Q2: I read in some school books that Taslim (salutation of peace ending the Prayer) in the Funeral Prayer should be offered to the right side only, and I read in other books that it should be offered to both the left and the right; can you tell us which one of these is correct with the explanation?

A: The Funeral Prayer is an act of ‘Ibadah (worship), and the basic principle regarding the acts of ‘Ibadah is that they are Tawqifiy (bound by a religious text and not amenable to personal opinion).

The Taslim is established in this Salah (Prayer) according to the general meaning of the Hadith authentically reported from the Prophet (peace be upon him) who said, “And its Tahlul (i.e. ending of praying state) is by the Taslim.” It is performed following the example of the Sahabah (Companions of the Prophet) and the Tabi‘un (Followers, the generation after the Companions of the Prophet) (may Allah be pleased with them) who offered one Taslim to the right side only at the end of the Funeral Prayer, and there is no known difference of opinion among them in this regard. As far as we know, it has not been proved that any of them concluded this Salah by offering two Taslim. However, some Fuqaha’ (Muslim jurists) disagreed with this afterwards, using Qiyas (analogy) with the other Salahs that consist of Ruku‘ (bowing) and Sujud (prostration). But Qiyas should not be used in respect to acts of ‘Ibadah, as they are based on textual-evidence from the Qur’an and what is authentically reported from the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace be upon him).

May Allah grant us success! May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and Companions!

Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta’

Member	Member	Deputy Chairman	Chairman
`Abdullah ibn Qa`ud	`Abdullah ibn Ghudayyan	`Abdul-Razzaq `Afify	`Abdul-`Aziz ibn `Abdullah ibn Baz

The second question of Fatwa no. 2514