Daf al-Tashni fi Masalat al-Tasmi
- Author died
- 911 AH
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- Maktabat Dār al-‘Urūbah
Daf al-Tashni‘ fi Mas’alat al-Tasmi‘ (Repelling Denunciation Regarding the Issue of Saying “Sami‘a Allahu Liman Hamidah”) is a short legal treatise by the Egyptian Shafi‘i polymath al-Jalal al-Suyuti (849–911 AH / 1445–1505 CE) examining the legal rulings surrounding the invocations uttered when rising from the bowing posture (ruku‘) in prayer .
Overview and Subject Matter
The work is a concise epistle consisting of a single folio that al-Suyuti also incorporated in its entirety into his collection of legal responsa, al-Hawi lil-Fatawi . The treatise addresses the question of whether a worshipper should combine both the tasmi‘ (saying سَمِعَ اللَّهُ لِمَنْ حَمِدَهُ , "May Allah hear whoever praises Him") while rising from bowing and the tahmid (saying رَبَّنَا لَكَ الْحَمْدُ , "Our Lord, to You belongs praise") upon standing upright, specifically examining whether this combination applies equally to the prayer leader (al-imam), the follower (al-ma’mum), and the individual praying alone (al-munfarid) .
Juridical Positions and Arguments
al-Suyuti details the Shafi‘i position and compares it with the stances of other early authorities and schools of jurisprudence:
- The Shafi‘i position: It is recommended (mustahabb) for every worshipper—whether leading, following, or praying alone—to combine both invocations, uttering the tasmi‘ while rising from bowing and the tahmid after standing fully upright . al-Suyuti notes that this view was also held by Ata ibn Abi Rabah, Abu Burda, Muhammad ibn Sirin, Ishaq ibn Rahwayh, and Dawud al-Zahiri .
- The Hanafi position: Abu Hanifa held that the imam and the individual praying alone recite only the tasmi‘, while the follower recites only the tahmid . This position was related by Ibn al-Mundhir from Abdullah ibn Masud, Abu Hurayra, al-Shabi, Malik ibn Anas, and Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and adopted by Ibn al-Mundhir himself .
- The view of al-Thawri and others: Sufyan al-Thawri, al-Awzai, Abu Yusuf, Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Shaybani, and Ahmad held that the imam combines both invocations, whereas the follower recites only the tahmid .
al-Suyuti addresses the textual evidence used by opposing scholars, who relied on the hadiths of Abu Hurayra and Aisha recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim, in which the Prophet ﷺ stated: إِنَّمَا جُعِلَ الْإِمَامُ لِيُؤْتَمَّ بِهِ... وَإِذَا قَالَ: سَمِعَ اللَّهُ لِمَنْ حَمِدَهُ فَقُولُوا: رَبَّنَا لَكَ الْحَمْدُ ("The imam is appointed only to be followed... and when he says: 'May Allah hear whoever praises Him', say: 'Our Lord, to You belongs praise'") . al-Suyuti demonstrates the avenues of reasoning (masalik) employed by Shafi‘i scholars to show that these narrations do not negate the follower's utterance of the tasmi‘, but rather instruct on adding the tahmid .
Preservation and Publication
Manuscript copies of the treatise are preserved in collections such as the Institute of Arabic Manuscripts in Kuwait . In addition to being circulated as an independent work published in Cairo (1353 AH / 1934 CE) and Kuwait (1407 AH / 1987 CE), it is widely accessed through its inclusion within the printed editions of al-Suyuti's al-Hawi lil-Fatawi .
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