"The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to teach us the tashahhud just as he used to teach us a surah from the Quran."
Hadith Text & Reference
"The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to teach us the tashahhud just as he used to teach us a surah from the Quran."
Source: Sunan an-Nasa'i 1278 | The Book of Forgetfulness (In Prayer)
Significance of Teaching Method
The Prophet's comparison of teaching tashahhud to teaching Quranic chapters indicates its fundamental importance in prayer. Just as Quranic recitation requires precise wording revealed by Allah, the tashahhud's formulation carries divine sanction and must be preserved accurately.
This teaching methodology emphasizes repetition, careful articulation, and systematic instruction - the same approach used for transmitting divine revelation, elevating the tashahhud's status above ordinary supplications.
Legal Implications
Scholars derive from this hadith that the tashahhud wording is tawqifi (determined by divine instruction) rather than being left to personal choice. The mandatory nature of learning it precisely reflects its fixed position in prayer structure.
This establishes that forgetting the tashahhud requires correction just as forgetting Quranic recitation does, with prostrations of forgetfulness (sujud al-sahw) being prescribed for such omissions.
Spiritual Dimensions
The tashahhud contains testimony of faith (shahadah), blessings upon the Prophet, and supplications - encapsulating core Islamic beliefs. Its placement between prayer cycles symbolizes the believer's journey from worldly engagement to divine presence.
By giving it Quranic-level importance, the Prophet highlighted how prayer combines divine words (Quran) with divinely-taught human expressions (tashahhud) in perfect worship harmony.