What Is The Ruling On The Salam Given At The End Of The Prayer?

What is the ruling on the salam given at the end of the prayer?

According to the opinion preferred in the Hanafi school, it is wajib to give salam to the right side first, and then to the left side by turning head. One should re-establish his prayer if he does not perform this deliberately. Nothing is required if it is not performed unintentionally. In this salam, it is wajib to recite the part “as-salam” and it is sunnah to add the part “alaykum wa rahmatullah” of the sentence “as-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullah”. According to another opinion, it is wajib to give salam to the right side and it is sunnah to give salam to the left side. The prayer is finished with one salam according to all imams, i.e. prayer ends with it (Ibn al-Humam, al-Fath, I, 328; Zaylai, Tabyin, I, 125).

According to Shafi’is, for whom it is fardh to give the first salam, if one does not perform it, his prayer is invalidated (Shirbini, Mughni al-muhtaj, I, 273).

Source: Presidency Of Religious Affairs The Turkey, High Board of Religious Affairs FATWAS