The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "Peace is one of the names of Allah which He has placed on earth, so spread it among yourselves. When a man greets a group with peace and they return the greeting, he gains a degree of merit over them, because he reminded them of it. And if they do not return his greeting, one who is better and purer than them returns it to him."
قال رسول الله ﷺ: إن السلام اسم من أسماء الله وضعه في الأرض، فأقدوه فيكم، فإن الرجل إذا سلم على القوم فردوا عليه، كان له عليهم فضل درجة، لأنه ذكرهم، فإن لم يردوا عليه رد عليه من هو خير منهم وأطيب.
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Bazzar (1770), Tabarani in Al-Kabir (10/224), and Ibn Hibban in Rawdat al-Uqala (p. 74) all narrated it through Muhammad bin Jafar Madaini, who said, Warqa told us, from Amash, from Zayd bin Wahb, from Abdullah bin Masud, who said, then he related it.Its chain is hasan because of Muhammad bin Jafar Madaini and his teacher Warqa bin Umar Yashkuri, since both of them are graded hasan in hadith. Bazzar said, "This hadith has been narrated by more than one person as mawquf, while Warqa, Sharik, and Ayub bin Jabir gave it a full chain going back to the Prophet."I say, there is no doubt that the mawquf version is more sahih, but the narration of the three, Warqa bin Umar, Sharik Nakhai the judge, and Ayub bin Jabir, with their narrations found in Bazzar and Tabarani, strengthens the marfu version.His statement, "one better than them and purer answered him back on his behalf" refers to the angels.