Authentic Hadiths

Understanding the Final Tashahhud Supplications: A Guide to Authentic Supplications in Salah

Final Tashahhud Supplications and the Hanafi View

I learned through people that according to the Hanafi tradition, in the final sitting (Tashahhud) of Salah, the following Quranic verse is recited as a supplication:  

    رَبِّ اجْعَلْنِي مُقِيمَ الصَّلَاةِ وَمِنْ ذُرِّيَّتِي رَبَّنَا وَتَقَبَّلْ دُعَاءِ رَبَّنَا اغْفِرْ لِي وَلِوَالِدَيَّ وَلِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ يَوْمَ يَقُومُ الْحِسَابِ. (Surah Ibrahim: 40-41) 

I searched extensively to find any hadith that prescribes reciting this verse in the final sitting, but I could not find one. However, in the Hanafi jurisprudential book “Fatawa Hindiyyah,” which cites another Hanafi book “Tatar Khaniyyah,” the following is mentioned:  

 “It is recommended for the praying person to say after the remembrance of Salah in the final part of prayer: رَبِّ اجْعَلْنِي مُقِيمَ الصَّلَاةِ وَمِنْ ذُرِّيَّتِي رَبَّنَا وَتَقَبَّلْ دُعَاءِ رَبَّنَا اغْفِرْ لِي وَلِوَالِدَيَّ وَلِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ يَوْمَ يَقُومُ الْحِسَابِ just as mentioned in Tatar Khaniyyah quoting Al-Hujjah.” (Fatawa Hindiyyah: 1/76)  

Based on this juristic opinion, the Hanafi tradition teaches its followers to recite the above Quranic supplication in the final Tashahhud.  

What Supplications Are Established in the Final Tashahhud According to the Prophet (ﷺ) and His Companions?

Before exploring this, it is important to note that after the Tashahhud, one must recite the Tahiyyat followed by the Ibrahimic prayer (Durood-e-Ibrahim). After that, various supplications are established through authentic hadiths.  

1. Supplication Taught to Abu Bakr (RA):

   Abu Bakr (RA) said to the Prophet (ﷺ):  

    “Teach me a supplication to recite in my prayer.” 

   The Prophet (ﷺ) replied:  

    “اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي ظَلَمْتُ نَفْسِي ظُلْمًا كَثِيرًا، وَلَا يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ إِلَّا أَنْتَ، فَاغْفِرْ لِي مَغْفِرَةً مِنْ عِنْدِكَ، وَارْحَمْنِي، إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ.”

   (O Allah! I have done great injustice to myself and none except You forgives sins, so bestow on me a forgiveness from You, and Have Mercy on me, You are the Forgiver, the Merciful.)  

   (Sahih al-Bukhari: 834)  

2. Supplication to Seek Protection From Four Things: 

   Abu Hurairah (RA) narrated that the Prophet (ﷺ) said:  

    “When any of you recites the Tashahhud, let him seek refuge in Allah from four things. He should say:  

    اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ عَذَابِ جَهَنَّمَ وَمِنْ عَذَابِ الْقَبْرِ وَمِنْ فِتْنَةِ الْمَحْيَا وَالْمَمَاتِ وَمِنْ شَرِّ فِتْنَةِ الْمَسِيحِ الدَّجَّالِ.’

   (O Allah! I seek refuge with Thee from the torment of the Hell, from the torment of the grave, from the trial of life and death and from the evil of the trial of Masih al-Dajjal” (Antichrist).)  

   (Sahih Muslim: 588)  

3. Comprehensive Supplication Between Tashahhud and Salam:

   It is reported that the Prophet (ﷺ), before saying the Salam, used to recite:  

    اللَّهُمَّ اغْفِرْ لِي مَا قَدَّمْتُ وَمَا أَخَّرْتُ، وَمَا أَسْرَرْتُ وَمَا أَعْلَنْتُ، وَمَا أَسْرَفْتُ، وَمَا أَنْتَ أَعْلَمُ بِهِ مِنِّي. أَنْتَ الْمُقَدِّمُ وَأَنْتَ الْمُؤَخِّرُ. لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا أَنْتَ.

   (O Allah, forgive me what I have sent before me and what I have left behind me, what I have concealed and what I have done openly, what I have done in excess, and what You are better aware of than I. You are the One Who sends forth and You are the One Who delays. There is none worthy of worship but You.)  

   (Sahih Muslim: 771)

Conclusion 

Based on these hadiths, it is clear that the Prophet (ﷺ) used to seek refuge from four things in the final Tashahhud and instructed his companions to do the same. Therefore, after reciting the Tahiyyat and Durood, we should recite:  

اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ عَذَابِ جَهَنَّمَ وَمِنْ عَذَابِ الْقَبْرِ وَمِنْ فِتْنَةِ الْمَحْيَا وَالْمَمَاتِ وَمِنْ شَرِّ فِتْنَةِ الْمَسِيحِ الدَّجَّالِ.  

(O Allah, I seek refuge in You from the punishment of Hellfire, the punishment of the grave, the trials of life and death, and the evil of the trial of the Antichrist.)

Afterward, one can also recite other supplications mentioned above. Even reciting just one of these supplications suffices. Additionally, the hadiths also allow for other supplications after these, as seen in the narration from Sunan an-Nasa’i:  

 “After seeking refuge from the four things, one may supplicate for whatever they wish for themselves.” (Sunan an-Nasa’i: 1309)

While the Quranic supplicationرَبِّ اجْعَلْنِي مُقِيمَ الصَّلَاةِ… is permissible, the Hanafis’ restriction to only this supplication in the final Tashahhud contradicts the example set by the Prophet (ﷺ).  

And Allah knows best.