that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, would meet a man ... the hadith is similar, with the addition at its end: “... so I remained silent concerning you.”

This chain of transmission consists of trustworthy narrators who are narrators of Muslim, apart from Muʾammal. He has some weakness, especially when he contradicts trustworthy narrators. Al-Ḥāfiẓ said: “Truthful, but poor in memory.” Al-Haythamī said in al-Majmaʿ (8/183): “Aḥmad narrated it, and its narrators are those of the authentic collections apart from Muʾammal ibn Ismāʿīl. He is trustworthy, though he has some weakness.”

Many hadiths have also been narrated from a number of the Companions, on various occasions, concerning his saying, peace and blessings be upon him, “How are you this morning?” They come through different routes, none of which is free from criticism. There is no need to cite them, since what has preceded is sufficient. Yet it is useful to point out their sources: Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah (11/42–43), al-Sunnah by Ibn Abī ʿĀṣim (1/180/415), ʿAmal al-Yawm wa-l-Laylah (180–183), al-Muʿjam al-Kabīr (5/156/4887), al-Ḥilyah (1/242), and others.

The early generations acted upon this, as is shown by the numerous reports transmitted to that effect. Imam al-Bukhārī recorded a number of them in al-Adab al-Mufrad (1134 and 1135). It also contains, at no. 1133, a hadith attributed to the Prophet concerning his reply to one who said to him, “How are you this morning?” It is narrated from Jābir, may Allah be pleased with him. I had included it among the hadiths from Sunan Ibn Mājah that I graded weak; then I found for it a corroborating report from the hadith of Abū Hurayrah and therefore graded it good on that basis. Accordingly, I included it in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Adab al-Mufrad (878/1133), which I was soon to complete, Allah willing. It was then published, praise be to Allah Most High, as mentioned above.