Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Brother Burhan Asslam o Alakum,

I have question regarding Salam When finishing Salah Prayer. I have seen a person who is only doing salam on one`s which was on right side. He belongs to Maliki school of thought. Many people objected that and refuse to pray behind him. According to Hanfi school of thoughts Salam is on both sides.

And there argument is that Hazrat Umar did salam on both sides that why it right. Can please shed some light on this.

Allah Hafiz

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Answer:

Tasleems on both sides or one after prayer

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Fiqh-us-Sunnah Fiqh 1.126

Ref: The obligatory acts of prayer, The ‘Tasleem’ at the Prayer's End

Saying the ‘tasleem’ at the end of the prayer is an obligatory act of prayer. Ali (r.a.) related that the Prophet (saws) said, "The key to prayer is purity. One enters into its inviolable state by the ‘takbir’ and leaves it by the salaam’."

Related by Ahmad, ash-Shaf i, Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah and at-Tirmidhi.

Amr ibn Sa'd related that his father said, "I saw the Prophet (saws) making the salaam on his right side and on his left side until I could see the whiteness of his cheeks."

Related by Ahmad, Muslim, anNasa'i and Ibn Majah.

Reported Wa'il ibn Hajr, "I prayed with the Messenger of Allah (saws). He would make the salaam on his right side by saying, 'Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah."

Related by Abu Dawood.

It is obligatory to say one salaam, and it is preferred to say two. Ibn al-Mundhir comments that all scholars agree that making only one salaam is permissible. Ibn Qudamah writes in al-Mughni, "There is no clear text from Ahmad that states that two salaams are obligatory. He only said, 'Two salaams are the most authentic act from the Messenger of Allah.' It is permissible to say that this is the regualtion, although it is not obligatory, and others have the same opinion. This is also pointed out in another of his statements where the Prophet (saws) said, 'Two salaams are more loved by me. But 'Aishah, Salamah ibn al-Aku' and Sahl ibn Sa'd narrated that the Prophet (saws) made only one salaam." We can reconciliate these differences by stating that it is Sunnah to say two salaams, but it is obligatory to say one. This is the consensus of the scholars and jurists.

Says an-Nawawi, "It is the opinion of ash-Shaifi and most of the early and later scholars that it is a preferred Sunnah to say two salaams." Imam Malik and a group of scholars say that there is evidence in the Sunnah that the Messenger of Allah (saws) at times performed only one salaam to the right to end his prayers, and thus it would be deemed permissible.

The prayer is one rite of worship which the Messenger of Allah (saws) performed literally thousands of times in public, and tens of thousands of companions of the Prophet (saws) were witness to his prayers.

All the scholars and jurists in Islam are unanimous in their opinion that to perform one ‘salaam’ to the right at the end of the prayer is obligatory; and to perform the ‘salaams’ on both sides is a preferred Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws).

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan