Is Sending Blessings on the Prophet After the First Tashahhud Required in Prayer?

Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question

Is sending blessings on the Prophet after the first tashahhud required in prayer, and is it problematic to leave it out?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.

Sending blessings on the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), despite its immense virtue, is not performed after the Tashahhud supplication in the first sitting. Doing so unintentionally necessitates prostrations of forgetfulness. [Maydani, al-Lubab fi Sharh al-Kitab]

This is because after the first Tashahhud supplication, one must stand up directly to the third rak‘a, and remaining in the sitting position to send blessings upon the Prophet is a delay of the next integral. [Ibid.]

This is according to the Hanafi School. As for the Shafi‘i School, sending blessings on the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) is an emphasized Sunna in the first sitting and an obligation in the final sitting. [Abu Shuja‘, Matn Abi Shuja‘]

Hope this helps
Allah knows best
[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch is a teacher of Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he went on to study at Darul Uloom Seminary in New York and completed his studies at Darul Mustafa in Tarim, Yemen.

There, he completed the memorization of the Quran and his study of Islamic Sciences. Throughout his years of study, he was blessed to learn from many great scholars: Habib Umar bin Hafiz, Habib Kazhim al-Saqqaf, Shaykh ‘Umar bin Husayn al-Khatib, and others.

Upon returning, he joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.