of the Prophet’s words, “and its release is the salutation” (Abu Dawud 61).

The minimum form, they say, is simply “as-salāmu ʿalaykum.” Ibn al-Mundhir states, “All the scholars whose opinions I have preserved unanimously agree that a prayer ended with a single salutation is valid.”

As for the Ḥanafī proof that two salutations are not obligatory, they cite the hadith of Ibn Masʿūd: “When you have done this, your prayer is complete” (Abu Dawud 856; al-Tirmidhi 302).

The Hanbalī proof, by contrast, is the report related by Abu Dawud (996) and al-Nasa’i (1319) from Ibn Masʿūd: “The Prophet ﷺ would give salām to his right and to his left—‘as-salāmu ʿalaykum wa raḥmatullāh, as-salāmu ʿalaykum wa raḥmatullāh’—turning until the whiteness of his cheek could be seen.”

They answer the phrase in Ibn Masʿūd’s report, “your prayer is complete,” by explaining that it only means you have reached its conclusion, namely the salutation through which one exits the prayer.