160 – “No; rather, shake hands.” That is, when he meets his friend he must neither bow to him, nor clasp him in a prolonged embrace, nor kiss him.

The ḥadīth was transmitted by al-Tirmidhī (2/121), Ibn Mājah (3702), al-Bayhaqī (7/100) and Aḥmad (3/198) through a number of chains from Ḥanẓalah ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Saddūsī, who said: Anas ibn Mālik related: “A man asked, ‘Messenger of Allah, when one of us meets his friend, should he bow to him?’ The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) replied, ‘No.’ He said, ‘Should he embrace him and kiss him?’ He said, ‘No.’ He said, ‘Then should he shake his hand?’ He said, ‘Yes, if he wishes.’”

This wording is that of Aḥmad; al-Tirmidhī has the same except that he omits the phrase “if he wishes.” Ibn Mājah’s version is similar, containing the words: “No; rather, shake hands.”

The ḥadīth was also recorded by Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf al-Firyābī in “Mā Asnada al-Thawrī” (1/46/2); Abū Bakr al-Shāfiʿī in al-Fawāʾid (97/1) and in al-Rubāʿiyyāt (1/93/2); al-Bāghandī in “Ḥadīth Shaybān wa-Ghayrih” (191/1); Abū Muḥammad al-Mukhalladī in al-Fawāʾid (236/2); and al-Ḍiyāʾ al-Maqdisī in al-Muṣāfaḥah (32/2) and in “al-Muntaqā min Masmūʿātihi bi-Marw” (28/2)—all of them through Ḥanẓalah with this wording.

Al-Tirmidhī remarked, “A good (ḥasan) ḥadīth.”

I say: So it is—or even stronger—for all of its narrators are reliable except this Ḥanẓalah. The critics judged him weak but did not accuse him of fabrication; Yaḥyā al-Qaṭṭān and others stated that he became confused in old age. A narrator of this sort is acceptable for corroboration, and his report gains strength when supporting chains exist. I have found three such corroborating narrations.

The first comes through Shuʿayb ibn al-Ḥabḥāb.

Al-Ḍiyāʾ cited it in al-Muntaqā (87/2) through the route of Abū Bilāl al-Ashʿarī, who said: Qays