If I Recited My Tashahhud Supplication Incorrectly Is My Prayer Valid?

Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question

If I recited my tashahhud supplication incorrectly is my prayer valid?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

Reciting the Tashahhud Supplication

Reciting the tashahhud supplication is necessary in every sitting of the prayer. [Shurunbulali, Maraqi al -Falah]

It is as follows:

التَّحِيَّاتُ لِلَّهِ وَالصَّلَوَاتُ وَالطَّيِّبَاتُ السَّلَامُ عَلَيْك أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ السَّلَامُ عَلَيْنَا وَعَلَى عِبَادِ اللَّهِ الصَّالِحِينَ أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إلَهَ إلَّا اللَّهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَ رَسُولُهُ

Note that there are other narrations to this supplication and although the above is the best and most authentic, the others are valid.

Another Well-known Narrations

التَّحِيَّاتُ الْمُبَارَكَاتُ الصَّلَوَاتُ الطَّيِّبَاتُ لِلَّهِ السَّلَامُ عَلَيْك أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ السَّلَامُ عَلَيْنَا وَعَلَى عِبَادِ اللَّهِ الصَّالِحِينَ أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إلَه إلَّا اللَّهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ

Thus, if by ‘wrong’ you mean that you have recited a different narration, then your prayers are valid. [Ibn ‘Abidin, Minha al-Khaliq citing from al-Ramli]

Mistakes in the Tashahhud Supplication

If however you mean by ‘wrong’ incorrect pronunciation of the letters or vowels or a change in the letters or words – the prayer is valid. 

This is because many scholars have excused mistakes in recitation due to the inability of most in discerning between the exit points of the letters. [Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar] Reason dictates that this reasoning would likewise apply to the tashahhud supplication. 

Despite the validity of your previous prayers it remains obligatory for you to take the means to learn its proper recitation. Consider seeking classes at a local Mosque. 

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 completed four years at the Darul Uloom seminary in New York, where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences. He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he stayed for three years studying in Dar Al-Mustafa under some of the greatest scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib. In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Qur’an and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Qur’anic exegesis, Islamic history, and several texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.