to Allah, the Most High, thereby, and you are safeguarded from being told that your prayer is invalid.

Those who held that both salāms are obligatory in both obligatory and voluntary prayers answered the Prophet’s practice by saying that it was an individual incident which could have involved forgetfulness or some other factor. Such an action, they said, cannot take precedence over his statement: “It would only have sufficed for one of you to say such-and-such,” and he mentioned the two salāms. (1) Yet this possibility is open to question, for the basic principle regarding the Prophet’s actions, peace and blessings be upon him, is that they constitute legislation and are not the result of forgetfulness—especially since he gave one salām straight ahead, contrary to his usual practice, which indicates that he did so deliberately. Nevertheless, as I have said, the prudent course is to give two salāms in both obligatory and voluntary prayers.

IF HE IS PRAYING A THREE- OR FOUR-RAKʿAH PRAYER, HE RISES SAYING THE TAKBĪR AFTER THE FIRST TASHHAHUD

His statement, “If he is praying a three- or four-rakʿah prayer”: a three-rakʿah prayer is such as the maghrib prayer, while a four-rakʿah prayer is such as the ẓuhr, ʿaṣr, and ʿishāʾ prayers.

His statement, “he rises saying the takbīr”: “saying the takbīr” describes the subject of “rises,” indicating that the takbīr is to be said while rising. This is indeed the case, because the time for all transitional takbīrs is between the two pillars of the prayer.

His statement, “after the first tashahhud”: the first tashahhud ends with the words, “I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.” The apparent meaning of the author’s words is that he does not raise his hands, since he did not mention it. This is the well-known position of the school: (2) that he does not raise his hands when rising from the first tashahhud, because, according to the school, there are three occasions for raising the hands.