Step 13 of 14
Ending the Prayer with the Salam
To end the prayer, turn your head to the right and say "As-salamu 'alaykum wa rahmatullah", Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah, then turn to the left and say the same. Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas said he saw the Prophet ﷺ give the salam to his right and to his left until the whiteness of his cheek could be seen.
'Ali reported that the Prophet ﷺ said the key to the prayer is purification, its entry is the takbir and its exit is the salam. With the salam, what the opening takbir made unlawful becomes lawful again, and your prayer is complete.
السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ
As-salamu 'alaykum wa rahmatullah
Peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah.
The four schools differ on some details. Show them
Each school's ruling, with the schools that share it named together.
Is the closing salam a pillar?
2 of 4 schools agree. Differing: Hanafi, Hanbali.
Show each school
- Obligatory (wajib), not a pillarHanafi
- Pillar (first salam)Maliki · Shafi'i
- Pillar (both salams)Hanbali
- Hanafi
- Saying the word "al-salam" is wajib; in the well-known Hanafi account, what is obligatory is only leaving the prayer by one's own act, which the salam normally fulfils.
- Maliki
- The first salam is a pillar and must be said with the words "as-salamu 'alaykum"; the second is sunnah.
- Shafi'i
- The first salam is a pillar; the second is sunnah.
- Hanbali
- In the relied-upon view both salams are pillars in an obligatory prayer, while one suffices in a voluntary prayer.
- Sahih Muslim 582Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Jami' al-Tirmidhi 295 Graded by Ahmad Muhammad Shakir: Sahih · Al-Albani: Sahih · Bashar Awad Maarouf: Hasan Sahih · Zubair Ali Zai: SahihSahih
- Sunan Abi Dawud 61 Graded by Al-Albani: Hasan Sahih · Muhammad Muhyi Al-Din Abdul Hamid: Hasan Sahih · Zubair Ali Zai: HasanSahih
- Jami' al-Tirmidhi 3 Graded by Ahmad Muhammad Shakir: Hasan Sahih · Al-Albani: Hasan Sahih · Bashar Awad Maarouf: Hasan · Zubair Ali Zai: HasanSahih
What the hadith grades mean
- Sahih (authentic): an unbroken chain of trustworthy, precise narrators, free of hidden flaws or contradiction. It is acted upon.
- Hasan (good): like sahih, but a narrator's precision is slightly lighter. It is also accepted and acted upon. "Hasan sahih" means it reaches sahih by its routes.
- Da'if (weak): a break in the chain or a narrator who is not reliable enough. It is not used to establish beliefs or rulings.
- Very weak (munkar, matruk): a seriously flawed chain or a narrator accused of lying. It is not relied on at all.
- Mawdu' (fabricated): falsely attributed to the Prophet ﷺ. It may not be narrated as his words except to warn against it.
- The two Sahihs: every hadith with a full chain in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim is accepted as sahih by the scholars of hadith.
- Historical report: biographies and histories (Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabari) record events with chains that are often incomplete. They are used for the story, not for rulings.
- Hadith scholars grade a narration; the four madhhabs do not. Where a hadith carries a ruling, the page shows which schools act on it.
The positions of the four schools are summarised from their standard references and are pending review by a qualified scholar. Follow the school you were taught, and for your own situation, ask a scholar.
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