Question: If a ma’moom
has a pressing need to urinate or pass wind while in the last tashahhud,
is his prayer valid if he says salaam before the Imaam, after
discharging the pillars and obligations [of the prayer]?
Response: Shaykh
Muhammad Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen: Yes, it is valid, because he is excused. And Allaah
knows best.
Source: Fataawaa Mu’aasirah,
p. 30, by Shaykh Muhammad Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen; translated by Abdus-Samee’
Abdus-Salaam.
Questioner: When should the Imaam and the Ma’moom leave after saying salaam in prayer? And what is the hadeeth that encourages a person to say tahleel ten times before he unfolds his leg in Maghrib and Fajr prayers?
Shaykh al-Albaanee: This question is related to a general Sunnah
that has restriction. The general Sunnah is that whenever the Messenger of
Allah (sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam) says salaam in prayer, he does not sit
except for the duration sufficient to say: Allaahumma Antas-Salaamu wa
minkas-Salaamu, tabaarakta ya Dhal-Jalaali wal-Ikraam. Thereafter, he
would either leave or turn to his Companions. This is what the majority of
scholars are upon - those who know the Sunnah among them and those among them
who follow one of the Imaams. It is necessary to restrict this Sunnah to other
than Maghrib and Fajr prayers. This is because this Sunnah cannot be applied in
these two prayers.
Why? This is because there is a hadeeth reported through various
paths encouraging the saying of tahleel (that is, Laa ilaaha
illallaahu wahdahu laa shareeka lahu, lahul-mulku wa lahul-hamdu yuhyee wa
yumeetu wa Huwa ‘alaa kulli shay’in Qadeer) ten times after Maghrib and
Fajr prayers before unfolding one’s leg (that is, before changing one’s sitting
position in Tashahhud) or talking to anyone. The meaning of this is that if the
Imaam wants to say this tahleel ten times after Maghrib and Fajr prayers,
he should remain the way he is [after the salaam] without facing the Jamaa’ah
till he completes the ten tahleel. However, if he does not intend to
recite it since it is not obligatory, he may stand up immediately without
sitting.
However, we are talking about the preferred act. What is preferable
with regard to the Imaam is that he should not turn to the left or right except
after saying: Allaahumma Antas-Salaamu wa minkas-Salaamu, tabaarakta ya Dhal-Jalaali
wal-Ikraam and Astaghfirullaaha three
times. Thereafter, he should turn [and face the Jamaa’ah] except in
Maghrib and Fajr prayers wherein he should say the tahleel ten times and
then face the Jamaa’ah. This is what should be known to you all, Allaah
willing.
