Moving the Finger in Tashahhud
The Question
Can any one give me a proof for not moving the finger in the tashahhud but just to hold it? I have found the proof for moving the finger in Sheikh Albani's "The Prothet's Prayer (sal'allahu alayhi wassalam ) described from the beginning to the end as though you see it." However,Sheikh Albani points out that Abu Dawood's hadeeth about holding the finger still is weak!!! Can anyone comment on this?
The Answer
The very Hadith that mentions moving the finger has the proof. This is because this Hadith was narrated from different ways, and only one way mentioned moving the finger. The other ways mentioned pointing with the finger, but no mention of movement. The hadith I'm referring to is the hadith of Wa'il ibn Hujr which you may find in Musnad of Imam Ahmad. The chain that mentions moving the finger is: Abdus-Samad from Zaa'idah from Aasim bin Kulaib from his father from Wa'il ibn Hujr. But other chains such as from Yunus from Abdul-Wahid from Aasim ibn Kulaib from his father from Wa'il ibn Hujr does not mention the movement. And there is a debate among the scholars of hadith about what to do in this case. Do we accept the extra information that one trustworthy narrator brings? Or do we take the narration of the majority of the narrators who agreed on leaving out that extra bit of information? The scholars who take the former opinion say that you move your finger since Zaa'idah is a trustworthy narrator and his addition should be accepted. The scholars who take the latter opinions say that you don't move your finger because Zaa'idah differed from the majority of the narrators of his level. Anyway, this matter is from the Sunnahs of the prayer, so it shouldn't be too drastic if you choose one way or the other. One thing to note however that if someone wants to move their finger during Tashahhud, they shouldn't move it all the way up and then all the way down. Rather, they should point it to the Qiblah and move it a bit up and a bit down.