his reliance on the congregation’s certainty that he pronounced the opening takbīr, and his accepting this as sufficient, lies evidence that the intention may precede the opening takbīr. We have already discussed this.

Section
The Salām Ending the Prayer

Ending prayer with the salām is comparable in all respects to entering it with the opening takbīr, for the Prophet ﷺ linked the two when he said: “The takbīr initiates the sacred state of prayer, and the salām releases one from it.” Just as one enters prayer only through a takbīr intended to begin it and become bound by its restrictions, one leaves it only through a salām intended to end it and be released from those restrictions. If someone pronounces the salām at the end of his prayer without a present intention, it suffices because of his earlier intention, since he is not required to renew his entry into prayer for each of its pillars. If he forgets the first salām and pronounces the second, this does not suffice according to Mālik’s school, but it does suffice according to our interpretation of the positions of Ibn al-Musayyab and Ibn Shihāb.

If someone inadvertently pronounces the salām before completing his prayer, this does not take him out of the prayer, by consensus. He should complete it and perform the prostrations for forgetfulness if he is praying alone or leading the prayer. If, however, he pronounces the salām while uncertain whether his prayer is complete, he cannot validly resume it to complete it. Scholars differed concerning someone who becomes certain after the salām that he had in fact completed his prayer. Ibn Habīb said: “His prayer is valid, just as the marriage is valid when a man marries a woman without knowing whether her husband is alive or dead, and it subsequently becomes clear that he had died and her waiting period had ended.” Another view is that his prayer is invalid, and this is the more evident position.

If someone pronounces the salām intending to leave the prayer, believing that he has completed it, and then doubts whether he omitted something from it, or becomes certain that he did, this does not prevent him from returning to rectify it. Scholars differed over whether he must pronounce an opening takbīr to resume it. There are two views. The first is that an inadvertent salām does not take him out of the prayer, so he resumes it without an opening takbīr. This is the position of Ashhab and Ibn al-Mājishūn, and the view preferred by Ibn al-Mawwāz in his book. The second is that it does take him out of the prayer, so he may resume it only with an opening takbīr. This is Ibn al-Qāsim’s position in al-Majmūʿa and what he transmitted from Mālik. Ahmad ibn Khālid also adopted this view and said that it