makes frequent errors and cannot be relied upon as an authority. When this hadith was mentioned to Yahyā ibn Ma‘īn, he said: “‘Amr ibn Abī Salamah and Zuhayr are both weak; neither can be relied upon as an authority.”
He said: As for the hadith of Anas (1), it has been transmitted only through Ayyūb al-Sakhtiyānī from Anas, and according to them, Ayyūb had heard nothing from Anas (2).
He said: It has also been narrated [through] (3) an unconnected report from al-Hasan (4) that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), Abū Bakr and ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) used to give a single salutation.
Those who advocate a single salutation have no support other than the practice of the people of Medina. They said (5): This is a practice they have inherited from generation to generation, and such a practice may validly be used as evidence, since it cannot go unnoticed when it occurs repeatedly every day.
The other jurists have opposed them in this approach, and the other jurists are correct. Established practices of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) cannot be dismissed or rejected on account of anyone’s practice (6), whoever he may be. And