Tashahhud


The Tashahhud, also known as at-Tahiyyat, is the portion of the Muslim prayer where the person kneels or sits on the ground facing the qibla, glorifies God, and greets the messenger and the righteous people of God followed by the two testimonials. The recitation is followed by an invocation of the blessings and peace upon the prophet known as Salawat.

Origins

There is a Hadith, thought to be authentic that states:

Sunni tradition

Hanafi and Hanbali

from both the Hanafi and the Hanbali schools of thought and the minority Ibadi sect recite the Tashahhud as:
This translates as:
"Salutations to God and prayers and good deeds. Peace be upon you, O Prophet, and the mercy of God and his blessings. Peace be on us and on the righteous servants of God. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His messenger."

Maliki

A variant attributed to Umar preferred by the Maliki school is:
This translates as:
"Blessed salutations, pure actions, good words and prayers to God. Peace be upon you, O Prophet, and the mercy of God and His blessings. Peace be on us and on the righteous servants of God. I bear witness that there is no god other than Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and messenger."

Shafi'i

Another variant, attributed Ibn Abbas, preferred by Sunni Muslims belonging to Shafi'i school of thought, is:
This translates as:
"Blessed salutations, prayers, good deeds to God. Peace be upon you, O Prophet, and the mercy of God and His blessings. Peace be on us and on the righteous servants of God. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His messenger."

Shia tradition

Jafari

The Twelver Shias of the Ja'fari school recite the Tashahhud as:
An alternative version:
The Tashahhud is followed by the Taslim, also known as the Salam.
The bare minimum is to say
"as-salamu ʿalaykum".
It is highly recommended, though, to add "wa-raḥmatu -llāhi wa-barakātuh" .
It is highly recommended, though, to recite

Zaidi

For the Zaidi, the middle Tashahhud after the second rakʿah is recited as:
After the last rakʿah, the Zaidi recite the Tashahhud in its full formula:

Quranism

The minority Quranist sect reject the practice of Tashahhud as an innovation.