and His blessings; in some versions the phrase is omitted, yet the additional wording transmitted by a reliable narrator is accepted.

853 – Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that whenever the Prophet ﷺ made a statement he would repeat it three times so that it might be fully understood, and when he came upon a group of people and greeted them with salām he would greet them three times. Al-Bukhārī narrated this ḥadīth, and it is construed to apply when the gathering is large.

[Commentary]
The author (may Allah have mercy on him) includes in his Riyāḍ al-Ṣāliḥīn a chapter on the proper manner of giving salām—namely, what one should say when initiating the greeting and what one should say in reply. He states that it is recommended to say, “al-salāmu ʿalaykum wa raḥmatullāh,” even if one is addressing a single person. As evidence he cites the ḥadīth of ʿImrān ibn Ḥuṣayn (may Allah be pleased with him):

A man came to the Prophet ﷺ and said, “al-salāmu ʿalaykum.” The Prophet returned the greeting, the man sat down, and the Prophet said, “Ten.” Then another man came and said, “al-salāmu ʿalaykum wa raḥmatullāh.” The Prophet returned the greeting, the man sat down, and the Prophet said, “Twenty.” A third man came and said, “al-salāmu ʿalaykum wa raḥmatullāhi wa barakātuh.” The Prophet returned the greeting, the man sat down, and the Prophet said, “Thirty.” Thus the first received ten good deeds, the second twenty, and the third thirty, because each of them increased the wording of the greeting.

This is an issue over which the scholars have differed: if one greets a single person