Does a Mistake in the Closing Salam Invalidate the Prayer? – Ustadh Sufyan Qufi

Answered by Ustadh Sufyan Qufi

Question

What is the ruling in case the imam ends his prayer with saying ‘As-salaatu alaikoem wa rahmatullah’ by mistake as his first ‘salam’, but did give proper salam for this second ‘salam’? Afterwards he did not do sajda sahw.

Is the salah of the imam valid or should he repeat?

And is the salah of the followers valid, assuming they ended their prayers by giving proper salaams?

Answer

I pray this finds you in the best of states.

Validity of the Prayer

Yes, the prayer of the Imam and the followers is valid. [Shurunbulali, Nur al Idah]

This ruling is because all the internal obligatory elements (such as reciting the Qur’an and prostrating) and conditions of the prayer (such as being in a state of ritual purity) have been performed. Uttering the closing salam properly is not from the obligatory elements of the prayer. [Ibid]   

Saying the word “al-Salam” at the end of the prayer is necessary (wajib). This means that it is not obligatory (fard) and that the validity of the prayer is not dependent on it. [Ibid]   

The proof for this is that the Messenger of Allah (Blessings and Peace upon him) has not taught this aspect of the prayer when teaching to a bedouin. [Bukhari]   

Prostrations of Forgetfulness

But, because of this mistake regarding a necessary (wajib) component of the prayer, the prostrations of forgetfulness should have been performed afterward. [Ibid]   

As soon as an action foreign to the prayer (such as worldly talk) has been performed by the Imam, the duty of performing the prostrations of forgetfulness was lifted. Nonetheless, this Imam is sinful for not having performed them.

But if the prayer was a Friday prayer or a ‘Id prayer, then the Imam was right in not performing the prostrations of forgetfulness as this could lead to confusion due to the size of the congregations on those occasions. [Shurunbulali, Maraqi al-Falah]   

Repeating the prayer

It was necessary (wajib) to repeat this prayer for the Imam before the exiting of its time. [Shurunbulali, Maraqi al-Falah]

It remains recommended (mustahab) to repeat this prayer after the exiting of its time. [Tahtawi, Hashya ‘ala Maraqi al-Falah]  

And Allah knows best.

[Ustadh] Sufyan Qufi
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat

Ustadh Sufyan Qufi is an advanced seeker of knowledge, originally from Algeria, who grew up in France. He began searching far and wide for answers to the fundamental questions of life and was disappointed at the answers he found.

Then he connected with various traditional teachers and gradually connected with SeekersGuidance. He embarked on his journey of learning through the various teachers at SeekersGuidance, including his mentor Shaykh Faraz Rabbani.

He studied numerous texts in Islamic Law, Theology, Hadith, and other areas with Shaykh Faraz Rabbani and other teachers, including Shaykh Abdurrahman al-Sha‘ar, Shaykh Ali Hani, and others.

He is an active instructor at SeekersGuidance and answers questions through the SeekersGuidance Answers Service.