What is the ruling on an imam who forgot that he was the imam and said the closing salam in a low voice? Does he repeat the salam?
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The questioner : Your Eminence, if I were the imam, for example, with two people behind me
The Shaykh : as the imam?
The questioner : as the imam
The Shaykh : Yes
The questioner : and I said the salam, but not loudly. I remembered after saying the salam to the left that I was the imam. Do I say the salam a second time, or how? Because the prayer has ended, O Shaykh, if I was the imam
The Shaykh : Yes
The questioner : and there were two or one person behind me
The Shaykh : A congregation
The questioner : A congregation
The Shaykh : Yes
The questioner : and I said the salam in a low voice that they did not hear, then I remembered that there were people behind me, so I said the salam...?
The Shaykh : If the imam says the salam in a low voice that the ma'mum (those praying behind him) do not hear, he does not repeat the salam a second time. However, he also turned away. May Allah forgive me, he turned away, and the people knew that it had ended.
And the same applies to al-Fatihah (the opening chapter). If a person forgets in a loud prayer where the imam is leading, and he recites the beginning of al-Fatihah in a low voice, then he remembers, he completes it and does not repeat it.
And some scholars said, rather, he should repeat it, because repeating it loudly is a return to the Sunnah, which is not a waste, and a person is commanded to perform the recitation in accordance with the Sunnah.
But the first option is more cautious: that he starts from the point where he remembered. There is also a benefit in this, which is that if he starts from the point where he remembered, he does not return to that point a second time; that is, he remains constantly mindful. But if he repeats it from the beginning, it becomes easy for him to return a second time, because the ma'mum did not know about it if he repeated it from the beginning of al-Fatihah.
And the conclusion now is: if the imam says the salam in a low voice out of forgetfulness until he completes both salams, he does not repeat them, and his turning away is sufficient. And if he said it in a low voice in the first one and then remembered, he says it loudly in the second one. Yes.
The Shaykh : as the imam?
The questioner : as the imam
The Shaykh : Yes
The questioner : and I said the salam, but not loudly. I remembered after saying the salam to the left that I was the imam. Do I say the salam a second time, or how? Because the prayer has ended, O Shaykh, if I was the imam
The Shaykh : Yes
The questioner : and there were two or one person behind me
The Shaykh : A congregation
The questioner : A congregation
The Shaykh : Yes
The questioner : and I said the salam in a low voice that they did not hear, then I remembered that there were people behind me, so I said the salam...?
The Shaykh : If the imam says the salam in a low voice that the ma'mum (those praying behind him) do not hear, he does not repeat the salam a second time. However, he also turned away. May Allah forgive me, he turned away, and the people knew that it had ended.
And the same applies to al-Fatihah (the opening chapter). If a person forgets in a loud prayer where the imam is leading, and he recites the beginning of al-Fatihah in a low voice, then he remembers, he completes it and does not repeat it.
And some scholars said, rather, he should repeat it, because repeating it loudly is a return to the Sunnah, which is not a waste, and a person is commanded to perform the recitation in accordance with the Sunnah.
But the first option is more cautious: that he starts from the point where he remembered. There is also a benefit in this, which is that if he starts from the point where he remembered, he does not return to that point a second time; that is, he remains constantly mindful. But if he repeats it from the beginning, it becomes easy for him to return a second time, because the ma'mum did not know about it if he repeated it from the beginning of al-Fatihah.
And the conclusion now is: if the imam says the salam in a low voice out of forgetfulness until he completes both salams, he does not repeat them, and his turning away is sufficient. And if he said it in a low voice in the first one and then remembered, he says it loudly in the second one. Yes.