Guest Author - Serkan Tufan

I would like to share with you some wonderful hadiths(Prophet Muhammad's true life accounts, His recorded sayings) about greeting and etiquette of greeting. These particular parts are from Sahih-i Buhari hadith collection.

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Volume 8, Book 74, Number 248:
Narrated Abu Said Al-Khudri:

The Prophet said, 'Beware! Avoid sitting on the roads." They (the people) said, "O Allah s Apostle! We can't help sitting (on the roads) as these are (our places) here we have talks." The Prophet said, ' l f you refuse but to sit, then pay the road its right ' They said, "What is the right of the road, O Allah's Apostle?" He said, 'Lowering your gaze, refraining from harming others, returning greeting, and enjoining what is good, and forbidding what is evil."
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Volume 8, Book 74, Number 250:
Narrated Abu Huraira:

The Prophet said, "The young should greet the old, the passer by should greet the sitting one, and the small group of persons should greet the large group of persons. "
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Volume 8, Book 74, Number 251:
Narrated Abu Huraira:

Allah's Apostle said, "The riding one should greet the walking one, and the walking one should greet the sitting one, and the small number of persons should greet the large number of persons."
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Volume 8, Book 74, Number 253g:
Narrated Al-Bara' bin 'Azib:

Allah's Apostle ordered us to do seven (things): to visit the sick, to follow the funeral processions, to say Tashmit (a prayer like God bless you, S.T.) to a sneezer, to help the weak, to help the oppressed ones, to propagate As-Salam (greeting), and to help others to fulfill their oaths (if it is not sinful). He forbade us to drink from silver utensils, to wear gold rings, to ride on silken saddles, to wear silk clothes, Dibaj (thick silk cloth), Qassiy and Istabraq (two kinds of silk). (See Hadith No. 539, Vol. 7)
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Volume 8, Book 74, Number 253k:
Narrated 'Abdullah bin 'Amr:

A man asked the Prophet, "What Islamic traits are the best?" The Prophet said, "Feed the people, and greet those whom you know and those whom you do not know."
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Volume 8, Book 74, Number 254:
Narrated Abu Aiyub:

The Prophet said, "It is not lawful for a Muslim to desert (not to speak to) his brother Muslim for more than three days while meeting, one turns his face to one side and the other turns his face to the other side. Lo! The better of the two is the one who starts greeting the other."

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Volume 8, Book 74, Number 261:
Narrated Anas:

Whenever Allah's Apostle greeted somebody, he used to greet him three times, and if he spoke a sentence, he used to repeat it thrice.
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Volume 8, Book 74, Number 275:
Narrated Anas bin Malik:

the Prophet said, "If the people of the Scripture greet you, then you should say (in reply), 'Wa'alaikum (And on you).' "
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Volume 8, Book 74, Number 279:
Narrated Qatada:

I asked Anas, "Was it a custom of the companions of the Prophet to shake hands with one another?" He said, "Yes."

Resource: Sahih-i Bukhari