Repeating the Tashahud During Prayer‏

Answered by Ustadh Tabraze Azam
Question: Assalamu Alaikum,
Please advise me on the best way to help someone that is suffering from misgivings during the prayer that cause them to repeat the tashahhud, sometimes several times. His fear is that the prayer is invalid if the recitation of the tashahhud is not correct. After the completion of the prayer, he is then overcome with feelings of frustration at the fact that he has repeated the tashahhud, and feel as though he should repeat the prayer. Please help.
Answer: Wa alaikum assalam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh,
I pray that you are in the best of health and faith, insha’Allah.
Recite the tashahud once. Ignore all misgivings.
Your prayer is not invalidated by mistakes in the tashahud. Learn to recite it soundly, ideally with a teacher, and then recite it once during the prayer. Ask Allah to remove the whisperings, and to fill your heart with true remembrance.
Please also see: Do Grammatical and Pronunciation Mistakes While Reciting the Qur’an Invalidate Your Prayer? and: A Reader on Waswasa (Baseless Misgivings)
And Allah alone gives success.
wassalam,
Tabraze Azam
Checked & Approved by Faraz Rabbani