Fath al-Rabbani

Benefits: … From these ahadith it is understood that greeting a person engaged in prayer (the one praying) with salam and his responding by gesture is legislated. After studying the three ahadith mentioned above, it will be beneficial to study the following:

From Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri radi Allahu anhu: A man greeted the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam with salam while he sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was in prayer, so the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam responded to him by gesture. When he sallallahu alayhi wa sallam finished the prayer, he said to him: “We used to respond to salam in our prayer, but we have now been forbidden from that.” (al-Mu‘jam al-Awsat: 2/246/1/8795, Musnad al-Bazzar: 1/268/554, Sharh al-Ma‘ani by al-Tahawi: 1/263, al-Sahihah: 2917)

Sayyiduna Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri radi Allahu anhu narrates that a man greeted the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam with salam while he sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was in prayer, and he sallallahu alayhi wa sallam responded to his salam by gesture. When he sallallahu alayhi wa sallam finished the prayer, he said: “We used to respond to salam in our prayer (with the tongue), but now we have been forbidden from doing so.”

Imam Nafi‘ says: Sayyiduna ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar radi Allahu anhu passed by a man who was praying; he greeted him with salam, and the man replied verbally. Sayyiduna ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar radi Allahu anhu turned back to him and said: When someone is praying and is greeted with salam, he should not reply verbally, but should respond by gesture with his hand. (Muwatta’ Imam Malik)

In the early days of Islam, it was permissible to converse with someone during prayer, but when this verse was revealed: {حَافِظُوْا عَلَی الصَّلَوَات وَالصَّلٰوۃِ الْوُسْطٰی وَقُوْمُوْا لِلّٰہِ قَانِتِیْنَ} (Surah al-Baqarah: 238), meaning: “Guard strictly (the habit of) prayers, especially the middle prayer (Asr), and stand before Allah with devotion,” then speaking during prayer became forbidden. However, permission was given to perform certain actions during prayer by gesture, among which is responding to salam, as mentioned in these blessed ahadith.

Imam al-Albani rahimahullah says: This (hadith of Sayyiduna Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri radi Allahu anhu) indicates with utmost clarity that during the Makkan period, in the early days of Islam, the one praying would respond to salam verbally; in Madinah, this method was abrogated and permission was given to respond by gesture. If this is the case, then greeting the one praying with salam will be mustahabb (recommended), because the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam maintained the salam of Sayyiduna ‘Abdullah ibn Mas‘ud radi Allahu anhu when he greeted him while he sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was praying. Similarly, some other Companions also greeted him with salam, and he maintained their salam. The clarification of this issue is established by many well-known ahadith proven through various chains. Therefore, the Ansar al-Sunnah should act upon these ahadith, and in conveying them to people and encouraging them to act upon them, they should show gentleness, because people are hostile to what they do not know, especially those who follow their desires and the innovators. (al-Sahihah: 2917)

Imam al-Albani rahimahullah established this chapter on this hadith: The ruling on greeting with salam the one praying, the mu’adhdhin, and the reciter of the Qur’an, and he said: Imam Marwazi said (al-Masa’il: p. 22): I asked Imam Ahmad: Should one greet with salam those engaged in prayer? He said: Yes. Then he mentioned the story of Sayyiduna Bilal radi Allahu anhu, that when Sayyiduna Ibn ‘Umar radi Allahu anhu asked him: How would the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam respond to salam (in prayer)? He said: He sallallahu alayhi wa sallam would respond by gesture.

Some of the Maliki jurists have adopted the position that the one praying should respond to salam by gesture. Qadi Abu Bakr ibn al-‘Arabi said (al-‘Aridah: 2/162): In prayer, sometimes one responds to salam by gesture, and sometimes due to a need that arises for the one praying. There are various authentic reports and ahadith regarding responding to salam, as the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam did in the mosque of Quba. One day I was in the gathering of Tartushi, and this issue was being discussed; we presented a hadith as evidence and used it as proof. At the end of the gathering, a common man stood up and said: Perhaps the gesture of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam meant to prohibit those greeting from saying salam. We were greatly astonished at his (so-called) fiqh. Then we saw that the Companion who narrated the hadith of salam understood from the gesture of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam that it was a response to salam, so according to the principles of fiqh, this hadith will be definitive in its chapter. (By astonishment is meant criticism of his fiqh.)

It is astonishing that Imam Nawawi, in (al-Adhkar), first declared greeting the one praying with salam to be disliked (makruh), and then said: It is recommended (mustahabb) that the one praying responds to salam by gesture, and does not utter any words. I (al-Albani) say: It is astonishing that responding to salam by gesture is declared mustahabb, but greeting is declared makruh, whereas declaring the response mustahabb implies that greeting is also mustahabb, and declaring the response makruh implies that greeting is also makruh. If responding were makruh, then the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam would have clarified this by not responding to salam by gesture, because it is an established principle that clarification of an issue cannot be delayed from the time of need.

From this hadith and this discussion, it is established that the mu’adhdhin and the reciter of the Qur’an should also be greeted with salam, because greeting everyone is legislated, and its evidence has already passed. If greeting the one praying is mustahabb, then the mu’adhdhin and the reciter are even more deserving of being greeted. I recall that I read a hadith in the Musnad, according to which the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam greeted a group reciting the Qur’an. I wish to access this hadith and discuss its chain, but for now, I have not found it.

As for the issue of whether the mu’adhdhin and the reciter should respond to salam verbally or by gesture: the first view appears clearer. Imam Nawawi said: For the mu’adhdhin, responding to salam verbally is not makruh as in normal circumstances, because it is a minor action, and it neither invalidates nor disrupts the adhan. (al-Sahihah: 185)

All the narrations indicating that the one praying should respond to salam by gesture occurred after speech in prayer was prohibited. The inevitable result of this is that gesture has no connection to the prohibition of speech, such that both should be considered the same and thus prohibited. Those who do not accept responding to salam by gesture have presented the following evidence in their favor:

From ‘Abdullah, meaning (Ibn Mas‘ud radi Allahu anhu), he said: We used to greet the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam with salam while he was in prayer, and he would respond to us. But when we returned from (the court of) Najashi, we greeted him with salam, but he did not respond to us. We said: O Messenger of Allah! We used to greet you with salam in prayer and you would respond to us, but today? He sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said: “Indeed, in prayer there is (enough) occupation.” (Bukhari: 1199, 1216; Muslim: 538; Musnad Ahmad: 3563)

Sayyiduna ‘Abdullah ibn Mas‘ud radi Allahu anhu says: We used to greet the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam with salam while he was in prayer, and he would respond to us, but when we returned from Najashi and greeted him with salam, he did not respond to us. We said: O Messenger of Allah! We used to greet you with salam in prayer and you would respond to us, but today? He sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said: “Indeed, in prayer there is (enough) occupation.”

And (from the narration) “we greeted him with salam but he did not respond to us,” it has been argued that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam neither responded verbally nor by gesture. However, the reality is that this argument is weak, because Sayyiduna ‘Abdullah ibn Mas‘ud radi Allahu anhu himself also narrates the report of responding by gesture, and in light of other narrations, the meaning of this hadith will be that he sallallahu alayhi wa sallam did not respond verbally, and after the prayer he sallallahu alayhi wa sallam clarified that the reason for not responding was that Allah Ta‘ala had prohibited speaking.