Prayer is the foundation of faith, and the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) has taught us how to pray and what supplications to say in the prayer. He has taught us what is to be said and when, including the tashahhud following the first two rak‘ahs and the final tashahhud of every prayer. In this hadith, ‘Abdullah ibn Mas‘ud (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that in their prayer, in the tashahhud, they used to say, “Peace be upon Allah (al-salaamu ‘ala Allah),” as is clearly stated in another report in al-Sahihayn. Then they would say, “Peace be upon Jibril and Mika’il, and peace be upon So-and-so and So-and-so,” mentioning the names of other angels. When the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) heard them, he turned to face them and said to them: Indeed Allah is al-Salaam – meaning that it is not right to say Peace be upon Allah. He objected to them saying that, and taught them that what they were saying was the opposite of what should be said, for all well-being (salamah) and mercy belongs to Him and comes from Him, for He is the owner and giver thereof. And it was said that he instructed them to direct their salutation of salaam to people, because people are in need of well-being, whereas Allah (may He be glorified and exalted) does not need that. Al-Salaam is one of the names of Allah (may He be exalted), which is indicative of His being free of (salamah) all shortcomings and defects. Then the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) taught them what they should say in the tashahhud. “Al-tahhiyatuLillah (all compliments are due to Allah) – this refers to salutations, or to being free of defects and shortcomings. It was also said that it refers to sovereignty, everlastingness or greatness. It was also said that what is meant by compliments is all types of glory and greatness. What is meant is that all of this belongs to Allah (may He be exalted) by right. “Al-salawat (prayers)” – it was said that what is meant here is the five daily prayers, or all acts of worship, or supplications, or mercy. And it was said that tahiyyat (translated here as compliments) refers to verbal acts of worship and salawat (translated here as prayers) refers to physical acts of worship, and tayyibat (translated here as pure words) refers to financial acts of worship. With regard to the word “wa’l-tayyibat (translated here as ‘and pure words’)”, this refers to a good word, or it refers specifically to the remembrance of Allah (dhikr). It was also said that it refers to righteous deeds in general. “Al-salaamu ‘alaykaayyuha’l-Nabiyyuwarahmatullahiwabarakatuhu” – salaam here is meant in the sense of greeting; what is meant is that we direct to you greetings and salutations. And it was said that what is meant is well-being and safety, in which case the meaning is: May you be safe from any harm. And it was said that it refers to the name of Allah al-Salaam, in which case the meaning is: May you be blessed by virtue of the divine name al-Salaam. Barakah (blessing) is an increase in goodness. “Al-salaamu ‘alayna (peace be upon us)” is addressed to ourselves; “wa ‘ala ‘ibadillahi’l-salihin (and upon the righteous slaves of Allah)” refers to those who obey the commands of Allah and carry out their duties towards Him and towards His slaves. Thus the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) taught them to refer to him separately, because of his honourable status and the great rights that he has over them, then he taught them to mention themselves in particular, because it is more appropriate to be more concerned about themselves. Then he instructed them to send greetings and salutations to all of the righteous, indicating that supplication for the believers should include all of them. Then he told them that when they say “Al-salaamu ‘alaynawa ‘ala ‘ibadillah’i-salihin (Peace be upon us and upon the righteous slaves of Allah),”the benefit of this salaam will reach every righteous slave on earth or in heaven. This includes the angels, the jinn and humans. “Ashhaduan la ilahailla Allah (I bear witness that there is no god worthy of worship except Allah)” – a report narrated by Abu Dawud from Ibn ‘Umar adds the words “wahdahu la sharikalah (alone, with no partner or associate).” This is testifying to the oneness of Allah (may He be glorified), and there is none that is deserving of worship except Him. The words “waashhaduannaMuhammadan ‘abduhuwarasuluhu (and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger)” are an affirmation that Muhammad ibn ‘Abdillah is a Messenger from Allah to all people, and that he is the last of the Messengers whom all people are required to obey and follow..