@abd7861: Are you sure you read that in The Majlis? The reason I'm asking is because I know Maulana A.S. Desai very well, and have performed Salaah next to him many times; yet I have never seen him keep his index finger raised throughout the Tashahhud. He raises it when saying "Ash-hadu al-Laa ilaaha illallaah", and lowers it when saying "wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan `Abduhu wa Rasooluh". He keeps his middle, ring and small finger in a circle, keeps his thumb on his middle finger, and his index finger stretched out on his lap. (Not pointing upwards, as is done in the Shaafi`ee Madh-hab.) That's why I doubt whether Maulana wrote it in The Majlis, because he wouldn't write one thing and then act contrary to it. Maulana A.S. Desai is a very sincere `Aalim; whatever he tells other people to do he does himself. For example, he regards all carbonated drinks (Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Fanta, Sprite, Schweppes, etc) to be Haraam (We may not agree with this Fatwaa of Maulana, but he has come to this conclusion through his research, Allahu `Alam.) , and he himself will never drink of it. Also, I had the opportunity of meeting and performing Salaah next to some other very great `Ulama, one of them being Hazrat Hajji Ibrahim Nakhuda (a very old man now), who is one of the Mureedeen of Hazrat Shaykh-ul-Hadeeth Maulana Zakariyyah Saheb. His manner in the Tashahhud was the same as the one I described above, and the same goes for the other `Ulama. Allahu `Alam.