Turn only to Allah -- Shirk in Tashahhud??

Alhamdolillah, here is a great excerpt of a lecture by Shaykh Bilal Philips. In it he not only explains the general concept of turning only to Allah subhanahu wata ala for help or salvation, but he also sheds light on an important part of salat.

All Muslims make tashahhud during salat in which they praise Allah subhanahu wata ala and wish salam upon His messenger, Muhammad, sull Allahi alayhi wa sallam.

All over the world Muslims either recite the tashahhud exactly as it was taught by the Prophet, sull Allahi alayhi wa sallam. Or, they recite it today as it was recited by the sahaba after the death of the Prophet, sull Allahi alayhi wa sallam. After his death, the sahaba, and there are apparently multiple narrations on this point, changed the wording of the tashahhud so that it did not address the Prophet sull Allahi alayhi wa sallam as though he were still alive.

Alhamdolillah, I would not be worried that all of your salat may have been invalidated just by how you recite the tashahhud: clearly the scholars are not unanimously decided on how this part of salat should be taught or recited.

I prefer to focus on this lesson: no Muslims on the face of the planet have had a better grasp of how to practice Islam than those who got their information straight from the Messenger of Allah, subhanahu wata ala. And here we see an excellent example of their wisdom, a reminder of Muhammad sull Allahi alayhi wa sallam's humanity and mortality.

And a reminder that only Allah subhanahu wata ala is Ever-Living and Eternal.