pages! In it, he dwelt at length on the claim that the aforementioned addition is not legislated when returning a greeting, rather than when initiating one. To support this, he cited two weak hadiths: one rejected and the other anomalous. I have discussed both of them at length in my other book, al-Ḍaʿīfah (5433), where I also showed his partisanship for his own view, his مخالفة to the scholars in preferring accreditation over explained narrator criticism, and his attempt to weaken the report of criticism from Imam Ahmad by saying:

“I have not found this statement to be widely transmitted from Ahmad!”

Even though the scholars, such as al-Dhahabi, al-Haythami, and others, received it with acceptance.

He then followed up the two hadiths mentioned with two authentic reports from Ibn Umar and Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them. Yet neither constitutes evidence for him, since they concern initiating the greeting, not returning it. He does not distinguish between initiating a greeting and returning one; consequently, he declares the hadith defective on their basis and rejects some reports transmitted from the Salaf because they stop at a Companion. I have documented some of these in the aforementioned source. Among them is the report from Ibn Umar that, when someone greeted him and he returned the greeting, he would add more. Salim, the freedman of Ibn Umar, said:

“I came to him and said, ‘Peace be upon you.’ He replied, ‘Peace be upon you, and Allah’s mercy.’ ...

“Then I came to him on another occasion and said, ‘Peace be upon you, and Allah’s mercy and blessings.’ He replied, ‘Peace be upon you, and Allah’s mercy and blessings, and the goodness of His blessings.’”

Al-Bukhari narrated it in al-Adab al-Mufrad, and al-Hafiz made no comment on it in al-Fatḥ.

So, dear reader, if you wish to know that he does not distinguish between initiating a greeting and returning one, and that he confuses the two, then listen to what he says:

“It is as though Ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with them, acted upon the addition to what is found in the unrestricted wording of the verse