What is the Proper Way to Say the Taslim When Exiting the Prayer?

Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch 

Question Summary

What is the proper way to say the taslim when exiting the prayer?

Question Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

Saying As-Salam, ‘Alaikum wa Rahmatullah is an emphasized sunna of the prayer. The ‘wa rahmatullah’ must be said to achieve the full sunna. [Tahtawi/Shurunbulali, Hashiyat Maraqi al-Falah]

In addition to this, it is an emphasized sunna to say the above formula twice, and another emphasized sunna to turn the head to the right when saying the first and to the left when saying the second.

That said, the necessary (wajib) amount is to merely say ‘as-salaam’ one time. This is due to the following narration from the Messenger of Allah.

He (may Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “The key to prayer is purification, its commencement is by saying takbir (Allahu Akbar), and its conclusion is by saying taslim (i.e., saying salam).” [Abu Dawud]

The word taslim mentioned in the above narration literally means to say as-salam; however, from the practice of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and give him peace), we find he said the full formula (as-salam alaikum wa rahmatullah). For this reason, the minimum that is necessary is as-salam, and the emphasized sunna is as-salam alaikum wa rahmatullah [Tahtawi/Shurunbulali, Hashiyat Maraqi al-Falah]

It must be noted that, even though saying ‘as-salaam’ once is sufficient for a valid prayer, it is prohibitively disliked to make a habit of leaving out the emphasized sunna without a valid excuse. [Ibid.]

Hope this helps
Allah knows best
[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch

Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

 

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch is a teacher of Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he then completed four years at the Darul Uloom seminary in New York, where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences. He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he stayed for three years studying in Dar Al-Mustafa under some of the greatest scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib. In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Quran and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Quranic exegesis, Islamic history, and a number of texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.