Question:
Regarding when the Imaam makes tasleem and says “As-salaaaaaaaaaamu ‘alaykum”, should the tasleem be made normally as if someone is simply reading it or are some parts extended like the example mentioned?
Answer:
Imam Tirmidhi rahimahullah writes:
( باب ما جاء أن حذف السلام سنة )
Chapter: What has come that Shortening the Tasleem is Sunnah
Imam Mubaarakfoori rahimahullah wrote:
قال ابن الأثير : حذف السلام هو تخفيفه وترك الإطالة فيه ، يدل عليه حديث النخعي التكبير جزم والسلام جزم ،
Ibn ul-Athir rahimahullah wrote: ” (حذف ) the Tasleem means shortening it and leaving off elongation in it. What indicates that is the narration from an-Nakhai [Ibrahim an-Nakhai]: “The Takbir is shortened and the Tasleem is shortened”…”
Later on he writes:
وقال الحافظ في التلخيص ، صفحة 84 : حذف السلام الإسراع به وهو المراد بقوله جزم
Hafidh Ibn Hajr said in al-Talkhees pg. 84: (حذف ) the Tasleem means doing it quickly and that is the intent of the statement (حذف ).
[Tuhafatul Ahwadhi]
Note: the narration of Ibrahim an-Nakhai is not a Hadith but a statement from him only as Hafidh Ibn Hajr mentions. It was reported by Tirmidhi.
Imam al-Albani rahimahullah said:
من السنة حذف السلام أي اختصاره وعدم تمطيطه ، وهذا خطأ يقع في مخالفته كثير أئمة المساجد حيث يقول الإمام ” السلام عليكم ورحمة الله ” يكون ذاك يسلم التسليم الثانية ؛ بكون هذاك سلم التسليمة الثانية ؛ وبعده الامام بلفظ وبمد كلمة الله ؛ هذا من جهل الإمام وجهل المؤتم ؛ لأن الإمام جهل هذه السنة ، السنة في السلام حذفه ، من السنة حذف السلام أي اختصاره وعدم تمطيطه ، السلام عليكم ورحمة الله ، السلام عليكم ورحة الله
From the Sunnah is to (حذف ) the Tasleem that is: to shorten it and not elongate it. This is a mistake that many Imams of the Masaajid fall into when the Imaam says: As-Salamu Alaykum wa Rahmatullah and this occurs in the second Tasleem. This occurs in the second Tasleem. More than that, some Imams extend the word Allah. This is the ignorance of the Imam and the ignorance of the one following the Imam because the Imam is ignorant of this Sunnah. The Sunnah of shortening the Tasleem. From the Sunnah is to shorten the Tasleem without elongating it. “As-Salamu Alaykum wa Rahmatullah, As-Salamu Alaykum wa Rahmatullah..”
[Taken from Silsilatul Huda wan-Nur no. 229]
Translated by
Faisal Ibn Abdul Qaadir Ibn Hassan
Abu Sulaymaan
