The point here is that greeting someone with peace—whether meeting him during his lifetime or visiting his grave after his death—is prescribed with regard to every Muslim. One should greet any Muslim whom one meets alive or whose grave one visits.

The Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, knew that greeting him at his grave was neither exclusive to him nor a distinction he enjoyed over others. This is the greeting of which he said:

“No one greets me with peace without Allah restoring my soul to me so that I may return his greeting.”

Rather, this is prescribed with regard to every Muslim, living or dead. Every believer returns the greeting of whoever greets him. This is not something sought for its own sake; rather, when one meets him, one greets him. Likewise, when one visits a grave, one greets the deceased. It does not mean that one should undertake the trouble of travelling and seeking a meeting solely for that purpose.

Invoking peace upon him in prayer and when entering and leaving the mosque, however, is exclusive to him. It is among the invocations of peace upon him that Allah commanded in the Quran. Whoever invokes peace upon him, Allah invokes peace upon that person ten times, just as He bestows blessings upon him ten times when he invokes blessings upon the Prophet. This, then, is what is prescribed and commanded: it is better, more beneficial and more complete, and entails no harm. The other involves an effort that is not exclusive to him, and one is not commanded to travel solely for its sake. Rather, deliberately going there with the intention of invoking blessings and peace and offering supplication amounts to making it a place of recurring observance. He, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Do not make my house a place of recurring observance.”

For this reason, the prevailing practice among the Companions—the Rightly Guided Caliphs and the earliest forerunners among the Emigrants and the Helpers—was that they would enter his mosque and invoke blessings upon him