Abū ʿUmar said:
As for giving the salām after the two prostrations that come once the final salām has been pronounced, this is firmly established from the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—whereas I know of no authentically transmitted tashahhud for them.
The reason for the disagreement is that the scholars differ over (1) the soundness of what has been reported in the ḥadīth of Ibn Masʿūd—namely, his words: “He—peace and blessings be upon him—recited the tashahhud and then gave the salām,” and (2) whether the two prostrations of forgetfulness should be likened to the final two prostrations of the prayer itself. Whoever drew that analogy did not require a tashahhud for them, especially when they occur within the prayer.
Abū Bakr Ibn al-Mundhir said:
The scholars hold six different views on this question:
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No tashahhud and no salām at all. This is the view of Anas ibn Mālik, al-Ḥasan, and ʿAṭāʾ.
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The exact opposite: both tashahhud and salām are required.
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Tashahhud only, without salām; held by al-Ḥakam, Ḥammād, and al-Nakhaʿī.
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Salām only, with no tashahhud; the opinion of Ibn Sīrīn.
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One may, if he wishes, recite tashahhud and give salām, or omit both; this, too, is related from ʿAṭāʾ.
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Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal’s view: if the prostrations are after the salām, one recites tashahhud; if before the salām, one does not. This is likewise what we have reported from Mālik.
Abū Bakr added: It is authentically established that the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—pronounced four takbīrs during these prostrations and gave the salām, but the authenticity of a tashahhud therein is uncertain.
Chapter Five
Determining Who Must Perform the Prostration of Forgetfulness
The scholars agree that the prostration of forgetfulness is a Sunnah for both the individual worshiper and the imam. They disagreed, however, about a follower who errs while praying behind the imam: must he prostrate or not? The majority held that the imam bears the lapse on his behalf, while Makḥūl dissented and obliged him to prostrate privately.
The root of their disagreement is over which essential acts of the prayer the imam carries on behalf of the follower and which he does not.
They agree that if the imam himself slips, the follower joins him in the prostration of forgetfulness, even if the follower did not share in the error.
They then differed on when the follower should prostrate if he joined late, missed some units, and the imam must make the prostrations:
• Some said he prostrates with the imam and then rises to make up what he has missed, whether the imam’s prostrations are before or after the salām. This is the view of ʿAṭāʾ, al-Ḥasan, al-Nakhaʿī, al-Shaʿbī, Aḥmad, Abū Thawr, and the Ḥanafīs.
• Others said he first completes what he owes and then prostrates; this was held by Ibn Sīrīn and Isḥāq.
• Another group stated: if the imam prostrates before the salām, he prostrates with him; but if the imam prostrates after the salām, he delays his own prostrations until he has completed what he missed. This was the opinion of Mālik, al-Layth, and al-Awzāʿī.
• Yet another view is that he prostrates with the imam and then repeats the two prostrations after finishing what he missed; this was al-Shāfiʿī’s position.