Ibn 'Umar said that al-Agharr (who was a man from Muzayna and had been a Companion of the Prophet) was owed some measures of dates by a man from the Banu 'Amr ibn 'Awf who came to him many times. He said, "I went to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and he sent Abu Bakr as-Siddiq with me." He continues, "Everyone we met greeted us. Abu Bakr said, 'Don't you know that when people give the greeting before us, they have the reward? Give the greeting before them and you will have the reward.'"

Abu Hurayra reported that a man passed by the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, while hew as in an assembly and said, "Peace be upon you." "Ten good deeds," he said. Another man passed by and said, "Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah." The Prophet said, "Twenty good deeds." Then yet another man passed by and said, "Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessing," and the Prophet said, "Thirty good deeds." Then a man in the gathering got up and did not give the greeting. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "How quickly your companion forgets! When one of you comes to an assembly, he should give the greeting. If he thinks he should sit down, he sits down. When he stands up, he gives the greeting. Neither is a greater duty than the other."

'A'isha reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "The Jews do not envy you for anything the way that they envy you for the salam and the Amin."

'Abdu'r-Rahman ibn Shibl said that he heard the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "The person riding should greet the person on foot. The person on foot should greet the person who is seated. The smaller group should greet the large. Whoever answers the greeting, that is for him. Whoever does not answer it, has nothing."

Ash-Sha'bi said that he met a rider and gave the greeting first. I said, "Did you give the greeting first?" He said, "I saw Shurayh walking and he gave the greeting first."

See 996.

(sic) Abu'z-Zinad said, "Kharija (ibn Zayd ibn Thabit) used to write on the letter of Zayd when he said the salam, 'Peace be upon you, Amir al-Mu'minin, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings and His forgiveness and the best of His prayers."

Mu'awiya ibn Qurra said, "My father told me, 'If you sit in a gathering expecting good to come from, but then something occurs which makes you leave, say, 'Peace be upon you,' and you will share in any good that they obtain in that gathering. There are no people who sit in a gathering and then split up without Allah having been mentioned, but that it is as if they were leaving the corpse of a donkey.'"

Al-Hasan said, "There should be not sense of respect between you and a deviant person."

'Ali ibn 'Abdullah was heard expressing his dislike for chess and said, "Do not greet someone who plays it. It is a kind of gambling."

Abu Sa'id said, "A man came from al-Bahrayn to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and greeted him, but the Prophet did not answer him. The man was wearing a gold ring and a silk robe. The man went away in sorrow. He complained to his wife and she said, 'Perhaps the Messenger of Allah objects to your robe and your ring. Throw them away and then go back.; he did that and then the Prophet returned his greeting. he said, 'I came to you yesterday and you turned away from me.' He said, 'You had a coal of the Fire on your hand.' He said, 'I came then with any coals.' He said, 'As for what you brought, there is no one who is free from dependence on these stones. But it is the enjoyment of the life of this world.' He said, 'What should I make a ring from?' 'From silver, brass, or iron,' he replied.

'Ubaydullah ibn 'Abdullah said, "Mu'awiya went on his first hajj when he was the khalifa and 'Uthman ibn Hanif al-Ansari came to him and said, 'Peace be upon you, Amir, and the mercy of Allah.' The people of Syria objected to that and said, 'Who is this hypocrite who shortens the greeting of the Amir al-Mu'minin!' 'Uthman made his camel kneel and said, 'Amir al-Mu'minin! These men object to something which you know better than them. By Allah, I used to this greeting for Abu Bakr, 'Umar, and 'Uthman, and none of them objected to it.' Mu'awiya said to those of the people of Syria who had spoken, 'Take it easy! It was partly as he stated. But when the civil war engaged the people of Syria, they said, "Do not shorten the greeting of our khalifa in our presence (i.e. from Amir al-Mu'minin to Amir)." People of Madina, I will treat you as friends even though you use 'Amir" for a zakat collector.'"

Al-Miqdad ibn al-Aswad said, "The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to come at night and would give the greeting in such a way that it would not awaken anyone asleep, but the person who was awake would hear it."

'Umar said to 'Adi ibn Hatim, "May Allah preserve you from recognition."

Abu Hurayra said, "The most miserly of people is the one who is miserly with the greeting. The most incapable of people of people is the one who is the most incapable of supplication."

Asma' was heard to say that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, passed by a group of women sitting down in the mosque. He said to the salam with his hand and said, "Beware of the ingratitude of those with blessings. Beware of the ingratitude of those with blessings." One of them said, "We seek refuge with Prophet, Prophet of Allah, from ingratitude for the blessings of Allah." He said, "Yes. One of you women might have been without a husband for a long time (and then Allah provides her with one) and she becomes angry and says, 'By Allah, I have never seen a hour of good from you. That is ingratitude for the blessings of Allah. That is the ingratitude of those with blessings.'"

Abu Hurayra reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, forbade people to sit in courtyards and roads. The Muslims said, "We will not be able to avoid it. We cannot undertake it." He said, "If not, then give it its due." They said, "What is it due?" He said, "Lower the eye, guide the traveller, wish for mercy on the person who sneezes when he praises Allah and return the greeting."

Jabir said, "I visited al-Hajjaj and did not greet him."

Ziyad ibn 'Ubayd (ar-Ru'ayni) said, "We went to Ruwayfa', the Amir of Antabulis. A man came and greeted him, saying, 'Peace be upon the Amir.' From 'Abda, he said, 'Peace be upon the Amir.' Ruwayfa' said to him, 'If you had greeted us, we would have returned the greeting. But you greeted Maslama ibn Mukhallad (Maslama was in charge of Egypt). Go to him and he will return your greeting.'"

'Abdullah ibn 'Amr ibn al-'As said, "A liar is someone who lies in his oath. A miser is someone who is miserly with the greeting. A thief is someone who steals the prayer."