✿ Written by: Imran Ayub Lahori
◈ Salām Should Be Said on Both Sides After the Final Takbīr
It is narrated from ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd (رضي الله عنه) that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to do three acts that people have now abandoned:
إحداهن التسليم على الجنازة مثل التسليم في الصلاة
“One of them was to say salām in the funeral prayer just as salām is said in regular prayer.”
[Ḥasan: al-Bayhaqī 4/43. Imām Nawawī (رحمه الله) said its chain is good: al-Majmūʿ 5/239. Imām Haythamī (رحمه الله) mentioned that this narration is also found in al-Ṭabarānī al-Kabīr and its narrators are trustworthy: Majmaʿ al-Zawāʾid 3/34]
From this ḥadīth, it is established that salām should be said to both the right and left sides in the funeral prayer, just like in regular prayers.
✔ If Salām Is Said Only Once, It Is Still Sufficient
However, if a person says salām only to one side, that is also sufficient, as is reported from Abū Hurayrah (رضي الله عنه):
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) led the funeral prayer and said four takbīrs:
وسلم تسليمة واحدة
“And he said salām only once.”
[Ḥasan: Aḥkām al-Janāʾiz, p. 163; al-Dāraqutnī 191; al-Ḥākim 1/360; al-Bayhaqī 4/43]
❖ Conclusion:
While saying salām on both sides after the funeral prayer is closer to the Sunnah, it is still valid if one says salām only once on one side.
