I saw a man whom people would disperse from at his word. He would not say anything except that they would yield to him.I asked, "Who is this?"They said, "This is the Messenger of Allah ﷺ."I said, "Upon you be peace, Messenger of Allah," twice.He said, "Do not say, 'Upon you be peace,' for 'Upon you be peace' is the greeting of the dead. Say, 'Peace be upon you.'"I said, "Are you the Messenger of Allah?"He replied, "I am the Messenger of Allah, the one whom, when harm befalls you and you call upon Him, He removes it from you, and when a year of drought afflicts you and you call upon Him, He causes growth for you, and when you are in a barren land or open wilderness and your mount is lost and you call upon Him, He returns it to you."I said, "Give me a covenant."He said, "Do not insult anyone."So after that I never insulted any free person, slave, camel, or sheep.He said, "Do not belittle any act of kindness. Even speaking to your brother with a cheerful face toward him is part of kindness. Raise your lower garment to the middle of your shin, or if you refuse, then to the ankles, and beware of letting your garment trail, for it is from arrogance, and Allah does not love arrogance. If a man insults you and reproaches you for something he knows about you, do not reproach him for what you know about him, for the burden of that will fall upon him."
رأيت رجلا يصدر الناس عن رأيه، لا يقول شيئا إلا صدروا عنه، قلت: من هذا؟ قالوا: هذا رسول الله ﷺ، قلت: عليك السلام يا رسول الله، مرتين، قال: لا تقل: عليك السلام، فإن عليك السلام تحية الميت، قل: السلام عليك قال: قلت: أنت رسول الله؟ قال: أنا رسول الله الذي إذا أصابك ضر فدعوته كشفه عنك، وإن أصابك عام سنة فدعوته، أنبتها لك، وإذا كنت بأرض قفراء- أو فلاة- فضلت راحلتك فدعوته، ردها عليك، قال: قلت: اعهد إلي، قال: لا تسبن أحدا قال: فما سببت بعده حرا، ولا عبدا، ولا بعيرا، ولا شاة، قال: ولا تحقرن شيئا من المعروف، وأن تكلم أخاك وأنت منبسط إليه وجهك إن ذلك من المعروف، وارفع إزارك إلى نصف الساق، فإن أبيت فإلى الكعبين، وإياك وإسبال الإزار، فإنها من المخيلة، وإن الله لا يحب المخيلة، وإن امرؤ شتمك وعيرك بما يعلم فيك، فلا تعيره بما تعلم فيه، فإنما وبال ذلك عليه.
Narrated by Abu Dawud (4084), and this is his wording, by Tirmidhi (2722), and by Bayhaqi in Shuab (5730), all of them from the hadith of Abu Ghifar Muthanna bin Saeed Tai, from Abu Tamima Hujaymi, from Jabir bin Sulaym, and he related it. Tirmidhi abridged it and said, "This is a hasan sahih hadith." Hakim graded it sahih (4/186). Ahmad (20635) reported something similar, both of them through the route of Abu Tamima Hujaymi, from Jabir, with similar wording.There are other routes for it from narrators other than Abu Tamima, among them what Ibn Hibban reported in his Sahih (522), and Ahmad (20633), and Baghawi in Sharh al-Sunnah (3504), all of them through the route of Salam bin Miskin, from Aqeel bin Talha, who said, Abu Jurayy narrated to me, and he related something similar. This chain is also sahih. This hadith has come both in full and in abridged form, and we have already discussed it in the book of zakat.His saying, "And upon you be peace, the greeting of the dead." Khattabi said, "This gives the impression that the sunnah for greeting the dead is to say to him, 'Upon you be peace,' as many common people do. But it is established from the Prophet ﷺ that he entered the graveyard and said, 'Peace be upon you, people of this abode, a believing folk,' placing the supplication before the name of the one being supplicated for, just as is done in greeting the living. He only said what he said as an allusion to the custom that had become established among them for greeting the dead, since they used to place the name of the dead person before the supplication. This is mentioned in their poetry, as in the poet's verse,Upon you be the peace of Allah, Qays bin Asim, and His mercy, as much as He wills to show mercy.And as in the verse of Shammakh,Upon you be peace, from a piece of leather, and Allah's hand has blessed that torn piece of leather.So the sunnah does not differ in greeting the living and the dead." End of quote.