❖ Correct Method of Saying Salām in Janāzah Prayer: One Salām to the Right ❖
Source: Fatāwā ʿIlmiyyah, Vol. 1, Kitāb al-Janāʾiz, p. 539
Should Salām be said once to the right or twice (right and left) in the funeral prayer (ṣalāt al-janāzah)?
(Questioner: Abū Thāqib Muḥammad Ṣafdar Ḥaẓrawī)
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu was-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, ʾAmma baʿd!
The correct and stronger opinion is that only one Salām to the right should be said in Ṣalāt al-Janāzah.
Narrated by Abū Umāmah (رضي الله عنه):
“The Sunnah in the Janāzah prayer is to recite Sūrah al-Fātiḥah silently after the first takbīr, then say three takbīrs, and give salām at the end.”
(Sunan an-Nasāʾī aṣ-Ṣughrā 4/75, Ḥadīth: 1991; as-Sunan al-Kubrā 1/644, Ḥadīth: 2116)
✔ Declared ṣaḥīḥ by:
Abū Umāmah ibn Sahl ibn Ḥanīf said:
“The Sunnah in Janāzah prayer is to say takbīr, recite al-Fātiḥah, send salāh upon the Prophet ﷺ, then make sincere duʿāʾ for the deceased, reciting only in the first takbīr, and say Salām quietly to the right side.”
(ʿAbd al-Razzāq 3/489, Ḥadīth: 6428; Ibn al-Jārūd, Ḥadīth: 540 — sanad ṣaḥīḥ)
✔ The narration is authentic.
✔ Abū Umāmah is a Ṣaghīr Ṣaḥābī, and his mursal reports are accepted by majority scholars of Ahl al-Sunnah.
Narrated by Nāfiʿ:
“When Ibn ʿUmar prayed over a deceased person, he would raise his hands with takbīr and, when he finished, would say one Salām to the right.”
(Musannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah 3/307, Ḥadīth: 11491)
✔ This practice (one Salām to the right) is the preferred opinion of:
✔ This is the established practice in both Ḥaramayn Sharīfayn today — al-Ḥamdu lillāh.
(As-Sunan al-Kubrā by al-Bayhaqī 4/43)
Conclusion: Not acceptable for legal ruling.
(al-Bayhaqī 4/43; al-Ṭabarānī al-Kabīr 10/100, Ḥadīth: 10022)
✔ Silent (sirran) and audible (jahran) recitation both are permissible.
✔ The Imām may recite aloud, while followers recite silently.
(Sunan an-Nasāʾī 4/74–75, Ḥadīth: 9189; Ibn al-Jārūd, Ḥadīth: 536–537)
ھذا ما عندي واللہ أعلم بالصواب
Source: Fatāwā ʿIlmiyyah, Vol. 1, Kitāb al-Janāʾiz, p. 539
❖ Question:
Should Salām be said once to the right or twice (right and left) in the funeral prayer (ṣalāt al-janāzah)?
(Questioner: Abū Thāqib Muḥammad Ṣafdar Ḥaẓrawī)
❖ Response:
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu was-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, ʾAmma baʿd!
Conclusion Based on Evidences:
The correct and stronger opinion is that only one Salām to the right should be said in Ṣalāt al-Janāzah.
➊ Authentic Evidence from Sunan an-Nasāʾī
Narrated by Abū Umāmah (رضي الله عنه):
“The Sunnah in the Janāzah prayer is to recite Sūrah al-Fātiḥah silently after the first takbīr, then say three takbīrs, and give salām at the end.”
(Sunan an-Nasāʾī aṣ-Ṣughrā 4/75, Ḥadīth: 1991; as-Sunan al-Kubrā 1/644, Ḥadīth: 2116)
✔ Declared ṣaḥīḥ by:
- Ibn al-Mulaqqin (Tuḥfat al-Muḥtāj, Ḥadīth: 788)
- Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī (Fatḥ al-Bārī 3/203–204, Ḥadīth: 1335)
➋ Report from Musannaf ʿAbd al-Razzāq and al-Muntaqā of Ibn al-Jārūd
Abū Umāmah ibn Sahl ibn Ḥanīf said:
“The Sunnah in Janāzah prayer is to say takbīr, recite al-Fātiḥah, send salāh upon the Prophet ﷺ, then make sincere duʿāʾ for the deceased, reciting only in the first takbīr, and say Salām quietly to the right side.”
(ʿAbd al-Razzāq 3/489, Ḥadīth: 6428; Ibn al-Jārūd, Ḥadīth: 540 — sanad ṣaḥīḥ)
✔ The narration is authentic.
✔ Abū Umāmah is a Ṣaghīr Ṣaḥābī, and his mursal reports are accepted by majority scholars of Ahl al-Sunnah.
➌ Supporting Evidence from ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar (رضي الله عنه)
Narrated by Nāfiʿ:
“When Ibn ʿUmar prayed over a deceased person, he would raise his hands with takbīr and, when he finished, would say one Salām to the right.”
(Musannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah 3/307, Ḥadīth: 11491)
➍ Reports from the Tabiʿīn and Early Scholars
- Imām Makḥūl al-Shāmī, Ibrāhīm ibn Yazīd al-Ḥanafī followed the same practice.
(Musannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah 3/308; ʿAbd al-Razzāq 3/493, Ḥadīth: 6445) - Imām ʿAbdullāh ibn al-Mubārak said:
“Whoever says two Salāms in Janāzah prayer is ignorant.”
(Masāʾil Abī Dāwūd, p. 154)
➎ Consensus Among Leading Scholars
✔ This practice (one Salām to the right) is the preferred opinion of:
- ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Mahdī
- Imām Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal
- Isḥāq ibn Rāhūyah
- Imām Ibn al-Mundhir
(See: al-Awsaṭ 5/447–448)
✔ This is the established practice in both Ḥaramayn Sharīfayn today — al-Ḥamdu lillāh.
Weak Reports Supporting Two Salāms
1. Ḥadīth of Ibn Abī Awfā
(As-Sunan al-Kubrā by al-Bayhaqī 4/43)
- Contains weak narrator Ibrāhīm ibn Muslim al-Hijrī
- Shurayk ibn ʿAbdullāh is mudallis
- Contradicted by other students’ reports
Conclusion: Not acceptable for legal ruling.
2. Ḥadīth of Ibn Masʿūd
(al-Bayhaqī 4/43; al-Ṭabarānī al-Kabīr 10/100, Ḥadīth: 10022)
- Ḥammād ibn Abī Sulaymān: had memory issues
- Mudallis narrators involved
- Not authentic for establishing practice
➏ Qirāʾah in Janāzah Prayer
✔ Silent (sirran) and audible (jahran) recitation both are permissible.
✔ The Imām may recite aloud, while followers recite silently.
(Sunan an-Nasāʾī 4/74–75, Ḥadīth: 9189; Ibn al-Jārūd, Ḥadīth: 536–537)
Final Ruling:
- Only one Salām to the right in Janāzah prayer is stronger and correct, based on authentic aḥādīth, Companions’ actions, and the consensus of early scholars.
- Silent or audible recitation is both valid.
ھذا ما عندي واللہ أعلم بالصواب
