Saying salam and shaking hands when leaving a gathering

Question

Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarkatahu.

What is the ruling for a person leaving a gathering (together with few members), is Musafah required or just Salam is enough pr Both, please justify either from  Qur’an,Hadith,Ijmah or Khiyas till the end of khairul Quroon time, Jazakallaah Khair in advance

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

الجواب حامدا ومصليا ومسلما

Answer

Wa’alaikum as-salam,

To fulfill the etiquettes of leaving a gathering, it is enough just to verbally say salam; our Prophet (may peace and salutations be upon him) said, “When any of you comes to a gathering, he should say salam; and he should sit if he wishes to do so. When he leaves the gathering, he should say salam once again; for the former salam is in no way more deserving of being said than the latter.”

It is also good to do musaafaha (shaking hands) along with the salam; as we learn from the following saying of our prophet (may peace and salutations be upon him): “Whenever two Muslims meet and shake each other’s hands, their shortcomings are forgiven before they depart.” (Sunan at Tirmizi)

It should be noted that the hadith teaches us that musaafaha is desirable, not necessary.

والله أعلم

Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala knows best.

Taha Abdulkareem

Approved by Mufti Husain Ahmad Madani