and acted upon it. Thus, people would greet him in the manner mentioned above, until he came to learn something about the matter and forbade anyone who added to it, saying, “It is enough to stop at ‘and His blessings.’” This was transmitted by Ibn Wahb.”

I say: This is a lie against both Ibn Umar and Ibn Wahb. For the actual wording of Ibn Wahb’s narration—as he himself cites it from al-Futuhat al-Rabbaniyyah (5/293), which is taken from Ibn Hajar, without his indicating this—is:

On the authority of Ibn Umar: A man greeted him and added, “and His forgiveness.” Ibn Umar rebuked him and said, “It is enough to stop at ‘and His blessings.’”

Thus, you see that this report forbids adding to the greeting when initiating it, whereas Ibn Umar’s addition when returning the greeting was in accordance with the verse.

It is astonishing that this eminent writer should commit such a gross confusion, daring to invalidate acting upon the unrestricted wording of the verse—as he puts it—and to contradict the reports from the Salaf that accord with it, not to mention the hadith itself. Yet he fails to notice the distinction between all of this and the other two reports he cited from Ibn Umar and Ibn Abbas, as previously indicated. They likewise prohibit additions when initiating the greeting, just as does this report from Ibn Umar whose wording I have just cited. Nevertheless, based on this confusion in understanding and ignorance of this field, he is exceedingly eager to dissuade those who act accordingly. Allah’s help is sought.

What further confirms this is that al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar said in al-Fath (11/6, Salafi edition), after citing reports of both types, as well as some hadiths supporting the hadith that we are defending and replying to those who have deemed it weak—which he attributed to al-Bayhaqi, but not al-Bukhari—he said: