it audible to the one who was awake. On one such night the Prophet ﷺ came and offered his salām in the same gentle manner. Narrated by Muslim.

859 – Asmāʾ bint Yazīd (may Allah be pleased with her) related that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ once passed through the mosque while a group of women were sitting there, and he gestured to them with his hand in greeting. Reported by al-Tirmidhī, who said: a good hadith.

This is understood to mean that the Prophet ﷺ combined spoken words with the hand gesture, and this is supported by the wording in Abū Dāwūd’s narration: “so he greeted us with salām.”

860 – Abū Umāmah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “The people nearest to Allah are those who initiate the greeting of salām.” Narrated by Abū Dāwūd with a sound chain and by al-Tirmidhī in similar wording, who declared it good. It will be mentioned again (1).

861 – Abū Jurayy al-Hujaymī (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and said, “ʿAlayka as-salām, O Messenger of Allah.” He replied, “Do not say ʿalayka as-salām, for ʿalayka as-salām is the greeting of the dead.” Narrated by Abū Dāwūd and al-Tirmidhī, who said: a good, sound hadith. The longer version has already been cited (2).

Chapter 133 – The Etiquette of Salām

862 – Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “The rider should greet the one who is walking, the walker the one who is sitting, and the small group the large group.” Agreed upon.

In another version recorded by al-Bukhārī: “and the younger should greet the older.”

863 – Abū Umāmah Ṣudayy ibn ʿAjlān al-Bāhilī (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: