The Ruling on One Who Says the Closing Salam After Two Rak'ahs by Mistake
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Q: From 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Baz to the honorable brother (H. M. Th), may Allah keep him safe.
Peace be upon you, and Allah’s mercy and blessings, and after that:
I refer to your inquiry, registered with the Department of Scholarly Research and Ifta under number (1513) and dated 21/4/1407 AH, which contains two questions. Here is the answer to each, following its statement:
Q1: We went on a trip, and when Magrib became obligatory, we stood to perform the prayer, appointing one of us as the imam. However, when the imam reached the two rak'ahs, he said the closing salam twice by mistake, not intentionally, leaving out one rak'ah. One of us stood up and said to him: "You left out a rak'ah, the third one, so stand up and pray the remainder with us." We had already recited the supplications, but he did not notice that, so he prayed the third rak'ah with us, said the salam, and prostrated for forgetfulness after the salam. Is our prayer valid, or must it be repeated? And is the prayer of the man who spoke valid, and is his speech considered part of the prayer, such that the hadith of the Man of Two Hands applies to him? Or is his speech outside the prayer, and his prayer invalid, because speech invalidates the prayer?
A: The imam's prayer is valid. As for the followers, whoever among them was aware of the omission and knew the legal ruling, which is that it is not permissible to say the salam with him after two rak'ahs, but rather he must stand up and perform the third rak'ah, his prayer is invalid; because he said the salam intentionally before completing it, knowing that it is not permissible for him to do so. As for whoever said the salam with the imam while ignorant of the omission, or ignorant of the legal ruling, he does not have to repeat it, provided that he completed his prayer with the imam when he was alerted. The prayer of the one who spoke to the imam is valid if he was ignorant of the legal ruling, due to the hadith of the Man of Two Hands.
Peace be upon you, and Allah’s mercy and blessings, and after that:
I refer to your inquiry, registered with the Department of Scholarly Research and Ifta under number (1513) and dated 21/4/1407 AH, which contains two questions. Here is the answer to each, following its statement:
Q1: We went on a trip, and when Magrib became obligatory, we stood to perform the prayer, appointing one of us as the imam. However, when the imam reached the two rak'ahs, he said the closing salam twice by mistake, not intentionally, leaving out one rak'ah. One of us stood up and said to him: "You left out a rak'ah, the third one, so stand up and pray the remainder with us." We had already recited the supplications, but he did not notice that, so he prayed the third rak'ah with us, said the salam, and prostrated for forgetfulness after the salam. Is our prayer valid, or must it be repeated? And is the prayer of the man who spoke valid, and is his speech considered part of the prayer, such that the hadith of the Man of Two Hands applies to him? Or is his speech outside the prayer, and his prayer invalid, because speech invalidates the prayer?
A: The imam's prayer is valid. As for the followers, whoever among them was aware of the omission and knew the legal ruling, which is that it is not permissible to say the salam with him after two rak'ahs, but rather he must stand up and perform the third rak'ah, his prayer is invalid; because he said the salam intentionally before completing it, knowing that it is not permissible for him to do so. As for whoever said the salam with the imam while ignorant of the omission, or ignorant of the legal ruling, he does not have to repeat it, provided that he completed his prayer with the imam when he was alerted. The prayer of the one who spoke to the imam is valid if he was ignorant of the legal ruling, due to the hadith of the Man of Two Hands.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.