Ending the prayer without giving the salam

Question

Question: if in some fard prayer the imam, in the final sitting, begins making du'a without giving the salam to either side, and at the end of the du'a gets up from the place of prayer; and when the followers asked the imam, "How did you make du'a without giving the salam to either side? Is the prayer valid?", the imam replied, "The prayer is valid." The imam is a scholar, so kindly send an answer with a clear reference: is the prayer really valid without giving the salam?

Answer

The salam at the end of the prayer is wajib, as is stated in the books of fiqh — "al-Durr al-Mukhtar", "al-Bahr [al-Ra'iq]" and others. If a wajib is omitted through forgetfulness, sajda al-sahw (the prostration of forgetfulness) becomes necessary; if sajda al-sahw was not performed, or the wajib was omitted deliberately, then repeating (i'ada) the prayer becomes wajib.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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