Answered by Ustadha Shaista Maqbool
In the congregational prayer does one have to repeat the various takbirs and the salaams at the end of the prayer after the imaam has said them or is it sufficient to remain silent. is the prayer valid if you have not been repeating the salaams in the past?
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Kind.
The first ‘takbir’ or al-tahreemah is a condition of the prayer and without it the prayer is not valid. Therefore, if one did not say this first ‘takbir’ – in any way which would be considered valid, e.g. if he said “Subhan Allah” – his prayer would not be valid and he must repeat those prayers.
All the other takbirs are sunnah to say to oneself (such that one hears himself) if one is following the imam. (Al-Durr Al-Mukhtar) So if one didn’t say them, he would have left a sunnah, but his prayer is still valid.
To say “As-salaam” once is necessary (wajib). If one did not say this, he would have missed an necessary (wajib) though his prayer is valid. In this case it is necessary for him to repeat that prayer, whether within the time or after the time–as is the most correct opinion according to what Ibn Abideen says in his Hashiyah.
However, several of my teachers give the fatwa (legal ruling) to follow the opinion that after the time goes out one would not have to make up these prayers because of the difficulty entailed in the former opinion.
Hence, it would be more cautious to make up those prayers in which one has left a wajib/necessary act, and one should if they are not many.
However, if there are many such prayers and having to make them up would cause hardship, one may follow the opinion that they need not be made up.
[This is as opposed to an action that is invalid–by leaving an obligatory (fard) action. Such prayers must be made up. Please search SunniPath Answers (http://qa.sunnipath.com) for related answers.]
And Allah knows best.
Shaista Maqbool