Sayyiduna Abu al-Darda (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: We said: "O Messenger of Allah! When we meet (one another), which of us should be first to give the greeting of salam?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whichever of you is more obedient to Allah Almighty."
Tabarani recorded it, and its chain contains narrators whom I do not know.
Hadith Referenceمجمع الزوائد ومنبع الفوائد / كتاب الأدب / 12745
Sayyiduna al-Agharr (may Allah be pleased with him), who is al-Agharr of Muzaynah, narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered that I be given some dates from a man of the Ansar. That man delayed giving them to me, so I spoke to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) about him, and he said: "O Abu Bakr! Go with him tomorrow and get his dates for him." Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) promised to meet me in the mosque, (saying that) when we had prayed the morning prayer we would go. I found him as he had promised, and then we set off. Whenever anyone saw Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) from a distance, he would greet him with salam. So Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Have you seen how people are gaining merit over you? Everyone gets ahead of you in the greeting." The narrator says: After that, whenever anyone came before us, we would greet him before he could greet us.
Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir and al-Mu'jam al-Awsat. In one of the two chains of al-Mu'jam al-Kabir, the narrators are the narrators of the Sahih.
Hadith Referenceمجمع الزوائد ومنبع الفوائد / كتاب الأدب / 12746
Hadith Gradingمحدثین:إسنادہ صحیح
Hadith Takhrij«اخرجه الطبراني فى المعجم الكبير (880 و 879) ، أخرجه المعجم الكبير للطبراني برقم: 880، وأخرجه المعجم الأوسط للطبراني برقم: 7464»
It is reported about Sayyiduna Abu Umamah al-Bahili (may Allah be pleased with him) that he used to greet everyone he met. The narrator says: I do not know of anyone who got ahead of him in the greeting, except for a Jew on one occasion. He hid from his view; he had hidden behind a pillar, and when Abu Umamah passed by, he greeted him first. Sayyiduna Abu Umamah (may Allah be pleased with him) said to him: "Woe to you, O Jew! Why did you do this?" He said to him: "I saw that you greet people a great deal, and I know that there is merit in this deed, so I wanted to gain that merit." Sayyiduna Abu Umamah (may Allah be pleased with him) said to him: "Woe to you! I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) say: 'Indeed, Allah Almighty has made the greeting of salam a salutation for our Ummah and a guarantee of safety for our dhimmis (protected non-Muslim citizens).'"
Tabarani recorded it from his teacher Bakr bin Sahl al-Dimyati, whom Nasa'i (may Allah have mercy on him) declared da'if (weak), while others said that he is muqarib al-hadith (fair in hadith).
Hadith Referenceمجمع الزوائد ومنبع الفوائد / كتاب الأدب / 12747
Hadith Gradingمحدثین:إسنادہ ضعیف
Hadith Takhrij«اخرجه الطبراني فى المعجم الكبير (7518) ، أخرجه المعجم الكبير للطبراني برقم: 7518، وأخرجه المعجم الأوسط للطبراني برقم: 3234»