Sitting
Taslīm — the ending
Turning right, then left, and giving peace away.
السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ
As-salāmu ʿalaykum wa raḥmatullāh
Peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah.
Why it is said here
The prayer began by shutting the world out and ends by turning back to it — and the first thing you do on returning is wish peace on the people to your right and your left. Notice you do not end with a word about yourself. You leave the prayer giving something away.
as-salāmroot س ل م
السَّلَامُ
peace, safety
ʿalaykum
عَلَيْكُمْ
upon you — plural, not just one person
raḥmahroot ر ح م
رَحْمَةُ
mercy
- As-Salām
'Its ending is the taslīm.' The prayer is not complete without it.
Where the schools differ: The majority require only the first taslīm as a pillar and treat the second as sunnah; the Ḥanbalīs require both in most prayers.
Abū Dāwūd 61; al-Tirmidhī 3 (ṣaḥīḥ)
Every statement of context, tafsīr and takeaway on this page traces back to one of these. Āyah references open here in AyaSeerah with the canonical text, translation and abridged tafsīr; ḥadīth numbers open on sunnah.com. Nothing here has to be taken on trust.