I heard my father say: “I heard Uqbah b. Amir say: …,” transmitting it as a marfu report. This chain of transmission is sound according to Muslim’s criteria. Ibn Abi Shaybah—cited in al-Zad (1/193)—as well as Abu Ubayd and al-Nasa i in his Kitab Fada il al-Quran (as Ibn Kathir notes, p. 118) also relate it. In another version—reported by al-Nasa i and likewise by Ahmad—Qabath b. Razin said: “I heard Ulay b. Rabah relate it with the wording: ‘We were sitting in the mosque reciting the Quran when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ entered, greeted us with salam, and we returned his greeting; then he said…,’” and so forth. This isnad too is sahih. Ibn Kathir comments: “It proves the permissibility of giving salam to someone who is reciting.” I add: This is a rare and valuable point, scarcely found in a hadith. It refutes those of our scholars who forbid greeting a Quran reciter (*) and also shows that it is recommended for the reciter to return the salam to one who greets him. Al-Nawawi, in al-Tibyan (p. 24), went so far as to deem the reply obligatory, by analogy with what is—according to the stronger Shafi i view—obligatory during the Friday khutbah. I maintain that it is preferable to rely on the general proofs that make returning salam obligatory, such as the Prophet’s saying: “A Muslim has five rights over another Muslim: returning the salam…,” the hadith agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim. (*) For a fuller discussion of this hadith’s documentation and evaluation, see al-Silsilah al-Sahihah, no. 3285.