Wa alaykum salam wa rahmatuLlahi wa barakatuHu,

According to Baghawi, a follower should make salam after the imam has completed both of his. According to Mutawalli, he should make salam after the imam completed his first. What Baghawi related is clear from what is in Buwayti from Imam Shafi’i. Authorities in the School agree that it is permissible for a follower to make salam after the imam completed his first, the difference is pertaining to what is optimal. (Imam Nawawi, Sharh al-Muhadhdhab, vol. 3, pg. 483. Dar al-Fikr)

Imam Nawawi states that is recommended for a follower to make his salam only after the imam has completed both of his. And then after mentioning the sighat al-tamrid [the passive form of a verb that implies weakness], “qila [it was said],” he relates the view ascribed to Mutawalli in Sharh al-Muhadhdhab. (Kitab al-Tahqiq, pg. 291, Cairo: Ard al-Haramayn, 1429/2007)

Note: In Nawawi’s Tahqiq, ‘qila’ is nomenclature with a specific significance, that its qasim is al-asahh. (pg. 7) Therefore, what comes after ‘qila’ in Kitab al-Tahqiq is not the relied-upon view.

And, Allah knows best.

Shafiifiqh.com Fatwa Dept.