—and that was my first visit to Basra. We found nothing objectionable in his narration, although we had been told that he had become confused; after we departed, Isḥāq al-Azraq heard from him.”
ʿAbbās related from Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn: “Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd heard from al-Jurayrī, yet he never transmitted anything on his authority.”
Aḥmad said: “Ayūb al-Sakhtiyānī used to give precedence to al-Jurayrī over Sulaymān al-Taymī because al-Jurayrī would argue with the Qadariyyah, whereas Ayūb disliked debating them.”
He also said: “Among the rare traditions reported by al-Jurayrī is Muslim’s ḥadith, ‘When allegiance is pledged to two caliphs, kill the one who was elected later (1),’ and the ḥadith, ‘Do not say, “Upon you be peace,” for that is the greeting of the dead (2).’ ”
And both of them have included his narrations in
(1) Reported by Muslim, no. 1853, Book of Governance, chapter “When two caliphs are given the pledge,” on the authority of Khalid ibn Abd Allah, from al-Jariri, from Abu Nadra, from Abu Sa id. The wording there reads “the other one” instead of “the younger one.”
(2) Reported by Ahmad 3/482 through Ismail ibn Ibrahim, from Sa id al-Jariri, from Abu al-Salil, from Abu Tamima al-Hujaymi (misread in some copies as al-Hujayni). Ismail also narrated it once as: from Abu Tamima al-Hujaymi, from a man of his tribe, who said: “I met the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him….” Al-Hakim included it in his Mustadrak 4/168 through the route of al-Jariri, from Abu al-Salil, from Abu Tamima al-Hujaymi, from Jabir ibn Sulaym al-Hujaymi, declared it authentic, and al-Dhahabi agreed.
Abu Dawud recorded it, no. 4084, Book of Dress, chapter “Concerning trailing the lower garment,” through Musaddad, from Yahya, from Abu Ghafar, from Abu Tamima al-Hujaymi, from Abu Jari Jabir ibn Sulaym. The chain is sound.
Al-Tirmidhi also recorded it, no. 2723, through al-Hasan ibn Ali al-Khallal, from Abu Usama, from Abu Ghafar with the same chain, and said: “A hasan sahih (good and sound) hadith.”
Concerning the Prophet’s statement, “Do not say ‘alayka al-salam, for that is the greeting of the dead,” Ibn al-Qayyim notes in Mukhtasar al-Sunan 6/49 that invoking peace is a prayer for good. The preferred style when praying for good is to place the prayer before the person prayed for, as in the Quranic verses: “rahmat Allahi wa-barakatuhu ‘alaykum ahl al-bayt” (the mercy and blessings of Allah be upon you, people of the household), “salamun ‘alayhi yawma wulida wa-yawma yamutu” (peace be upon him on the day he was born and on the day he dies), and “salamun ‘alaykum bima sabartum” (peace be upon you for what you patiently endured). By contrast, in prayers for evil the person prayed against usually precedes the supplication, as in the divine address to Iblis: “wa-inna ‘alayka la‘nati ila yawm al-din” (My curse is upon you until the Day of Recompense), “wa-inna ‘alayka al-la‘nah,” “‘alayhim da’iratu al-saw’,” and “‘alayhim ghadabun wa-lahum ‘adhabun shadid.” The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, therefore indicated that their manner of greeting belonged to the realm of the deceased…