- The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, taught the man who performed his prayer incorrectly how to pray, saying: “Then … then … then …” (1).
The word “then” indicates sequence.
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The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, consistently observed this order until he died, peace and blessings be upon him, never departing from it on any day. He said: “Pray as you have seen me pray.” (2)
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This is also the apparent meaning of Allah’s saying:
“O you who believe, bow and prostrate.” [Quran 22:77]
He began with bowing, and when the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, approached al-Safa, he said: “I begin with that with which Allah began.” (3) Thus, the verse indicates that bowing precedes prostration. We have said “apparent” because the conjunction “and” does not necessarily indicate sequence; that is, not everything joined by “and” denotes an ordered sequence, for it may serve another purpose.
His statement, “and the taslim”: this is the fourteenth pillar of the prayer—that is, to say, “Peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah.” The author mentions the taslim without qualification. So do we say that the definite article denotes the generic class, such that one taslim suffices, even if one limits oneself to saying merely, “Peace be upon you”? Or do we say that it denotes something previously specified, and that what is meant by taslim is the form mentioned earlier in the description of the prayer: namely, to say to one’s right, “Peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah,” and to one’s left, “Peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah”? His wording allows for either interpretation.
For this reason, the jurists differed regarding the taslim.