Source: Fatāwā Āman Pūrī by Shaykh Ghulām Muṣṭafā Ẓahīr Āman Pūrī
Question
In the funeral prayer (ṣalāt al-janāzah), should salām be given only to one side, or to both sides?
Answer
From the Prophet ﷺ, it is authentically established that he ended the funeral prayer with only one salām.
Evidence for One Salām
❀ Abū Hurayrah (رضي الله عنه) said:
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ led the funeral prayer over a deceased person, said four takbīrs, and then gave only one salām.”
(Sunan al-Dāraquṭnī 2/171, ḥadīth 1799; al-Mustadrak by al-Ḥākim 1/360; al-Sunan al-Kubrā by al-Bayhaqī 4/43 – chain ḥasan)
❀ Ibn ʿUmar (رضي الله عنهما):
“When he prayed a funeral prayer, he would raise his hands at every takbīr, and when he finished, he would give a single salām to his right.”
(Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah 3/307 – authentic chain)
❀ ʿAmr ibn Muhājir (رحمه الله):
“I saw Wāthilah ibn al-Asqaʿ (رضي الله عنه) say four takbīrs over the plague-dead and then give only one salām.”
(Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah 3/207 – authentic chain)
Similar reports exist from Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, Muḥammad ibn Sīrīn, al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī, and Makḥūl (رحمهم الله), all affirming one salām.
❀ Imām ʿAbdullāh ibn al-Mubārak (رحمه الله) said:
“Whoever gives two salāms in the funeral prayer is ignorant, ignorant.”
(Masāʾil Aḥmad by Abū Dāwūd p.154 – authentic chain)
❀ Abū al-Faḍl Ṣāliḥ ibn Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal (رحمه الله) said about his father Imām Aḥmad (رحمه الله):
“He would say four takbīrs over the funeral, raise his hands with each, recite al-Fātiḥah after the first, and then end with a single salām.”
(Sīrat al-Imām Aḥmad by Abū al-Faḍl Ṣāliḥ, p.40)
Examination of Reports for Two Salāms
Some weak narrations mention two salāms, but none are authentic:
- Report from Ibn Abī Awfā (رضي الله عنه) – weak due to Ibrāhīm ibn Muslim al-Hijrī.
- Report from Ibn Masʿūd (رضي الله عنه) – weak due to tadlīs of Ibrāhīm al-Nakhaʿī.
- Report from Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī (رضي الله عنه) – weak because of Khalid ibn Nāfiʿ al-Ashʿarī.
Although Ibrāhīm al-Nakhaʿī (رحمه الله) himself sometimes gave two salāms, his practice contradicts the stronger evidence from the Prophet ﷺ, Ibn ʿUmar, Wāthilah, and others.
Conclusion
- Authentic Sunnah: One salām only, to the right side.
- Two salāms: Not established by any authentic narration from the Prophet ﷺ or his Companions.
Hence, the correct practice is to end the funeral prayer with a single salām.
ھذا ما عندي والله أعلم بالصواب
(This is what I hold; and Allah knows best what is correct.)
